Personal Information
Bob balances the practice of law with his other love, teaching trial advocacy.  In 1973, he attended the second session of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), and has been teaching trial advocacy throughout the United States and abroad ever since. He has served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy and/or lecturer at Franklin Pierce Law Center, Hofstra University, Harvard University, Widener University, Cardozo Law School, and Emory Law School. He served, and continues to serve, as a faculty member and team leader for NITA programs in New York, North Carolina, Colorado, California, Indiana, New Jersey, and New England, as well as having served as the original program director of the New England NITA Regional.  Bob regularly leads seminars on achieving the rank of solicitor advocates for private law firms and law societies in Ireland and England.

Bob graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Jefferson College in 1968 with a B.A. in English and minors in Philosophy and History.  At Washington and Jefferson, Bob was president of the student body. He won the John Livingston Lowes Award in English, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was also elected to the history, philosophy, and journalism honorary societies.  In 1971, after receiving his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, Bob joined the Philadelphia public defender’s office where he served at the trial, appellate and federal divisions.  In 1975, he moved to New Hampshire and became the Merrimack County Public Defender before entering private practice in 1978.

When not trying cases, Bob remains active in the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, on whose Board he has been a member since 1975.  He was also on the Board of the International Society of Barristers Foundation, and served as its president. Bob is an active tennis player whose motto is “age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.”

Bob can be reached at rstein@steinlawpllc.com or by calling 603-228-1109.

Consulting and Mentoring

Having taught trial advocacy since 1975 at various venues, law schools, private firms, and for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Bob is now available for private coaching and mentoring.  Whether to help prepare for trial, refresh skills that have rusted, or to work with the trial team, Bob is uniquely situated to understand the dynamics of a courtroom presentation, and how to best “sell” a case.  Because he has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in multiple categories including civil litigation, products liability – plaintiffs, probate litigation, marital cases involving distribution of large assets, and criminal defense, he has a clear understanding of “what it takes” not just to win, but how to assist others who appear in matters like these, and in complex litigation.  Bob’s philosophy has always been “by your students you shall be taught”.  The successes of his mentees are every bit as important to him as his own personal successes in the courtroom.

Bob can be reached at rstein@steinlawpllc.com or by calling 603-228-1109.

Practice Areas:

Litigation and Appellate Law:  With more than 43 years of trial experience, Bob is well known as one of New Hampshire’s premier litigators. Throughout his career, he has represented individuals in a wide variety of complex disputes.  In all cases, his goal is to achieve a solid victory for his clients. To date, he has argued approximately 35 appeals in the First and Third Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Products Liability:  He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in products liability cases. Some examples are a worker whose pelvis and entire bony structure from the waist down was crushed when tons of concrete released prematurely from a concrete form.  Bob also successfully represented a woman who was burned over 60 to 75% of her body by the combination of a faulty woodstove and highly hazardous and flammable robe.

Probate Litigation:  Bob has been called upon recently with regard to contested matters in the New Hampshire Probate Court involving millions of dollars by families contesting claims or bringing claims against various wills and trusts.

Criminal Defense:  Bob first gained criminal defense experience early in his career as a member of the Philadelphia Public Defender’s office. Initially representing indigent criminal defendants accused of a variety of offenses, it was not long before he served primarily as defense attorney for alleged bank robbers. Once he moved to New Hampshire, Bob became one of the founding attorneys of the New Hampshire Public Defender System. Today, he continues to have an active criminal practice.

Bob has practiced criminal law at the international level.  He participated in the historic war crimes trial where he appeared in The Hague Netherlands, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Bob participated in a historic war crimes trial when he appeared in The Hague before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he defended Dario Kordic, a former Bosnian Croat politician accused of mass murder of hundreds of Bosnian civilians.  Bob initially became involved in this case for the purpose of training Croatian colleagues in cross examination skills, but went on to assume the important role of lead counsel in Kordic’s defense.  Kordic was acquitted of the most serious half of the charges against him, after a three year trial.

Bar Admissions:

• Pennsylvania (1971)
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1971)
• Third Circuit Court of Appeals (1974)
• New Hampshire Supreme Court (1975)
• U.S. District Court for New Hampshire (1977)
• First Circuit Court of Appeals (1979)
• U.S. Supreme Court (1986)
• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1998)

Publications:

• “Tips from the Trenches,” American Bar Association Journal
• “When the Boundary is Crossed:  A Protocol for Attorneys and Mental Health Professionals,” American Journal of Forensic Psychology; American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry; co-authored with Elliot L. Atkins, Ed.D.
• “Drills Compendium,” National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) (co-authored with Ben Rubinowitz, Esq.) (2006)

Presentations: 

• Panelist, New Hampshire Bar Association:  “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” (2014)
• Hofstra University, Trial Advocacy Course, Faculty (1984-Present)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Northeast Regional, Faculty (1984, 1985; Team Leader 1985-Present)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Master Advocates Program, Team Leader (1988-Present)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Mid-Central Program, Team Leader, Indiana University (March 2003-2013)
• Presenter, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, Federal Practice Institute, Concord, New Hampshire:  “Electronic Evidence and Exhibits” (2012)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, New York City Regional Program, Team Leader (March/April/May 2003-2009)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Law Society, Dublin, Republic of Ireland (2002, 2005), Belfast, Northern Ireland (2002 – 2009)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, College of Law, London, England (2003)
• Presenter, International Society of Barristers Annual Meeting, Nevis, West Indies:  “Life in the Bubble” (March 2002)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, National Session, Boulder, Colorado,  Faculty (1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2012, 2013; Team Leader 1995, 2002)
• Moderator, United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, Federal Practice Institute (December 2000, December 2002)
• Panelist, American Bar Association, Litigation Section Annual Meeting, “Mauet and the Master” (Phoenix, Arizona, May 2001)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Southeast Regional Team Leader (2000, 2002, 2003)
• Emory University School of Law, Trial Advocacy Workshop (May, 1998)
• Presenter, New Hampshire Psychological Association (1998)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Southeast Regional Session, Faculty (1995, 1998)
• Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop (January, 1997)
• Presenter,  New Hampshire Public Defender Program, Deposition Seminar (May 1995)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Pacific Regional Session (Faculty, 1994)
• Presenter, 20th International Congress on Law and Mental Health, “Patient-Therapist Boundary Violations: A Protocol for Attorneys and Mental Health Professionals” Presenter, American College of Forensic Psychiatry (1993)
• Presenter, American College of Forensic Psychology (1993)
• New Hampshire District and Municipal Court Judges Seminar, Lecturer, “DWI-Evidentiary Problems” (1984, 1990)
• New Hampshire Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Lecturer, “DWI-The Offense and the Defense” (1984, 1989)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Mid-Atlantic Session, Faculty (March 1987)
• New Hampshire Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Lecturer, “Criminal Practice” (1983)
• Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, New Hampshire, Instructor, “Trial Advocacy” (1975, 1976)
• University of Pennsylvania, Hill Hall Program Instructor, “Poverty and the Criminal Law – A Seminar” (1973, 1974)
• Pennsylvania State Defender Conference, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Lecturer, “Interstate Extradition” (1973, 1974)
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Deposition Skills Programs
• Widener University School of Law, Trial Advocacy Workshop
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, teacher training’s held at Notre Dame University, Harvard University, University of Toronto School of Law, and National Education Center