Parnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices

Our firm blends advocacy oriented practice with effective practical solutions for all our clients in Londonderry, N. Woodstock, and throughout New Hampshire. The attorneys at Parnell, Michels & McKay provide effective representation and counseling to assist our clients facing legal questions. We simplify the process so our clients can understand and are able to participate as partners in the resolution.

Our practice includes personal injury law such as motor vehicle accidents, falls, dog bites, workers compensation, social security disability, and other injuries.

We also practice family law, including divorce, post-divorce, unwed custody and property division, and collaborative divorce, and have extensive experience in bankruptcy, probate, boundary disputes, estate planning, corporate formation and other real estate litigation.

Family Law | General Litigation
Proposition 8 Overturned on Appeal: How The Court Found The Ban on Same-sex Marriage Unconstitutional
ByParnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices February 20, 2012September 16, 2025
Many people have heard of the most recent decision of the 9th Circuit Court of appeals in Perry v. Brown. This is the case that challenged the California law that bans same-sex marriage. Proposition 8 was passed in a general election where a majority of the voters of California enacted the legislation banning same-sex marriage. Legal challenges were quick, and the 9th Circuit’s opinion was the latest in the same-sex marriage debate. To understand the decision from a legal perspective, it is important to understand the legal distinction that same-sex couples are not recognized as a “protected class” within the definition of America’s equal protection laws. Certain classifications of persons fall into legal protected classes under our laws. This is typically understood as gender, race,…
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Personal Injury Law
Personal Injury Claims: The Road Map To Getting Back To Normal
ByParnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices February 19, 2012September 16, 2025
The key to understanding personal injury claims is that claims handling is driven by insurance requirements. The vast majority of injury claims are resolved by settlement. The parties to the settlement discussions are most commonly the injured party, his/her attorney, and an insurance company. It is necessary to know how insurance companies process claims in order to achieve the best possible result. The most important thing to remember is that insurance companies rely heavily on objective information to form a valuation of each claim. This comes in the form of medical and billing records, accident reports, pictures, lost wages documentation, and other related records. The more complete your documentation the better your chance of a satisfactory result. Gathering documentation should be your first priority when…
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Personal Injury Law | Workers Compensation Law
Injury Claims: The Road Map To Getting Back To Normal – Part 2
ByParnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices February 9, 2012September 16, 2025
In the last blog post, we talked about how obtaining documentation and other information will help make it easier to resolve your injury claim. To build on that, it is important to understand what comes into consideration when considering the settlement value of an injured person’s claim. It is important to understand this in order to make sure you are getting the compensation you deserve. At the outset of any injury case, someone has been injured in some way. Like everybody else, this person will receive medical treatment for their injury. The hope is that they can recover, and get back to 100% of their previous health. Sometimes, there is no getting back to 100%, which is a difficult situation to be in. In either…
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Collaborative Law | Family Law
Can You Get Divorced Without Ever Being Married?
ByParnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices January 19, 2012September 16, 2025
In a recent case decided on January 13, 2012, the New Hampshire Supreme Court decided that very question. The case is titled In the Matter of Mallet v. Mallet, and it involved a couple that had lived together for almost fourteen years. This was no ordinary unwed couple, as they had children together, repeatedly told others they were married, wore wedding rings, owned property together, shared the same last name, and even told people they had participated in a wedding ceremony. The mother, Tami, petitioned for divorce and argued that they were married by “estoppel”. Estoppel is a legal concept that involves three basic factors: (1) a knowingly false representation or concealment of material facts; (2) a recipient who was ignorant of the truth and…
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General Litigation | General News
U.S. Supreme Court Finds Placing GPS Tracking Units on A Suspect’s Car Violates The Constitution
ByParnell, Michels & McKay Law Offices January 9, 2012September 16, 2025
In a landmark decision in United States v. Jones, the Supreme Court looked at whether police can attach a GPS unit to a suspect’s car without a warrant. Antoine Jones was a nightclub owner in Washington D.C. and was suspected of drug trafficking. The FBI and the D.C. Police investigation included tapping the phone of Mr. Brown, and monitoring his nightclub. This investigation led to the authorities obtaining a warrant to place a GPS unit on Mr. Brown’s car, which was registered to his wife. However, the warrant required the GPS unit to be attached within ten days. It wasn’t attached until the 11th day, making it a warrantless attachment. The authorities then used this GPS unit to gather data over the course of the…
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