In midst of budget crisis, an unusual move helped ally of NH Chief Justice collect $50K

When Gordon MacDonald was New Hampshire Attorney General, he tapped Dianne Martin, a lawyer at the Department of Justice, to serve as his chief of staff.

Two years later, when MacDonald became chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, Martin followed her former boss, taking a top job working for him as head of the court’s administrative office.

In April of this year, Martin landed yet another high paying job under MacDonald: overseeing applications for those hoping to practice law in New Hampshire.

But instead of Martin transferring directly into that position, something strange took place. Martin was laid off from state government for two days, then immediately rehired.

While this 48-hour gap in Martin’s employment may have seemed just a technicality — a bureaucratic blip — it