--- title: "Samantha Dowd Elliott | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/samantha-d-elliott" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Samantha Dowd Elliott U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire - State: New Hampshire - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Samantha Dowd Elliott became chief judge of the federal District of New Hampshire on November 1, 2025 - The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in 2021, becoming chief judge in 2025 - On September 30, 2021, President Biden nominated Elliott to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, replacing Judge Paul Barbadoro, who took senior status in March 2021 - From 2006 to 2021, Elliott was a partner and vice president at Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.C. in Concord, New Hampshire, serving as president from 2015 to 2020 and as a hiring partner from 2014 to 2019 ### Education - Columbia Law School — J.D. (2006) - Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Colgate University in 1997 ### Additional information - Chief judge service: end date:; start date: 2025-11-01; title: Chief Judge - Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation; appointing authority: Joseph R. Biden; from 2021-12-21 - received her district court commission on December 21, 2021. - She also served on the New Hampshire Legal Assistance board and co‐chaired the founding board of 603 Legal Aid in 2021 - Private practice, Concord, New Hampshire, 2006-2021 - Date of birth: 1975 - Birth place: Orange ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Jury Evidence Recording System (JERS) . Provides information on courtroom technology that allows deliberating jurors to view exhibits electronically. . [Courtroom Technology | District of New Hampshire | United States District Court](https://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/11201341) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/11201341) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/11201341) - [Courtroom Technology | District of New Hampshire | United States District Court](https://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [Judge Samantha Dowd Elliott](https://www.fjc.gov/node/11201341) - [Wikidata: Samantha D. Elliott](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108756570) - [New Hampshire supplied research: elliott-chief](https://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/content/district-court-names-honorable-samantha-d-elliott-next-chief-judge) - [Judge Samantha Dowd Elliott](https://www.fjc.gov/node/11201341) - [Wikidata: Samantha D. Elliott](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108756570) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/samantha-d-elliott", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/samantha-d-elliott", "name": "Samantha Dowd Elliott | KnowJudges", "description": "Samantha Dowd Elliott, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.