The VBA held its 2024 Mid-Year Meeting at the Burlington Hilton Lake Champlain on March 29. With about 240 attorneys, 40 Vermont judges, 21 sponsors (a post-pandemic record), and special guests, there were more than 300 people on hand for the big day. The weather cooperated, more or less – it was cold and windy but there was lots of sunshine over the lake.
The day began with a continental breakfast with meeting sponsors followed by the first CLE session. Attendees could choose from learning about managing trauma in the legal workplace, led by Cassie Gillespie, Summary Judgment Motion Practice in Vermont, which was taught by Judges Sam Hoar, Helen Toor, and Dan Richardson and attorney Nicole Andreson, or Cyber Security, which was led by Mike Servidio of TCI and Bar Counsel Mike Kennedy.
After the first CLEs wrapped up, attendees had a break to eat, socialize, and talk to the sponsors. The crowd then headed off to the next CLE session: available choices were Developing Housing on Brownfields (panel made up of Matt Chapman, Steven LaRosa, Section Chair David Mears, Jeff Polubinski, Kirsten Merriman Shapiro, and Kathy Beyer), or International Law (panel made up of Kristen Connors, Molly Gray, Section Head Mark Oettinger, Maya Tsukazaki, and Nathan Virag).
Business Meeting
The business meeting followed and was presided over by VBA President Judith Dillon. Judith got things off to an auspicious start by introducing Justice Anisa Rasooli. In 2018, Justice Rasooli became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. Judith told the crowd that throughout her career, which was cut short by the U.S. withdrawal, Justice Rasooli had been a powerful advocate for bringing more women into judicial positions. She worked for 23 years in the judicial system of Afghanistan before being forced to evacuate in 2021. She now lives in Colchester. As Dillon noted, Rasooli is often referred to as “the RBG of Afghanistan.”[1] Judith asked Justice Rasooli to stand and be recognized, and the entire room stood with her, offering a long, heartfelt, standing ovation. Justice Rasooli was accompanied to the meeting by Molly Gray, executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, who was presenting at the international law CLE that day, and translator Yassin Hashimi.
Judith also announced that long-serving environmental law judge, Thomas Durkin was retiring at the end of April. Judge Durkin was on-hand and got a warm round of applause.
Judith then moved on to the main business of the meeting. After getting approval of minutes from last year’s meeting and the treasurer’s report, she recognized the VBA members who passed away in this last year. She included some details and a brief remembrance of each person. This touch was appreciated by the crowd, which stood again to recognize those lost this year. The agenda then moved to the election of new officers.
Elections 2024
There were four uncontested races. All those nominated for these positions were confirmed: President-Elect is Richard Cassidy, a longtime VBA Board Member. Matthew Valerio, the current treasurer, was returned as treasurer. Likewise current and long-serving Board secretary, Edward “Ted” J. Tyler, was re-elected to that position. Former VBA President Elizabeth Kruska was re-elected as ABA Delegate
There were also three contested races for two-year members-at-large. The candidates in each of these competitive races addressed the meeting prior to the vote. Lisa Campion, who was challenged by Linda Coloumbe, won that contest. Campion will begin her term in October. Kate Lamson, a current Board member, prevailed in her race against another current Board member James Rodgers. She and Rodgers will finish their terms and her new term will commence in October. Alfonso Villegas, another current Board member, won the election against Keith Roberts. Villegas will likewise complete his current term and start a new two-year term on the Board in October.
The VBA Young Lawyers Division, which has its own board and officers, also held their meeting and election on March 29th. Ryan Long was chosen to be chair elect. Current YLD chair Pam Eaton becomes past chair and Justin Brown moves to Chair from Chair-Elect. Kathy Zhou was elected treasurer, Zach Dayno, treasurer. Members-at-large on the YLD Board are Margaret Shugart, Collette Schmidt, and Alexander Cyr.
The YLD has three members who also serve on the VBA board – the past chair, the current chair, and the chair elect. Long, Eaton, and Brown are the three who will represent the YLD on the Board, effective immediately. VBA President Judith Dillon presented Kevin Lumpkin, the past chair of the Division who is now moving off the Board of Managers, with a certificate at the meeting on Friday in thanks for his service.
The Women’s Division also met on March 29th and chose Caryn Connolly as their new Chair, replacing Erin Gallivan. The Women’s Division chose Breanna Weaver to serve as their representative to the Board of Managers and she will be stepping in at the next Board meeting in the spot previously held by Gallivan.
