In search of justice

WINTER 2016/2017
THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE FOR VERMONT LAW SCHOOL
In
search
of
justice

WINTER 2016/2017
Volume 30, Number 1
PRESIDENT AND DEAN
Marc Mihaly
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
Mary L. Welz
EDITORS
Maryellen Apelquist
Hannah Morris
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jennifer Lawrence
Ashley Patton
Melissa Harwood MELP'12
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kathryn Flagg
Corin Hirsch
Cirri Nottage
DESIGN, ART DIRECTION, AND PRODUCTION
Corin Hirsch
Bill Strecker
PRINTING
Puritan Capital
PUBLISHED BY VERMONT LAW SCHOOL
164 Chelsea Street, PO Box 96
South Royalton, VT 05068
vermontlaw.edu
Send address changes to alumni@vermontlaw.edu or
call 802-831-1312. Alumni can also update contact
information on the web at connect.vermontlaw.edu.
Printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper.
© 2016 Vermont Law School
DEFENSE LAWYER ALEX MANNING JD'06, A FORMER
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, PRACTICES IN
ATLANTA, GA. READ MORE ABOUT MANNING AND
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE WORK OF OTHER VLS GRADS.
PAGE 30.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHNATHON KELSO

CONTENTS
Spinning the Barrel
Firearm sales are on the rise, even
as some American cities undergo
spasms of gun violence. Are gun
control laws due for an overhaul,
or is it law enforcement that needs
a boost?
BY CORIN HIRSCH
11
DEPARTMENTS
LETTER FROM THE DEAN
Finding Peace in Justice...................5
DISCOVERY
USDA Funding for Food Work; ENRLC
Welcomes Alumna; Who Deserves
Punishment?; Putting the Bite Back in
the Law; Alumnus Takes on Walmart,
and Wins; Animalia; On Workers’
Rights..............................................6
GALLERY
Portraits of VLS graduates working
in criminal justice......................... 29
CLASS NOTES
News from the VLSAA, regional
groups, your classmates,
and friends.................................... 39
INTER ALIA
Caption This................................... 51
VERMONT ALBUM..............................52

Black Lives Matter
BLM is changing the narrative and disrupting
the status quo—but how is it affecting the
criminal justice system? We hear from VLS
alumni, students, and faculty.
BY CIRRI NOTTAGE
21
The (Public)
Defense Rests
Voices of VLS public defenders.
BY KATHRYN FLAGG
16
ON THE COVER: IN SEARCH OF JUSTICE. PHOTOGRAPH BY ADOBE STOCK.
THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADOBE STOCK;
GETTY IMAGES; JOHNATHON KELSO.

Rob Bossi
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND DEAN, VERMONT LAW SCHOOL.
LOQUITUR 4

“INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A
THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.”
-MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
LETTER FROM THE DEAN
FINDING PEACE IN JUSTICE
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Like many Americans, I have watched with a mix of concern, anger and sadness as current events
replay across online news platforms and social media, alerting us to the latest tragedy—from mass
shootings to fatal shootings of and by police officers, some recorded in graphic detail. Tweets and
Facebook comments depict a growing divisiveness among our nation’s citizens, driven by fear and
insecurity, and ignorance.
And yet I find at VLS and in our alumni, reason to hope. It is rooted in our collective understanding
that fair and equal treatment before the law is foundational to a civilized society. I find hope
and solace in the commitment of our school and our alumni, those many among us who fight the
good fight to deliver access to justice and shine a light in the darkest of corners where inequality
and hate still prevail.
My hope lies in the good work of our Fighting Swans—alumni and current students who call for
and believe in justice, who use the power of the law to increase access to justice, and who work
to bring to justice those operating in our darkest corners. Among you are defenders, prosecutors,
judges, victim advocates, civil rights advocates, retired police officers, former military, prosecutorsturned-public
defenders and vice versa.
In this, our criminal justice issue, we tell your stories. We learn about your lives as public
defenders and as state’s attorneys. We explore the Black Lives Matter movement through the
experiences of alumni, current students, and faculty. We look at gun laws in the U.S., and hear
from those advocating both for and against stricter controls.
In a different time, facing different crises, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “. . . only justice,
fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.”
Vermont Law School alumni bring these principles to their daily work, in spades. I am inspired by
Capitol Hill-based alumna Kendra Brown JD’12, policy director for the Congressional Black Caucus
(CBC), who tells us of the CBC and House Judiciary Committee working together to pursue solutions
to “what we see happening around the country and also in an effort to find a path forward
on overarching criminal justice reform.” By alumnus Bobby Sand JD’87, VLS professor and former
state’s attorney, a pioneer for restorative justice in Vermont. And by the many Gallery spotlights
and stories we share here in these pages.
This issue of Loquitur is weighty. It asks tough questions, and (we hope) inspires further conversation
and consideration. Let us know what you think.
All best,
Marc Mihaly
President and Dean
5 WINTER 2016/2017

