Thomas Quarles, Jr.

I have been a litigator at Devine Millimet for more than 37 years, practicing in the New Hampshire state and federal courts. My general commercial litigation practice covers land use and environmental matters, probate, and trust litigation. Another practice focus is Medicaid provider issues for social service agencies and long term care facilities, health insurance and managed care. I have served on the board of Devine Millimet and have chaired our Litigation Department. I am the Chair of the state’s Public Water Access Advisory Board and Chair of the N.H. Supreme Court’s Public Protection Fund Committee.

I frequently litigate against the State of New Hampshire, mostly on behalf of Medicaid provider clients. I have achieved significant victories in multiple New Hampshire Supreme Court cases that established or confirmed clients’ Medicaid rights. These included the precedent-setting Bel Air cases. For a list of my cases that have resulted in published opinions, click the “CASES” tab above. I have briefed and/or argued more than 26 N.H. Supreme Court appeals and a number of federal First Circuit Court of Appeals cases. I was the principal author of the 2005 amendments to the N.H. Ski Statute, RSA 225-A, and have defended New Hampshire ski areas in their ski accident litigation since the late 1980s.

Working with Partner Charles Powell, we conceived, drafted, and got state legislation enacted to create “Special Medicaid Representatives” (“SMR”), RSA Ch. 151-I.  This was an effort on behalf of the N.H. Healthcare Association and the N.H. Hospital Association to establish a needed new payment source for patients and residents who have exhausted their initial funding, but either are unable or refuse to apply for Medicaid.  SMRs are court-supervised individuals with the power to obtain required financial and other documents and, with the courts’ assistance, to compell a Medicaid-eligible resident or patient to cooperate in the complicated and time-consuming Medicaid application process.  This option is much simpler and cheaper than opening a guardianship, and does not require a showing of incapacity of the resident/patient. It has met with great success. This first-in-the-nation innovation has generated interest from healthcare and hospital associations in many other states.

Our firm celebrated its 75^th Anniversary in 2022.  As one of the longest serving attorneys in the firm, I was asked to and produced and edited a history book covering the firm’s significant cases, its development from an insurance defense firm to one of the largest law firms in northern New England and the significant public and judicial service that many of our attorneys have performed.

I serve on the Board of Plowshare Farm, a life-sharing community for the developmentally disabled, and more recently joined the New England Ski Museum Board. Not surprisingly, I am an avid downhill and telemark skier who is trying to teach himself to snowboard. Outside of the winter months, I enjoy flatwater and whitewater canoeing, kayaking, and bicycling. In the summer I spend as much time as possible with my wife and daughter at our family’s lake house near Keene, sailing, boating, and enjoying the outdoors.