Petar M. Leonard

Petar’s practice focuses exclusively on family law, including specifically high-asset / complex divorce cases. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America as of 2025 and Super Lawyers since 2024—the first year he was eligible for each distinction—and before that had been recognized as a Super Lawyers ‘Rising Star’ every year since 2015. Petar’s approach to practice combines impeccable client service with a pragmatic, problem-solving mindset to achieve client goals effectively and efficiently. Petar helps clients navigate issues spanning the family law spectrum, including: divorce; legal separation; parenting; alimony; child support; guardianship; relocation; enforcement; modification; prenuptial, postnuptial, and cohabitation agreements; and partition actions for unmarried domestic partners.

Petar, a collaboratively trained practitioner, employs a variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques in his cases including settlement conferences, mediation, neutral case evaluation, and Collaborative Law, with the goal being the disentanglement from a spouse or partner as efficiently and smoothly as possible. These approaches often lend themselves to more creative, amicable, and ‘out-of-the-box’ resolutions than traditional litigation. Petar also appreciates that not all cases are able to be resolved out of court. When a matter cannot be resolved by agreement, Petar draws from his extensive courtroom experience—including in New Hampshire’s specialized Family Division Complex Case Docket—to achieve his clients’ goals through the litigation process in a professional, results-driven manner.

Petar is an active member of both the New Hampshire Bar Association (NHBA) and New Hampshire Family Law Bar. Petar currently serves as the Merrimack County Governor of the NHBA Board of Governors and as a Board Member for Collaborative Divorce New Hampshire (CDNH). He previously served as the chair of the NHBA Family Law Section, an elected position, from May 2017–May 2019. He also served on the NHBA Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Committee for several years, has presented at and/or chaired multiple CLEs on family law topics, and has authored a variety of family law articles for the New Hampshire Bar News. Petar is an adjunct family law professor for the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, a position he has held since February 2014.

Having grown up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Petar is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys golf, hiking, sailing, kayaking, and snowboarding. He also has a passion for traveling, cooking, and all things fine dining.