DISCOVERY
USDA
FUNDING FOR
FOOD WORK
THE CENTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS (CAFS) AT VLS
this fall announced $749,798 in new funding from the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL) to continue
its Healthy Food Policy Project and support new work. The grant extends the
project to January 2020 and brings CAFS’ total USDA NAL funding since 2014
to $2,237,071. The mission of the Healthy Food Policy Project is to advance
knowledge about local laws and policies that improve access to healthy food
and promote health equity, support local economies, and/or foster improved
environmental outcomes. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is a longtime supporter
of the Healthy Food Policy Project and CAFS’ partnership with NAL, the
Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and the Rudd
Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut.
Maclean
ENRLC WELCOMES ALUMNA
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES LAW CLINIC (ENRLC)
was fortunate to welcome Lizzie Tisher JD’14/LLM’18 to its ranks earlier
this year. Lizzie joined the clinic as a staff attorney and LLM fellow in June,
and will be pursing her LLM degree while
working on cases and supervising students in
the clinic. Lizzie is no stranger to the clinic,
having participated as a student clinician
during the spring of 2014 and staying on for
an additional summer. Now, Lizzie is focused
primarily on work related to the PFOA contamination
in North Bennington and recently
drafted extensive comments on Vermont’s
proposed groundwater protection standard.
“We’re thrilled to have Lizzie re-join our team,”
says ENRLC Acting Director Laura Murphy.
“She is an extremely talented attorney and is
a natural at working with students, who have
already sung her praises for giving them super
helpful, thorough, and thoughtful feedback.”
Prior to starting her LLM Fellowship, Lizzie clerked for Vermont
Supreme Court Justice John A. Dooley and served as an Assistant Attorney
General in the Vermont Attorney General’s
Office. While in law school, she excelled on the
Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court
Competition team and received the Burton Award
for Distinguished Legal Writing with her paper,
“Re-Stitching the Urban Fabric: Municipal-Driven
Rehabilitation of Vacant and Abandoned Buildings
in Ohio’s Rust Belt.” In addition to her work in the
ENRLC, Lizzie will be teaching Advanced Appellate
Advocacy in the spring.
Photo courtesy of Lizzie Tisher
vermontlaw.edu/enrlc
LOQUITUR 6

