PBN 2021 Leaders & Achievers Awards
John J. Partridge | Founding partner, Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP
At 81, John J. “Jack” Partridge has a resume filled with achievements: Founding partner of the Providence law firm Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP. Civic leader. Novelist. 2021 finalist for R.I. lieutenant governor.
“For me rest is rust, and I don’t want to be rusty,” he said. “I have to keep up with my three kids.”
Partridge and seven other lawyers founded the business law and litigation law firm Partridge Snow & Hahn in 1988. His practice focused on business decision-making, corporate governance for nonprofit and for-profit entities, and financial institution law.
After more than three decades as partner, Partridge recently stepped down from the firm. For years he has been dedicated to mentoring other lawyers, particularly by encouraging them to give back through civic engagement and pro bono work, and continues to do so, including mentoring new lawyers entering their respective practices.
“I’ve always strongly believed that if you’ve been as fortunate as I have, you must give back to the community,” said Partridge, who grew up in Pawtucket and graduated from Providence College and Harvard Law School.
That was a large part of his motivation for applying for the role of lieutenant governor earlier this year, he said.
“I was a finalist, but I didn’t get it, so that’s history,” he said. “I’m not disappointed.”
Throughout his career, Partridge has served on several nonprofit boards and is co-founder and former co-chair of the Pawtucket Foundation, a nonprofit focused on economic development in the Blackstone Valley.
In recent years, Partridge has developed a successful second career writing crime and mystery novels set in Rhode Island. His latest book, “Under Blood Moons,” which was released in March, follows Jake Fournier, an Iraq War veteran who makes an unlikely parole board member.
“It’s about the issue of how do you deal with the parole of a person when a community doesn’t want him back,” Partridge said. “I can draw from my experiences in these novels because I’ve certainly seen a lot of controversy over the years.”
