William Lawrence O'Brien (born July 20, 1951) is a lawyer and Republican legislator from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire who served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives since 2004, representing district Hillsborough-4. O'Brien was elected the Speaker of the House on December 1, 2010 when Republicans took control of the House. When Democrats regained control of the House in the 2012 election, O'Brien did not run for a leadership position. In 2014, after Republicans regained majority in New Hampshire House of Representatives, O'Brien ran for Speaker again, but lost to fellow Republican Shawn Jasper. Biography O'Brien obtained his bachelor's degree in history in 1974, a Juris Doctor degree in 1977, and received an LL.M. in Intellectual Property in 2003. He has served as the Chair of the NH Republican Party Platform Committee, Vice-Chair of the Granite State Taxpayers, and Co-Chair of the House Republican Alliance. He was member of the Mont Vernon School Board and the Mont Vernon Police Advisory Commission. He has also contributed to a couple of Democratic candidates over a decade ago and since then has contributed to the Republican campaigns and candidates, such as the NH Republican Committee (06/14/06, 05/24/07), John McCain (09/07/08), Republican National Committee (09/15/08), Robert Giuda (07/13/09 & 03/15/10), and Ovide Lamontagne (03/31/10). O'Brien is a member of the New Hampshire Bar and the Massachusetts Bar, former Executive Director of the New Hampshire Legal Rights Foundation, and a former equity partner at Finneran, Byrne, Drechsler & O'Brien (Massachusetts). Additionally, he was a professor of law at the New England School of Law and General Counsel of several companies. In 2013, O'Brien and his wife, Roxanne, have been married for 40 years and have three grown children. Controversies Closing NH House Gallery O'Brien temporarily closed the New Hampshire House gallery to the public during a debate about the state budget on March 31, 2011, after union protestors in the gallery began yelling "shame on you" and "don't harass the middle class" and thus prevented debate from being heard. O'Brien then closed the proceedings to the entire public, including a police officer and two former NH lawmakers. When asked why he closed the proceedings, O'Brien responded "I think thugs will not rule New Hampshire." O'Brien recessed the House for 10 minutes to allow state police time to clear the gallery. Assistant Democratic Leader Gary Richardson of Hopkinton asked O'Brien to allow the