DISCOVERY
WHO DESERVES
PUNISHMENT?
SCHOLARS, ATTORNEYS, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE EXPERTS from across the country joined
Vermont Law Review to examine “Criminal Culpability—Who Deserves Punishment?” during a
daylong symposium Sept. 16 at VLS. Participants discussed the differences in how society treats
white-collar criminals versus drug offenders, and explored solutions for both corporate crimes and
Vermont’s opiate epidemic.
Jim Kenyon of the Valley News discusses the symposium in his Sept. 17 editorial titled “Drug
Abuse Is No Crime.” “The symposium provided a good history lesson that helps explain how the U.S.
now has a half-million people locked up for drug offenses.” Kenyon quotes panelist Mark Osler, a
former federal prosecutor in Detroit who now teaches law at the University of St. Thomas School
of Law, who told attendees, “Narcotics is a market driven by demand. We’re the world’s leading
consumer of recreational drugs. Americans like drugs.”
“That’s a serious public health problem,” writes Kenyon, “which has very little to do with criminal
justice.”
vjel.vermontlaw.edu
PUTTING
THE BITE
BACK IN
THE LAW
Rob Bossi
PROFESSOR EKOW N. YANKAH OF CARDOZO
SCHOOL OF LAW SPEAKS DURING THE 2016
VERMONT LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM.
IN OCTOBER, NATIONAL LEADERS IN
environmental law and advocacy joined the
Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) at
VLS for “The Endangered Species Act: Putting the
Bite Back in the Law,” VJEL’s annual symposium.
“Biodiversity is one of the biggest challenges
for our generation—we are on the brink of the
sixth mass extinction,” says VJEL Symposium
Editor Elizabeth Smith JD/MELP’17. “From the
charismatic megafauna to the species known
by only a few scientists, we need to protect
them all.” Look for VJEL’s upcoming book on the
Endangered Species Act; it will include articles
written by symposium panelists.
7 WINTER 2016/2017

DISCOVERY
ALUMNUS
TAKES ON
WALMART
AND WINS
“WAGE THEFT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED, AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE AN
optimal way for large numbers of workers to recover wages stolen by
their employers,” says attorney Michael D. Donovan JD’84. His remarks
follow an April 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision to reject Walmart’s
appeal of a $187.6 million verdict in Wal-mart Stores, Inc. v. Braun.
Michael, who represents 187,000 Walmart employees in the class
action case, was featured in the Fall 2015 “Unusual Suspects” issue
of Loquitur, in an article detailing the suit brought against Walmart by
hourly employees of Walmart and Sam’s Club for failing to compensate
employees who were forced to work through lunch breaks. Congratulations
to Michael—and the workers—on this victory.
CONNECT.VERMONTLAW.EDU/
LOQUITUR-MAGAZINE
ON WORKERS’
RIGHTS
IN SEPTEMBER THE INTERNATIONAL LAW SOCIETY AND THE
Center for Applied Human Rights hosted Janelle Diller of the International
Labour Organization (ILO) for a talk titled “Workers’ Rights and
Corporate Responsibilities Across Borders: Perspectives on Law and
Social Justice.” Diller, a senior legal adviser at the ILO, an agency
of the United Nations, led the ILO role in international negotiations
that resulted in a compensation arrangement for the victims of the
Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. The collapse, in 2013,
was the deadliest factory disaster in the history of the garment
industry. “Ms. Diller has been at the very center in negotiating with
businesses, workers’ groups and international organizations to address
the human rights impacts of globalization,” says Professor Stephanie Farrior,
director of the Center for Applied Human Rights. “We are privileged to have
such a leader speak at our school.”
vermontlaw.edu/academics/centers-and-programs/center-forapplied-human-rights
LOQUITUR 8

DISCOVERY
ANIMALIA
THE VLS ANIMAL LAW SOCIETY, A STUDENT CHAPTER OF THE ANIMAL LEGAL
Defense Fund (aldf.org), has been keeping busy this fall as the group continues
the school’s tradition of advocating for voiceless animals through the law. ALS
events cover a wide range of animal issues. September started with Pet-A-
Palooza, which included a photo contest of student animals, along with food,
drink, local veterinarians and animal businesses. October was an especially
busy month, as ALS sent representatives to the National Animal Law Conference
in New York City to learn about current legal issues facing animals and network
with professionals in the field of animal law. Also in October, the group hosted
a screening of the documentary “The Champions,” about the Michael Vick dogfighting
dogs, and hosted a video conference with Rebecca Huss, professor of
law at Valparaiso University and former legal guardian of the Vick dogs. These
events were planned to honor National Pit Bull Awareness Month, which happens
each October. Other events throughout the fall include a volunteer day at the
VINE Sanctuary in Springfield, Vt., to help care for rescued farm animals, and a
continuation of the yearly “Vegan Thanksgiving” tradition that has been a big hit
around campus for several years. ALS is excited to welcome many new students
from the incoming class and is prepared for a great year advocating for animals.
–Will Lowrey JD'17
Follow the VLS Animal Law Society on Facebook.
Photos courtesy of Animal Law Society
VLS STUDENTS
ADVOCATE FOR
ANIMALS.
9 WINTER 2016/2017

