Do you and a client have a disagreement about your billed attorney’s fees? The VBA offers free services to resolve disputes over an attorney’s billed fees.  The free services include both mediation and arbitration, and are provided by the VBA Fee Dispute Committee (f/k/a the Fee Arbitration Committee) (the “Committee”) to those who choose to participate.  This program provides an efficient alternative to litigation in court. For more information, click here. The post Fee Dispute Service is Available Through the VBA first appeared on Vermont Bar Association. The post Fee Dispute Servi ..read more

The Judiciary has advised that following this weekend’s outage (4/26-4/27), its Case Management System, “Enterprise Justice” (formally Odyssey), upgrade is complete!  All Judiciary systems including the Public Portal, the Attorney Portal, Vermont Digital Evidence Portal (VDEP), and Odyssey E-File and Serve are back up and operational. There are no changes to appearance or functionality to public facing systems. “ The Help Desk is available for questions at:  itsupport@vtcourts.gov. (Editor’s note: At least “Enterprise Justice” is easier to spell than Oddyssey, Oddisee, Odyssey The p ..read more

  The Judiciary’s Case Management System, Odyssey (renamed “Enterprise Justice” with this upgrade), the Public Portal, the Attorney Portal, Vermont Digital Evidence Portal (VDEP), as well as some functions of Odyssey E-File and Serve will be offline and unavailable Friday April 26th 5 p.m. – Saturday April 27th 5 p.m. due to a planned upgrade. Sunday will be used as a contingency day only if required. The post Don’t Forget – Odyssey and Other E-Portals Go Offline this Weekend – April 26 – 27 first appeared on Vermont Bar Association. The post Don’t Forget – Odyssey and Other E-Portals Go ..read more

  MONTPELIER, Vermont – The Vermont Bar Association joins the American Bar Association in condemning the continued attacks on judges and other members of our judicial system. The VBA is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that is committed to robust civil discourse and the exercise of First Amendment rights – but we will not, and cannot, tolerate personal attacks on judges, court staff, and their families. Threats against, and false statements about, members of our judiciary have no place in our legal system and ultimately undermine the public’s respect for the rule of law. VBA Pre ..read more

Superior Court Judge The Judicial Nominating Board is seeking applicants for the Superior Court Judge vacancy which will be created by the upcoming retirement of Judge Toor.  The Chief Superior Judge will assign this Judge to the Northwestern area of the North Region of the Superior Court, with primary assignments to the Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, and Washington units. A candidate for judge shall be a Vermont resident and an experienced lawyer who has practiced law in Vermont for a minimum of ten years, with at least five years immediately preceding his or her application ..read more

The Vermont Bar Association and Vermont Law and Graduate School are accepting applications from new and new-to-Vermont lawyers who want to start their own solo law practices.  We will select 2-4 candidates to work with for 18 months as they hone their legal and business skills.  The incoming group will overlap with our present class of incubator attorneys. Incubator Attorney Benefits: –Individual and group mentoring and support to meet first-year requirements. –Reimbursement stipend of $2,000 to pay for law office start-up costs. –Weekly “rounds” with your peers and VLS and VBA staff ..read more

The Judiciary has announced the Superior Judge Rotation Schedule for Sept. 3, 2024, through Sept. 1, 2025.  Click here to see the schedule. The post Judicial Rotation Schedule for Fall Announced first appeared on Vermont Bar Association. The post Judicial Rotation Schedule for Fall Announced appeared first on Vermont Bar Association ..read more

More than 100 students participated in the 2024 Mock Trial Competition at Vermont Law and Graduate School on April 6. Teams included Brattleboro Union High School, Hartford High School, Mt. Mansfield Union High School, Rutland High School, Champlain Valley Union High School, Randolph Technical Career Center and Southwest VT Career Center. The Vermont Bar Association was pleased to assist the organizers, the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, the Office of the Federal Public Defender, the Office of the Vermont Attorney General, and Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS ..read more

The second-annual criminal law mixer at Vermont Law & Graduate School will be held April 25  at 6:00 pm in the Yates Common Room at Vermont Law and Graduate School in South Royalton. The theme this year is: Things I Thought I Knew. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will be invited to share stories of the preconceived notions that they held about our criminal legal system, and how their work within the system changed or reinforced their views. Criminal law practitioners, come tell your war stories to the up-and-coming!  They want to hear them.  An RSVP is requested.  The ..read more

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 ..read more