Email: lleonard@coopercargillchant.com
Phone: 603-356-5439
LESLIE M. LEONARD
PARTNER
Leslie Leonard joined Cooper Cargill Chant in 2010. A New Hampshire native, Leslie began her career as a paralegal in Boulder, Colorado after graduating cum laude from the University of New Hampshire. During her years as a paralegal, she gained significant experience in family law matters. Working in the field ignited her passion even further and she decided to attend law school.
ABOUT
Leslie Leonard joined Cooper Cargill Chant in 2010. A New Hampshire native, Leslie began her career as a paralegal in Boulder, Colorado after graduating cum laude from the University of New Hampshire. During her years as a paralegal, she gained significant experience in the areas of personal injury and family law matters. Working in the field ignited her passion even further and she made the decision to attend law school. After eight years in Colorado she returned to New Hampshire to study law at UNH School of Law, where she graduated cum laude in 2006.
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While in law school, Leslie completed an externship clerking for New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice (now retired) Linda Dalianis. Leslie also spent a semester in Washington, DC on an externship at the Children’s Defense Fund where she worked on national public policy issues regarding children’s mental health and welfare issues and took part in educational meetings and seminars on Capitol Hill regarding children’s advocacy. Leslie also worked as a teaching assistant for Legal Writing, Legal Skills, and Criminal Law.
Upon graduation from UNH School of Law, Leslie commenced a two-year Superior Court Clerkship, in the Southern Hillsborough Superior Court in Nashua. In 2008, she began practicing law at a prominent law firm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where she primarily focused her practice on personal injury, land use and family law. In 2010, with the pull of the mountains and memories of Colorado always in the forefront, Leslie traveled north to make her home in the Mount Washington Valley. Leslie’s practice focuses on family law, estate planning, employment law, personal injury and social security disability. Leslie is also often appointed by the Court to take on Abuse & Neglect cases and frequently represents both victims and accused abusers in domestic violence proceedings.
PRACTICE AREAS
ADMISSIONS
Maine State Bar Association
New Hampshire Bar Association
Massachusetts State Bar Association
United States District Court, District of New Hampshire
EXPERIENCE
Divorce cases involving privately owned family businesses
Divorce cases involving children amid allegations of abuse
Parenting cases between unmarried parents of infants as well as children with disabilities
Child support and arrearage cases
Adoption
Termination of parental rights
Guardianship of grandchildren or other minor relatives
Abuse and Neglect Proceedings
Both plaintiffs and defendants in employment cases alleging gender and/or age discrimination
Local businesses with respect to hiring and firing procedures and protocols
Social Security Disability Appeals
RECOGNITION
2018 Bruni Young Leadership Award
2016 Super Lawyers New England Rising Star
2015 Super Lawyers New England Rising Star
Graduate, Leadership Mount Washington Valley
The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40 – 2015
Recipient, Stephen R. Park PIC Fellowship, 2006
COMMUNITY
Member, Jen's Friends Cancer Foundation
Member, Gibson Center - Board of Directors
President, Carroll County Bar Association
President 2017-2018, Rotary Club of North Conway
Member, New Hampshire Association for Justice
Member, American Bar Association
Member, New Hampshire Bar Association
Former Board Member, White Mountain Community Health Center
Past President, Mount Washington Valley Children’s Museum
Past Board Member, Ham Ice Arena
EDUCATION
University of New Hampshire (BA, cum laude, 1995)
University of New Hampshire School of Law, formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center (JD, cum laude, 2006)
New Hampshire Superior Court Law Clerk, 2006-2008