LOQUITUR 10
Adobe Stock

Firearm sales in the U.S. are on the rise,
even as some American cities undergo
spasms of gun violence. Are gun-control
laws due for a dramatic overhaul—or is it
enforcement that needs a boost?
ON A SULTRY LATE-SUMMER DAY, I STEP INTO
an exhibition hall at the otherwise deserted Orange County Fairgrounds
in Middletown, N.Y. As I hand my ticket to the man at the front, he asks a
startling question. “Do you have a firearm on you?” If so, it’s no problem, he
adds—I simply have to check my ammo at the door.
Once inside, though, it looks like I could quickly rearm. Many of the dealer
tables at the North East Gun & Knife Show are stacked with boxes or buckets
of ammunition. Others are decked out in tidy displays of rifles and shotguns,
pistols and vintage handguns, air guns, hunting knives, handcrafted axes, and
assault weapons. There are dealers selling target-practice posters, military
memorabilia, pepper spray, even hot sauce; one sits on a lawn chair beneath
a “CA$H FOR GUNS” sign. The show feels sort of like a flea market, albeit one
aimed almost exclusively at men—some of whom have guns slung over their
shoulders. I stop at a display of AR15s, which start at $850, and hold one aloft
with my left hand. A dealer wearing a T-shirt that reads “Black Guns Matter”
comes over and asks, “Will this be for you?”
BY CORIN HIRSCH
11 WINTER 2016/2017

North East Gun Shows puts on about four regional
shows per year, mostly in Massachusetts, and a brisk
business seems to be unfolding inside the pavilion as
I walk through its rows. Gun sales are up in the United
States, at least based on the number of background
checks that the FBI conducted in August 2016: 1,853,815,
a 6 percent increase over the previous August, the 16th
month in a row with an increase, and the most monthly
background checks that the FBI has conducted since
recording began in 1998. Even so, legal gun ownership
is lower than it was 40 years ago—just over a third of
Americans report owning a firearm.
Concurrently, gun violence has spiked in some U.S.
cities this year, most notably in Chicago, which is in
the midst of its most violent year in two decades. Mass
shootings, such as the one in Orlando in June, fuel
debates over gun access and the ongoing American
romance with firepower. Pro- and anti-gun rights rhetoric
peppered the presidential campaign, too, with some gunrights
advocates saying firearms sales spiked because
of Hillary Clinton’s promise to intensify background
checks. “The gun business is a really interesting
business,” says Mark Latham, VLS professor of
law. “It has had several near-death experiences
in terms of sales. Few people hunt anymore,
and that was a big part of what their businesses
sold. Fewer people [now] own guns in the U.S.,
but those that do own lots of them.”
Latham, who grew up in Chicago and saw
his share of gun injuries as a critical-care nurse
there, points out that despite anti-gun sentiment
that kicks up after high-profile mass shootings,
gun owners have a powerful legislative
advocate: the National Rifle Association. “The
NRA is, in my estimation, the most powerful
lobbying organization in the country and the
world,” Latham says. The NRA’s fierce defense
of the Second Amendment—which protects individual
Americans’ right to keep and bear arms,
even as firearm violence continues to devastate
communities such as Chicago—has kept Americans’
access to guns largely unfettered in most
states. For instance, “There’s no justifiable use
for so-called assault weapons,” Latham says, but
efforts to ban them wither under pressure from
the NRA. Yet should the interests of gun owners
trump the rights of those who want to live free
of gun violence?
A PATCHWORK OF LAWS
Rules, licensing, and waiting periods for purchasing
guns vary from state to state, which makes
obtaining a gun a very different experience in,
say, Oregon than in Alabama. In California, for instance,
a prospective gun owner must wait 10 days from purchase
to possession. In Vermont—a state with some
of the least restrictive gun-control laws in the U.S.—it
simply takes proof of Vermont residence, as well as an
instant background check, to leave a gun retailer with a
concealed, licensed firearm. In Texas, you can carry your
firearm openly in most public places. In New York City,
your chances of getting a handgun permit from the police
are close to nil. And so the relative ease of obtaining
a gun in southern U.S. states has fueled a conduit of illegal
firearms into more restrictive northern states such
as New York, a trail that law enforcement calls the “Iron
Pipeline.”
Adobe Stock
LOQUITUR 12

