January 30, 2026

The New Hampshire Supreme Court hears our appeal

To our clients—

We were back at the New Hampshire Supreme Court on January 27. This was an appeal for John Doe #533’s case and specifically relates to survivors who experienced abuse in group homes. But the hearing gave us the opportunity to make arguments related to all of our cases.

The appeal concerns what we call the “discovery rule” exception to the statute of limitations. Typically, a plaintiff has a certain number of years after an event has occurred to pursue a legal remedy, such as a lawsuit. However, we know that in cases that involve abuse as a child, it is common that survivors do not fully process the details and extent of their traumatic experiences until years or decades after they occur.

The “discovery rule” doctrine means that the statute of limitations—or the deadline to begin legal proceedings after an event has occurred—does not apply until the plaintiff “discovers” not only that they were harmed, but also that the defendants (in these cases, the state and the group homes) were responsible for the harm. In John Doe #533’s case, we argued that the discovery rule should have paused his statute of limitations because he did not discover Mount Prospect Academy’s responsibility for his injury until later in life. The State and Mount Prospect Academy are arguing that he didn’t file his claims in time, so the case should be dismissed.

When you initially came and discussed your abuse with our office, we evaluated your case and determined that it fell within the statute of limitations or that the discovery rule applied. We often receive motions to dismiss raising the statute of limitations defense, and we fight against them and have been successful in most of the cases so far.

As we informed you in an update earlier this month, the group home cases filed in Rockingham County are currently paused while the Supreme Court considers this appeal. We anticipate a ruling on John Doe #533’s appeal in the coming months. We will update you once we have an order from the court.

Please let us know of any important updates

As always, please be sure that you are keeping us up to date on all changes to your contact information and any other important updates, such as significant life events (like marriages or divorces), medical issues, or health concerns. Those developments may affect your case, so it is important for us to know about them.

The best way to reach us is through the Case Status app. If you need help accessing the app, please let us know. If you need to reach us in the office, call the YDC hotline at 603-628-4060 and ask to speak with a victim specialist.

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