Ovide Lamontagne

Ovide Marc Lamontagne (born 1957) is an American businessman who serves as a shareholder at Bernstein Shur law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire.

A fourth-generation New Hampshire native, Ovide was born on September 24, 1957, in Manchester, where he attended Trinity High School.

He graduated from Manchester's Trinity High School in 1975 before he took his undergraduate degree at the Catholic University of America in 1979.

He graduated from Trinity in 1975 as the Student Council President and the State President of the New Hampshire Association of Student Councils.

Ovide met his wife Bettie while they were both attending the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

They were married in June 1979, following their graduation from the university the previous month.

After spending some time working as a high school teacher at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, outside of Washington, DC, Ovide received an offer to move to Wyoming to be a high school teacher in Cheyenne.

Ovide and Bettie relocated to Wyoming, where Ovide enrolled in the University of Wyoming College of Law.

He taught social studies at a high school level before attending the Wyoming College of Law, graduating with his Juris Doctor degree in 1985.

He graduated with honors in 1985, receiving his Juris Doctor degree.

Ovide and Bettie have two older daughters and a foster son.

Before adopting their son, Ovide and Bettie had hosted a number of foster children for short-term stays, and they were contacted about a child living in the hospital who needed a home.

Upon learning that the child was disabled, Ovide became involved with Easter Seals to help teach their child necessary skills.

Ovide and Bettie have been caring for their foster son for the last 24 years.

Ovide was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1985 and is a member of both the New Hampshire and Manchester Bar Associations.

He clerked for Judge James E. Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit before returning to Manchester in 1986.

That year, he joined the Manchester law firm Devine Millimet.

Upon his return to New Hampshire in 1986, he joined the Manchester-based law-firm Devine, Millimet & Branch.

In the 1991 session of the New Hampshire General Court, he served as counsel for the State Senate.

By 1992, he had risen to become a partner in the firm.

Ovide's practice areas include healthcare, not-for-profit charitable trust litigation and construction law.

He also serves as general counsel for a number of not-for-profit organizations and has significant experience representing religious organizations.

Lamontagne is a lawyer and a Republican former political candidate who was his party's nominee for Governor of New Hampshire in 1996 and 2012.

In all, in the period of 2002–03, the diocese agreed to a $15.5 million settlement involving 176 claims of sex abuse.

In December 2002, the diocese had admitted that its failure to protect children from sexual abuse may have been a violation of criminal law, becoming the first diocese in the United States to do so.

Under threat of indictment by the New Hampshire Attorney General, Bishop John McCormack signed an agreement acknowledging that the Attorney General office possessed evidence sufficient to win convictions as part of the settlement.

Lamontagne claimed that McCormack and other prominent church members wanted a speedy settlement and, in an example of behaving "pastorally" rather than as a litigant, instructed their attorneys to take a moderate stance and eschew hardline legal tactics.

Lamontagne said of the diocese's legal strategy, "That is not typical in terms of client requests."

As an attorney for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, Lamontagne negotiated the 2003 settlement of the New Hampshire Attorney General's investigation into the child sex abuse scandal that spared the diocese from being criminally charged.

The May 2003 settlement of 61 abuse claims for $6.5 million handled by Lamontagne as counsel for the Manchester Diocese prevented the diocese from being criminally prosecuted.

He also unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the US Senate in 2010.

Lamontagne, who is of French-Canadian descent, was born and raised in Manchester.

Ovide was ranked in 2010 and 2011 by Chambers USA as one of America's leading commercial attorneys and has been chosen six years running for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of commercial and construction litigation.

In 2015 Ovide joined Bernstein Shur, a New England–based law firm with clients across the US and around the world.

Ovide's practice primarily focuses on complex business transactions to include commercial litigation as well as providing corporate counsel to a diverse array of commercial, charitable non-profit and institutional clients.

Located at that Manchester office, Ovide has been known to bring strategic, creative and practical solutions to complicated matters.

His prior experience in complex business and litigation transactions, coupled with his passion for his home state of New Hampshire, combine to make Ovide a powerhouse in the legal community.

Since returning to New Hampshire, Ovide has resumed his engagement in the civic, charitable and political community.

He co-chaired Carly Fiorina's NH 2016 presidential campaign, served as a senior advisor to Senator Kelly Ayotte's 2016 re-election campaign, co-chairs the Bishop's Summer Reception to benefit the Bishop's Charitable Assistance Fund and also chaired Northeast Catholic College's Fidelity and Courage Dinner.

Additionally, Ovide chairs Granite Action, a 501(c)(4) conservative issues advocacy group, and serves on the Executive Board of the Daniel Webster Council-BSA.