In Arizona, as in six other U.S. states, it is legal to carry
a concealed weapon without a permit—called concealed
carry—but if you have a prior felony, and get caught
with any kind of weapon, you will garner mandatory
prison time.
“In Home Depot, you can carry and no one really
cares,” says Jeffrey Heinrick JD’10, a senior attorney with
the Pinal County Public Defender’s Office in Florence,
Ariz. “At the same time, you never know who’s packing,
which is why when road rage happens in Phoenix, you
do not want to get into a confrontation with anyone on
the road, because you have no idea if someone will
shoot you.”
While guns may be easier to obtain and carry in
Arizona as opposed to other states, “At the same time, if
you’re not using a handgun correctly, commit a crime,
or have a prior felony, you will get annihilated,” Heinrick
says, and his office defends several such cases. “If you’re
not ‘doing it [guns]’ correctly, [Arizona has] zero problem
locking you up for as long as possible.”
Maldonado to join the New York City Police Department—
after leaving the Academy, he was assigned to a housing
precinct that encompassed some of Brooklyn’s most
violent housing projects. There, he became intimately
acquainted with guns and gun violence. “In the summertime,
there were shots fired all night,” says Maldonado,
now a second-year student at VLS. “You’d go up onto the
rooftops in public housing, and there’d be shell casings. It
was a very tough place.”
With the neighborhood awash in firearms, many of
them illegal, he often wondered, “'How can guns be coming
so easily in the hands of bad guys?' It was very sad
and nerve-wracking.”
New York City’s powers tried to address this very issue
a century prior. In 1911, in response to rising gang violence
and a heinous murder-suicide, the city passed the
Sullivan Act, one of the first and most restrictive guncontrol
laws in the country. The law, which still stands today,
requires a police-issued permit to carry a concealed
weapon within city limits. The permits are notoriously
“...You never know who’s packing, which is why
when road rage happens in Phoenix, you do
not want to get into a confrontation with
anyone on the road, because you have no idea
if someone will shoot you.”
Heinrick—who owns two guns, including a .38-caliber
snub nose Smith & Wesson he keeps in his car—
cites a recent case of a 60-something-year-old Pinal
County resident who, when out building fences on his
desert ranch, “carried an ancient rifle in the back of his
truck to ward off animals,” Heinrick says. When he was
pulled over for a road violation and the police ran his
criminal history, they discovered a felony from 1982,
and the man eventually had to serve time behind bars.
“He thought [the felony] had disappeared in the court
system, but they never forget your felony convictions.
He had a rifle, and so he had to get prison time. Every
once in a while you get those cases where you think,
‘this sucks.’”
Urban Warfare
On Sept. 11, 2001, Jose Maldonado Jr. JD’18 was a
teenager living in Westchester County, just north
of New York City. The events of 9-11 compelled
difficult to obtain from police, and visitors to New York
are sometimes arrested while carrying weapons that are
legal on their home turfs. Even so, gun violence remains
high in some New York neighborhoods.
Of the 200 arrests he made while on the force, Maldonado
had four illegal-gun “collars,” or felony arrests, including
one during his rookie year. When he or someone
in his department would run a seized gun’s serial number,
“99 percent of the time [the gun] was reported stolen.
You could see there was that pattern,” Maldonado says.
“I don’t think I ever heard of somebody that was arrested
with a firearm when it came back that he had a permit. A
lot of the people who have illegal guns are pretty bad news.”
Taking at least a few of those stolen guns off of the
street was gratifying for Maldonado. “There was that
feeling that if you took one off the street, you knew this
[illegal gun] wasn’t going to hurt anyone else—a mother,
a child, or another police officer.”
Of his decision to leave the NYPD and attend law
school, Maldonado says, “I had accomplished everything
13 WINTER 2016/2017

