Kelly Ovitt Puc

After spending the first two years of my legal career with Sulloway, I spent four years running a boutique consumer bankruptcy firm with another attorney.  I loved the complexities of the Bankruptcy Code and helping individuals and families weather difficult times.  Running my own small business also gave me a great deal of flexibility at a time when I still had a toddler and preschooler.

However, by the time the youngest entered first grade, I was ready to expand my practice and challenge myself.  I chose to rejoin Sulloway & Hollis because the firm’s collegiality and focus on providing high-quality services in an effective and client-focused manner are consistent with my own values.

I still practice bankruptcy, now helping individuals, local lenders and small business owners navigate the bankruptcy system when a customer, business partner, supplier or tenant files bankruptcy.  However, one of the benefits of being part of a high-quality, mid-size firm in New Hampshire is that I am able to practice several areas of law and each client comes to me with his or her own unique circumstances and legal issues.  I have been recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine as a “Rising Star” in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

I assist clients on real estate transactions of all types, ranging from large commercial financing transactions to individual property line disputes.   For example, I have assisted several institutional non-profits in tax-exempt bond transactions secured by assets, including real estate.  I have also helped institutions and individuals clear up issues with respect to title to their property in New Hampshire.  I am the Chair of the Sulloway & Hollis Real Estate, Development and Environmental Practice Group.

I regularly advise businesses on contract review and negotiations, governance, regulatory compliance, land use, and real estate matters.  My own experience running a small business gives me insight into the day-to-day challenges that small business owners face.  My clients are diverse and include individuals starting up businesses for the first time, small to mid-size family businesses that span multiple generations, non-profit entities and institutional lenders. The industries my clients represent are equally diverse, ranging from landscaping to retail sales to healthcare to heavy equipment sales.

I also regularly volunteer with the New Hampshire Pro Bono Program, including helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, and was named a “Rising Star” of the Program in 2012.

I am originally from Western Massachusetts, where I worked for Mass Mutual Financial Group before entering law school.  After graduating, I relocated with my husband and 3 children to New Hampshire and consider myself very fortunate to have found the perfect place to live, work and raise my family.  When not at work, I’m likely attending one of my kids’ soccer or hockey games, hiking the White Mountains, running trails, or swimming in a pond or lake.   I also serve on the board of the Friends of the Merrimack River Greenway Trail, whose mission is the development of the Concord section of the Granite State Rail Trail.

Areas of Practice

Corporate
Commercial Finance
Non-profit
Real Estate
Creditor/Debtor
Bankruptcy

Bar Admissions

New Hampshire
U.S. District Court District of New Hampshire
U.S. Bankruptcy Court New Hampshire

Education

Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York
J.D. magna cum laude
Honors: Dean’s List, Fall 2003 – Spring 2006
Honors: CALI Academic Excellence Award for the highest grade in Contracts, Civil Procedure, Federal Income Tax, Accounting for Lawyers, Social Security Law, Taxation of Corporations and Health Law
Honors: Order of the Coif
Law Journal: Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, Editor

University of Massachusetts, Amherst
B.S. cum laude

News & Announcements

• Sulloway & Hollis Receives Spirit of New Hampshire Award
• Derek Lick and Kelly Ovitt Puc Prevail at the New Hampshire Supreme Court

Published Works

• Co-Author of Debts, Divorce, and Bankruptcy: Representing Family Law Clients in a Down Economy, NH Bar Journal (Fall 2009)
• Business 101 for Multidisciplinary Practitioners, April 2013 (Faculty)
• Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subject to real estate transfer tax?
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues New Rules
• NH Real Estate Transfer Tax: A Statute with Ambiguity Part I
• NH Real Estate Transfer Tax: A Statute with Ambiguity Part II
• NH Supreme Court and Bankruptcy Court Clarify Divorce Obligations in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Classes/Seminars

• Faculty, Business 101 for Multidisciplinary Practitioners, 2013 – Present

Professional Associations and Memberships

• New Hampshire Bar Association
• New Hampshire Bar Association Real Property Law Section, former Vice Chair
• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Real Property Law Section Title Standards Committee
• National Association of Bond Lawyers