Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald
Gordon J. MacDonald is the 37th Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Following his confirmation by the Executive Council, he was sworn in by Governor Christopher Sununu on March 4, 2021.
MacDonald served as New Hampshire’s attorney general from April 13, 2017 until March 4, 2021. Prior to becoming attorney general, MacDonald was in private practice, most recently as a litigation partner in the Manchester office of Nixon Peabody LLP.
MacDonald has an extensive record of service to the legal profession and community. As attorney general, MacDonald served on the Supreme Court’s Committee on Character and Fitness and he co-chaired the National Association of Attorneys General Committees on Charities and Training.
While in private practice, MacDonald chaired the New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners and, from 2014 to 2017, served as a trustee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. He chaired the Supreme Court’s Commission on the New Hampshire Bar in the 21st Century. MacDonald served on the Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission and chaired the Leadership Council of the Campaign for Legal Services, which raises funds for civil legal services. He was a volunteer attorney for the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Domestic Violence Emergency Project and devoted hundreds of hours as a pro bono attorney.
In recognition of his service, MacDonald was awarded the Distinguished Service to the Public Award in 2014 from the New Hampshire Bar Association and the John E. Tobin, Jr., Justice Award from the New Hampshire Campaign Legal Services in 2017.
MacDonald attended public schools in Hanover. He graduated cum laude with high honors in his major (Government) from Dartmouth College in 1983. He earned his juris doctor from Cornell Law School, graduating magna cum laude, in 1994. At Cornell Law, he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an article editor for Cornell Law Review. Following graduation, MacDonald served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Norman H. Stahl of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Concord.