Pro Bono Awards
The Pro Bono Award is given annually by the VBA’s Board of Bar Managers to recognize attorneys who have provided extraordinary legal services to indigent and disadvantaged clients in our community. Judith presented this year’s award to Attorneys Seth Lipschutz and Brooke Dingledine.
Dingledine was nominated by grateful residents of a Bennington community that became embroiled in complex litigation over the placement of a pair of solar projects in their neighborhood. The character of their neighborhood as well as the integrity of the town plan was at stake. The group had no money for attorney’s fees. The legal wrangling lasted seven years, including multiple trips to the Vermont Supreme Court, with Dingledine sticking with the case (homeowners prevailed) on a pro bono basis to its end.
Lipschutz is renowned for his long career serving Vermont’s prison population. After logging 30 years as a public servant, in his “retirement” he has taken on significant pro bono caseload representing asylum seekers and helping settle them in this country. Dillon said Lipschutz received several letters of nomination, including one from Jill Martin-Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project. Martin-Diaz and her colleagues were on hand to show their appreciation for Lipschutz’s impressive service as did the rest of the crowd.
VBF Reports and Close of Day
At that point the program was handed over to representatives of the Vermont Bar Foundation. Maya Tsukazaki is the current poverty law fellow, a service position funded by the VBF. She talked about her year serving young clients in need of immigration law assistance. She highlighted the impact of this work on the lives of her clients and urged all assembled to support the VBF. She also gave a shout-out to incoming Poverty Law Fellow, Deanna Hartog, who will be focusing on legal issues faced by the unhoused.
Jose Herrera, executive director of the VBF, followed. He asked all VBF donors to stand and be recognized, and directed everyone’s attention to the donation envelopes that were on the tables.
Judith called for any new business, or any old business. None was raised and the meeting was adjourned. Though the program was crowded, the entire agenda was completed within the time allotted.
As they exited the lunch, attendees in the know grabbed some sweets from the sponsors before heading back to the classrooms for more CLEs. The choices after lunch were an update on the U.S. Supreme Court with Rod Smolla, president of the Vermont Law and Graduate School, or “My New Clients are So Old…” A CLE provided by Elder Law Section Chair Glenn Jarrett and his law partner, Juliana Hoyt. Members of the Business Law Section (Zach Berger, Jerry Carter, and Section Chair Chip Mason) offered a CLE on the new Corporate Transparency Act
One more break followed those CLEs, then, to wrap up the day, we had an ethics CLE led by Bar Counsel Mike Kennedy and special VBA guest, Stuart Teicher.
Teicher, an attorney and a professional speaker, is an ethics expert and a fan of Mike Kennedy’s. He is a “CLE Performer,” who has presented several remote CLEs for the VBA. The Mid-Year meeting was Stuart’s first-time, live in Vermont. The two ethics experts did a memorable hour-and-a-half session based on ethics questions from the audience.
When Mike and Stuart wrapped up so did the in-person part of the meeting. With the sun still shining, attendees made their way back out of the hotel with a palpable sense of good cheer.
Follow Up
A total of 12 CLE hours was on offer that day at the Hilton. Of course, because many sessions were offered in parallel, it was impossible to see them all. For that reason, this year, attendees who paid the full registration fee ($285) will have the option to access recordings of any of the CLEs presented at this year’s In-Person Mid-Year Meeting. Just contact VBA program coordinator Laura Welcome (lwelcome@vtbar.org) between April 1st and April 30th, 2024, and she will provide you with access to the recording(s) in the VBA digital library at no additional charge when they become available.
As has been the practice since in-person VBA meetings resumed post-pandemic, we followed the hotel meeting with a week of remote Zoom CLEs. A further 10 programs carrying 12 credits were available a la carte (separate registration for each) during the first week of April. These included the twice-a-year Basic Skills Series, which was sponsored again this year by ALPS.
Thanks to all our presenters and to all who attended on March 29 or the post-meeting remote sessions. We will see you for the annual meeting on Sept. 27th at Lake Morey!
[1] Rasooli was also one of many Afghan women judges who came to Vermont in the early-to-mid-2000s for legal training and a cultural exchange. That effort was spearheaded by the Hon. Patricia Whalen (ret.) and sponsored by the International Association of Women judges and the U.S. State Department. See the Winter 2023 Vermont Bar Journal for that story. The VBJ is available on the VBA Website under the “for attorneys” tab.
Here’s a little glimpse of how things looked on March 29: