Gov. John Lynch has picked Superior Court Judge Gary Hicks as his choice to replace retiring Justice Joseph Nadeau on the state Supreme Court, Lynch announced yesterday. The governor will present the nomination to the Executive Council tomorrow.

Hicks, 52, is a North Country native who spent 23 years as a trial lawyer at one of Manchester's biggest firms. After four years as a superior court judge, he applied to replace Nadeau through the Judicial Selection Commission, a review board created by the governor this year to make the nominating process more open and less influenced by politics.

Friends, family and fellow lawyers praised Hicks - who has been active with the Democratic Party in the past - as a man of high intelligence, quick wit and even temperament. He is personable and modest, and he has achieved a reputation for being fair and ethical as a lawyer and jurist, they said.

"I've tried cases in front of him, and I think he's an excellent choice," said former Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas, a Republican who served two years as a U.S. representative. "He's good in the court. He's fast as a writer. He's thoughtful. And he's just the kind of person the court needs to give it some energy and enthusiasm."

Lynch has nominated several lower-court justices, but Hicks is his first selection for the Supreme Court. He will need to be approved by a majority of the five-member Executive Council, which is expected to set a date for a public hearing after Lynch presents the nomination.

Although Hicks has only been a judge since October 2001, he has "more than proven his qualifications," Lynch said. "He has shown an in-depth knowledge of the law and keen intellect, brought a fair and balanced approach and an abiding concern for protecting the rights of New Hampshire citizens to the courtroom, and demonstrated a deep commitment to the people of New Hampshire."

Executive Councilor Ray Burton called Hicks "an outstanding jurist."

"I'd say he has a good shot at going up onto the Supreme Court,"said Burton, a Bath Republican.

David Slawsky, a civil litigator and labor lawyer with Upton & Hatfield in Concord, called Hicks a "masterful" judge.

"We're blessed to have a lot of really good superior court judges, but he is the best of the best. He is as fair as humanly possible," said Slawsky, who has both won and lost cases before Hicks in superior court. "The thing I really appreciated about him is that he was a trial lawyer for so many years, and he's one of those people who really understands the system. He wants to do justice, and he understands it from all perspectives."

Hicks spent his entire career in private practice at Wiggin & Nourie, leaving for the bench in 2001 as a partner and the chairman of the firm's litigation department. He represented both plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury cases, though he served mostly commercial clients, such as representing real estate title firms during the 1980s banking crisis and defending an asbestos manufacturer in a product-liability case. He also concentrated on alternative dispute resolution, with training in mediation and arbitration.

Hicks said he deeply loved practicing law but has found the bench more rewarding, because it presents an opportunity to do what's right for both sides, instead of representing one client's interests.

"I can't wait to get to work every day in my position as a superior court judge," he said yesterday. "It's an opportunity to serve the people of New Hampshire that is really humbling."

Hicks declined to discuss specifics of his legal or judicial career in advance of the Executive Council process. But his wife, Patricia, described him as a person who has "always wanted to be in a position where he could make substantive social change."

In the application Hicks filed with the Judicial Nomination Commission, he wrote that he became a judge in part to help open the judicial system to those who have felt disenfranchised from the courts. The Supreme Court would give him an opportunity to administer justice in a way that "has a lasting impact upon the rights and liberties of New Hampshire citizens," Hicks wrote.

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