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Civil Division

The Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire represents the interests of the federal government in civil litigation involving the United States within the State of New Hampshire. The Civil Division also encompasses the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU), Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE), and Asset Forfeiture (AF).

Some of the Civil Division attorneys defend lawsuits filed against the United States, representing federal agencies and federal employees in cases such as civil rights, employment discrimination, medical malpractice, personal injury, constitutional torts, prisoner litigation, judicial reviews of agency action under the Administrative Procedures Act, and judicial reviews of social security disability decisions. In addition to defending lawsuits in federal and state courts, the Civil Division attorneys appear in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  The Civil Division attorneys represent the interests of the United States in the United States District Court of the District of New Hampshire, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and in the New Hampshire state courts.

The Civil Division also brings civil actions on behalf of the United States and its agencies. Such actions include suits under the False Claims Act, which assert that the defendants have defrauded the United States, environmental enforcement actions, other regulatory enforcement actions, such as suits to enforce compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, among others, and actions to obtain compliance with administrative summonses and warrants.

Some Civil Assistant U.S. Attorneys handle asset forfeitures, either civil or criminal, in which the United States forfeits proceeds of crime, as well as property that facilitated crime. In addition, the Civil Division processes FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests for U.S. Attorney Office records, and responds to subpoenas issued to the United States, its agencies, or employees, for documents or testimony in suits in which the United States is not a party.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is not authorized to provide legal assistance to private citizens or to represent them.

Updated July 10, 2017