David Vicinanzo defends government corruption and represents survivors of government corruption. Currently, he is a lead attorney, bringing over 1000 civil suits against the State of New Hampshire and its Youth Detention Center for decades of cover-ups of child abuse that happened under state care.
However, after reading David Vicinanzo’s bio, you have to wonder why he is allowed to bring any cases against the State of New Hampshire since his background is protecting against inquiries of Government corruption — precisely what led to the cover-ups of the child sex abuse at the State’s youth facility.
A trial lawyer, David A. Vicinanzo serves a broad array of clients — from Fortune 100 to pro bono — in New England, New York, the Washington, DC, area, and elsewhere. He practices primarily in the area of government investigations and the representation of organizations and individuals in complex civil and criminal matters, and in representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
The first tab next to David Vicinanzo’s name is a link to Nixon Peabody’s expertise in:
“Government Investigations and White Collar Defense”
“Rely on our customized defenses and proficiency in counseling, investigating, and litigating all forms of government inquiry
We know how government cases are made and what it takes to get them resolved. We are best positioned to conduct internal investigations; defend you as a target, subject, or witness in an investigation; and handle crisis situations to protect your brand.
In addition, our compliance measures help prevent and detect violations and minimize the risk of government action.”
Another tab leads to:
“Public Corruption”
“Managing personal, professional, and financial exposure before litigation can be as critical as courtroom defense.
Representing government officials, their staff, and others, we explore all options to avoid indictment on public corruption charges in grand jury proceedings and complex investigations and build effective defense strategies to mitigate immediate and future consequences.
Our team of former prosecutors and criminal defense trial lawyers, many of whom have held supervisory positions in DOJ and various state AG offices, brings in-depth knowledge of the complex federal and state laws underlying public corruption offenses, including those brought under the Hobbs Act, Travel Act, RICO, the program bribery statute, and mail and wire fraud statutes.
As a result, we resolve matters successfully, confidentially, and quickly.”
Another tab leads to:
“Congressional Investigation”
Our team has decades of experience in federal oversight matters and has played key roles in numerous high-profile inquiries — a critical advantage if you are involved in a complex and unfamiliar process.
We guide your engagement with Congressional investigators from the start, all the way through providing statements and testimony.
When David Vicinanzo joined Nixon Peabody, he was chosen by Edward Arsenault (the Diocese’s “compliance” officer) to be the attorney for Father Gordon MacRae to make an appeal. The law firm (in what appears to be at Father Edward Arsenault’s direction) had replaced another one that had long been representing the Diocese. “Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green.”
Edward Arsenault (who later pled guilty to defrauding the Diocese) told the incarcerated priest (in a recorded call to the prison in 2002) to forward his files so he could pass them to the attorney. There was a condition, however — that Father Gordon would cease contact with the Wall Street Journal, whose forthcoming exposé by Dorothy Rabinowitz would show that the priest was framed and wrongfully convicted.
David Vicinanzo didn’t contact Father Gordon MacRae even though his partner, Gordon MacDonald, did — to ask him if he would object to the law firm making a settlement with an accuser whom the priest had never met nor heard of, just for the sake of a quick deal. David Vicinanzo was briefly announced (in the early 2000s) to become the Attorney General of New Hampshire, and then suddenly, he was no longer mentioned.
In 2017, David Vicinanzo’s name appeared again — this time as the first candidate suggested to replace Robert Lynn, who was retiring from his position as New Hampshire’s Supreme Court Chief Justice. Then Gordon MacDonald, Vicinanzo’s partner from Nixon Peabody and who was the AG, became the candidate. The New Hampshire Executive Committee rejected MacDonald’s first application even though it was supported by Brian Harlow- one of the victims of the Diocese of Manchester, and Amanda Grady Sexton of the NHCADSV. The second time round after the 2020 general election, Gordon MacDonald was appointed as New Hampshire’s Supreme Court Chief Justice even though he had no experience as a judge, and he had to recuse himself from police disciplinary cases since he had fought to keep the list of corrupt police officers (which included James F McLaughlin — the police officer who framed Father Gordon MacRae) withheld from public access.
In 2022, David Vicinanzo and Russ Rilee wrote a letter to AG John Formella — Gordon MacDonald’s successor — about the State’s cover-ups of child abuse at the State’s Youth Detention Center. What he didn’t mention is that he was well aware of the State’s cover-ups because when he was representing Phillips Exeter Academy, which had been covering up child sex abuse, the DCYF admitted to deleting files relating to this.
