H. Scott Flegal

Who I am
I grew up in Clifton Park, New York, a small town just south of Saratoga Springs, New York. I earned a B.A. from Amherst College in Amherst, MA in 1982, and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, IL in 1985. I've been practicing law in Nashua, NH since 1985. I spent the first 9 years of my career at Sullivan & Gregg, P.A., and left to open my own firm in 1994. I am married to Sheelu, who is the residential director at Nashua Children's Home. I have a daughter Jane, who will be a senior at Mt. Holyoke College, a son Calvin who will be a sophomore at the Berklee College of Music, and a daughter Mia, who should be potty trained any day now. I spend a lot of time paying tuition bills and changing diapers.

What I do
I am general counsel to all sorts of closely held and family owned businesses. I work with start-ups of all shapes and sizes. I answer questions, return phone calls promptly, reply to emails, and help my clients make good business decisions. I ask them to expect the unexpected and plan for surprises, because surprises have an enormous impact on most companies. The trick is to be ready to act when they happen, whether the surprises are good ones or bad ones.

I am a student of negotiation and mediation, and have studied advanced negotiation and advanced mediation at the Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers, and the Harvard Program on Negotiation. I mediate disputes every chance I get, but the expertise I've gained in negotiation and mediation helps me help my clients every day. I harbor a strong bias against resolving business disputes in the courtroom, and work hard to keep my clients out of court. I believe that mediation is an under-utilized and powerful tool that businesses can employ to solve problems.

I also do deals. Lots of deals. I represent banks, borrowers, buyers and sellers in stock and asset sales and acquisitions, real estate and equipment leasing transactions, commercial real estate purchases and leveraged buyouts. I know commercial finance, the Uniform Commercial Code and creditor's rights. I also play various roles in deals involving institutional and individual venture capital investors and investments.

I work regularly with technology companies and consultants, often on problems involving proprietary information, licensing and product development challenges. I work with patent lawyers to help solve these problems as well.

I also represent employees and employers negotiating executive compensation and employment contract issues.

I write on business and legal issues regularly for different publications, and write a monthly column in the Nashua Telegraph called The Business of Law. I am a frequent speaker on topics related to law, business, conflict and decision-making. I also own a related company called NegotiationWorks, LLC that I use for mediation, consulting and training activities.

What I've done
I served by appointment of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on the New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners from 1991-2001, writing and grading the bar exam. I was appointed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court to serve as a member of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch Dispute Resolution Committee in 2007. I am currently the clerk for the Alternative Dispute Resolution section of the New Hampshire Bar Association. I am a member of the board of directors of the New England chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution ("NEACR"), and served as President of that chapter in 2007-08.

In 2003 I received the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year Award. In 2004 Flegal Law Office, P.A. received the New Hampshire Business Review Excellence Award for excellence in the field of law.

I am a past board Chair for the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, and was a member of its inaugural Leadership Greater Nashua class in 1993. I was a founding director and am a past president of Great American Downtown, an organization devoted to the betterment of Nashua's downtown community. I currently serve as first vice president of the board of directors for Community Council of Nashua, Inc.

What else I do
I am an avid fan of sports in general, and have a soft spot for thoroughbred racing that stems from my youth in the Saratoga, NY area. The Saratoga Race Course provides a perfect site for annual August reunions with my high school buddies and their families. In many ways racing is a connector for me and my childhood friends. I am an avid reader and writer, and have a fascination with the human brain and the manner in which we make decisions. I spend a lot of time following emerging research in fields like neuroeconomics, behavioral economics, and behavioral psychology. I try to think like a scientist even if I cannot be one or even act like one, but that helps me be a better lawyer and mediator. I am a member of the Skeptics Society. I believe that constructive conflict can create value and improve decision-making. I am a big fan of Google Alert and their ability to give me daily quotes from Albert Einstein. I have been known to swat the dimpled orb regularly if not well, I grill with hardwood charcoal only, and I love my family, my friends and Dino more than life itself.