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN ALBUQUERQUE. THE PUBLIC
RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF THE VICTIMS OF THE JUNE
2016 ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING.
Kaldari
I wanted as a police officer, and it was time for me to
move on and make a difference in a new capacity.” And
yet there is another element to it, he says. “Things are
getting more difficult for police officers in this country.
Sometimes, you’re put under the microscope, and when
you have to keep interacting with dangerous criminals, it
impacts morale because the majority of cops want to be
appreciated by the public we protect.”
Still, his attitudes about guns remain on the side of
restraint. While Maldonado respects the Second Amendment,
he says “there needs to be a balance, and some
accountability, when guns fall into the wrong hands.”
On the Home Front
While a prior felony will automatically prohibit
someone from purchasing a firearm during
a background check, the only misdemeanor
crime that limits someone’s access to a gun during a
background check, at both federal and state levels, is a
misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, points out
Roberta “Rob” Valente, vice president of policy for the
National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) and a steering
committee member of the National Task Force to End
Sexual and Domestic Violence.
“I’ve trained a lot of law enforcement in my life about
domestic violence, and they’ll tell me how volatile these
situations are, and how they’re terrified,” Valente says.
“These are armed policemen coming onto the scene, and
the greatest fear they have is that the abuser is going to
kill them with the gun. It only takes a split second. A firearm
in the hands of someone who is completely enraged
or completely explosive is just too dangerous.”
In a 2014 NDVH study of 4,721 people using its phone
and online chat services, 16 percent of respondents
had partners with access to guns—and 22 percent of
that group said their partners had used that firearm to
threaten them, their children, their pets, or their families.
Nearly 52 percent said they would feel safer if law
enforcement took their partner or ex’s firearm away, as
two-thirds said they thought their partner was capable of
killing them—but only a third realized a court could force
that person to give up their weapons and ammunition.
Rather than crucifying the NRA or other gun-rights
advocates for domestic firearms gun violence, Valente
points to another factor: The agency charged with
enforcing federal firearms laws, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), is overextended
and “hugely underfunded,” she says. “There are just not
enough agents to really deal with the problem. We need
to enforce the existing laws, and it takes people to do
that. We’re all in agreement that we have a list of people
who should not have guns because they have demonstrated
violent proclivities. We should have agents who
are able to remove firearms, and investigate if somebody
has committed a crime.”
Valente also points out that there have been strong
ties to domestic violence in recent mass shootings—including
in the Orlando nightclub tragedy. “We have to
look at those as red flags more consistently,” Valente
says. “I feel like we’re always saying this, but when we
try to keep guns out of the hands of abusers, we’re not
trying to keep guns out of the hands of everyone. This is
about making sure that people who have tried to terrorize
other people don’t have the ability to continue causing
that kind of harm.”
LOQUITUR 14

