James P. Bassett

by JPeters | September 3, 2025 11:55 am

Jim returns to Orr & Reno, as counsel, after serving 13 years as the 107th Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He brings an exceptional level of expertise to his new role, where he focuses primarily on alternative dispute resolution cases — as a mediator and arbitrator — in corporate, government, land use, and other disputes, as well as in appellate litigation matters in state and federal courts.

Prior to his appointment to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2012, Jim worked for 27 years as a highly successful trial and appellate attorney at Orr & Reno, concentrating his practice on constitutional law, commercial litigation, medical malpractice defense, First Amendment and Right-to-Know issues, and land use matters. In his active appellate practice, he argued many cases before the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

During Jim’s tenure on the New Hampshire Supreme Court, he served as chair of the Commission on Judicial Branch Workplace Environment, co-chair of the Court’s Committee of the Judiciary and the Media, and co-chair of the Access to Justice Commission. He also served as the Court’s representative on the New Hampshire Judicial Council, and the Court’s liaison to the NH Bar Foundation and NH Bar Association. He was also instrumental in expanding the court’s internship program to include college undergraduates.

In 2016, Justice Bassett was appointed by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules — based at the Federal Judicial Center — the national policy-making body for the federal courts. He was reappointed in 2019 and served until 2022.

With his extensive experience on both sides of the bench, Jim brings an unprecedented degree of knowledge and tactical skill to his work with his clients today.

In his free time, Jim enjoys skiing, biking, hiking in the White Mountains, visiting with his three grown children and one grandchild, and travelling the world with his wife.

Professional Involvement

• NH Bar Association CLE Program – Panelist/Presenter
  • Appellate Advocacy: 2022, 2025
• Dartmouth Lawyers Association
  • Appellate Advocacy: 2024
• The Campaign for Legal Services
  • 2011-2012: member of the Campaign Leadership Council

Community Involvement

• United Way of Merrimack County
  • 2009–2010: Chairman of Annual Campaign
  • 2010–2011: Co–Chairman of Leadership Giving
  • 2008 –2009: Vice Chair of Annual Campaign
  • 2009–2010: Member, Board of Governors
  • 2008–2011: Member, Campaign Cabinet
• Capitol Center for the Arts
  • 2000–007: Member of the Board of Trustees
  • 2003–2005: Member of the Finance Committee
  • Fundraiser in the first (1992–1995) and second (2001-2003) capital campaigns to rehabilitate an historic theatre in downtown Concord
• Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth
  • 2009–2012: Member of the Board of Directors
  • 2002–present: Annual participant in The Prouty Century bike ride, supporting cancer research
• New Hampshire Public Radio
  • 2010–2012: Member of the Board of Directors
• Canterbury Shaker Village
  • 2010–present: Board of Corporators
• Town of Canterbury
  • For more than two decades, Jim was active in town government in Canterbury, sitting on numerous boards, commissions, and committees. He was elected to many terms on the Canterbury Board of Selectmen and Planning Board and served as chair or each board.
• Dartmouth College
  • 2016–2019: Chairmen of the committee organizing the 2019 commemoration of the Bicentennial of Daniel Webster’s argument of the Dartmouth College Case (Dartmouth v. Woodward, 1818).
  • 2013–Present: Member of the Management Committee of the Second College Grant
  • 2016–2018: Vice chair of the committee responsible for constructing a new bunkhouse at the base of Mt. Moosilauke
  • 2018–Present: Class of 1978 Vice President

Honors and Distinctions

• New Hampshire Bar Association, Distinguished Service to the Legal Profession Award, 2025

Source URL: https://orr-reno.com/our-people/james-bassett/

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