When it came to a judge for the Youth Detention Center cases, Vicinanzo was quoted:
“And while Attorney General John Formella and the victims’ attorneys agree that John Broderick was the best choice, the attorney representing most of the victims, David Vicinanzo, says the process as written will fail because it is deeply flawed.”
Someone pass David Vicinanzo a mirror, please…
The AG’s office under Gordon MacDonald rejected the first class action suit against the Youth Detention Center filed by Russ Rilee on behalf of David Meehan and hundreds of others. He referred plaintiffs to the NHCADSV (David Vicinanzo’s client). Then David Vicinanzo, Gordon MacDonald’s ex-partner at Nixon Peabody, and Russ Rilee joined forces. Suddenly, the cases against the YDC were allowed to go forward.
Russ Rilee forwarded a letter I wrote to him — after he filed the original (and rejected) David Meehan class action lawsuit against the YDC — to explain that I believed there was a kids-for-cash scheme going on.
In my letter, I stated that I believe that the NHCADSV, Amanda Grady Sexton, and Gordon MacDonald were involved in it along with others, including the police. My letter was forwarded to the NHCADSV and Amanda Grady Sexton, who then instructed Timothy McLaughlin at Shaheen & Gordon to send me a letter threatening me with a defamation suit if I did not recant my statements. They wanted me to remove the reference to Amanda Grady Sexton and NHCADSV — especially while Amanda Grady Sexton was running for re-election as a Council Member for the City of Concord (and Chair of the Public Safety Committee to whom the police report, have their budgets approved). Timothy McLaughlin also wanted me to stop contacting three-letter national agencies about the corruption — I had filed a complaint with the IRS, FBI, and others.
I believe the reason Shaheen & Gordon wanted me to remove my statements was so that the NHCADSV could work with Russ Rilee & David Vicinanzo on the suits (and get kickbacks from the settlements). David Vicinanzo had acted as special prosecutor for a case between Shaheen & Gordon clients and mortgage specialist Mike Gill. The relationship between Vicinanzo and Shaheen & Gordon is, therefore, tight. The relationship between David Vicinanzo and the three letter agencies I had contacted about my beliefs in a kids-for-cash scheme is also tight.
David Vicinanzo’s expertise is defending against Government and White Collar corruption probes. Shaheen & Gordon have this expertise as well, coincidentally. The NHCADSV calls itself a private non-profit that is funded by over 99% public funds. It advises on Governors’ commissions and is involved in oversight committees. It creates and controls media for the AG, police, prosecutors, DCYF, Governors, and selected “victims” of institutional abuse — institutions paid for or receiving public grant money.
How is David Vicinanzo allowed to represent plaintiffs of YDC abuse with this background? He knew the Government agency DCYF deleted files because he witnessed it for his own client, Phillips Exeter Academy, and he said nothing. AG Joseph Foster declined to prosecute. Police were told not to arrest. There was a media blackout. Governor Maggie Hassan’s husband was the principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, and she was running for a position in the Senate. His client, the NHCADSV (and Shaheen & Gordon’s client), got a contract out of it.
David Vicinanzo’s client, the NHCADSV, also got a contract with St. Paul’s School out of the Grand Jury Criminal Investigation, which they lobbied for to his ex-business partner, Gordon MacDonald, when the latter became AG. MacDonald declined to prosecute St. Paul’s School, the records were kept secret despite the school’s waiver of privacy. David Vicinanzo praised Judge Richard McNamara in his decision to withhold the report from public scrutiny. He had represented members of the school’s faculty/administration who had been named in the investigation. Nobody went to jail. His client, the NHCADSV, got a contract with the school.
The NHCADSV’s Lyn Schollett praised the settlement agreement with St. Paul’s School, calling it a model for other schools. An attorney in Massachusetts said he’d never heard anything like it — allowing the Government in to monitor a school.
The NHCADSV had hired Brian Harlow, a solicited victim of the Diocese of Manchester priest sex abuse, to expand its business in 2012. Harlow endorsed David Vicinanzo’s partner, Gordon MacDonald, to be Supreme Court Chief Justice. So did the NHCADSV, and none of them said anything when Gordon MacDonald dismissed the abuse at the Youth Detention Center as “victim negligence”. None of them criticized the DCYF for deleting files at the YDC or Phillips Exeter Academy.
Who is David Vicinanzo? A Government operative (he was a federal prosecutor) or the person who steps in to smooth over Government agency fraud and keep it all behind closed doors in the secret society club atmosphere that is NH Bar?