Balance of Interests, or
Balance of Power?
Balancing individual access to guns with the rights
of other law-abiding citizens is something that
Richard Feldman JD’82 thinks, and writes, about
a lot. “I’m not one of those gun-rights people who are all
or nothing,” says Feldman. After graduating from VLS,
Feldman worked in politics for many years, eventually
becoming a lobbyist for the NRA. Now, he’s president of
the New Hampshire-based Independent Firearm Owners
Association, as well as an author and frequent speaker.
“I don’t have a problem with gun control laws. I have a
problem with stupid and silly gun control laws that have
no relationship to the problem [of gun violence].”
Feldman was first exposed to firearms law, and guns
themselves, during his time at VLS. “Five years before
law school, if you had asked me about guns, I would have
told you I’m for gun control,” he says. After he heard a
distinguished lecturer at VLS talk about firearms law, his
stance began to shift. He bought his first gun, a Smith &
Wesson revolver, at the general store in East Braintree
after showing his driver’s license—without the waiting
period that became law after the Brady Handgun Violence
Prevention Act passed in 1993. “I walked out of the shop
with the gun loaded and concealed on my person.”
Since then, Feldman has acquired more guns,
as well as well-honed opinions on gun
control. “The history of gun control in
America is a history of sexism and elitism,”
Feldman says, citing the Sullivan
Act as an example of a law aimed at
a particular ethnic group—in that
case, Italian-Americans. “I’ve never
heard politicians say, ‘I want to
[give] up my guns to make society
safer. It’s, ‘Certain citizens should
give up guns.’ Guns are a symbolic
issue, and the symbolism
is the relationship between the
government and the governed.
We always talk about the balance
of interest in the law, and this is
about the balance of power.”
Though Feldman supports
mandatory background checks
at gun shows and in gun shops,
he thinks that private person-toperson
sales—notably with close
relatives, friends, neighbors, or
coworkers you’ve known for at least
one year—should be exempt. The
so-called “gun show loophole” is oft
cited as a driving force in illegal gun
sales and possession, but Feldman disagrees. “Anyone
who thinks they’ve stopped a person with criminal intent
[with a background check], you’re kidding yourself. Some
criminals get guns [that way], but the bulk are stolen.”
Professor Latham touches upon the gun business
during his class on Torts, pointing out to students that
governmental immunity from negligence claims granted
to U.S. gun manufacturers and distributors is not necessarily
enjoyed in other sectors—for instance, auto manufacturing.
“It’s really startling,” Latham says, recounting
how the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
stemmed out of the city of Chicago’s 1998 effort to sue
gun manufacturers for violence there.
Latham—who owns several firearms—recalls that after
the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012,
“I practically drove home in tears. I was sure this was
going to result in Congress doing something about gun
violence, particularly assault weapons.”
That did not happen. Now, Latham talks to his students
about “if there’s anything lawyers can do [about gun violence],
or is there even a role for lawyers?” he says. “Many
of my students parrot the NRA and say the only way to
stop a bad guy with a gun is to be a good guy with gun.”
He adds, “Today, what really fuels the
gun business is a fear of violence, a
fear of terrorism, and the fear of a
Democratic administration.”
At the North East Gun & Knife Show,
I see those mechanisms in action. After
handling a few guns and watching dealers
perform on-the-spot background
checks, as per New York law, I inquire
about acquiring a weapon—and dealers
look at me as if I’ve just landed from
another planet (I have no license). Seeing
so much weaponry in one place,
and those weapons changing hands,
can instill a fear that’s hard to put
one’s finger on—that to be unarmed
is to leave oneself vulnerable, maybe.
Whether or not this is a valid concern,
it’s easy to see how guns beget more
guns, or how having one leads to having
another, and another. I leave the
hall without a firearm, but with a fresh
can of pepper spray, a credit-card knife
I probably don’t need, and the newfound
knowledge that an AR15 can be
held in one hand.
Adobe Stock
Corin Hirsch writes from New York’s Hudson
Valley.
15 WINTER 2016/2017

The (Public)
Defense Rests.
Voices of VLS Public Defenders
By Kathryn Flagg
Johnathon Kelso

ALUMNUS CHRIS MIDDLETON JD'06, A PUBLIC
DEFENDER IN SAVANNAH, GA.
17 FALL 2016

Chris Middleton's office is
spartan and nondescript. No
degrees or certificates or
awards adorn the bare walls.
“When clients walk into my office,
it’s a clean slate,” says Middleton,
a Chatham County assistant public
defender in Savannah, Ga., who
earned his JD from VLS in 2006.
“We have to establish that attorneyclient
relationship.” It’s not about
Middleton’s academic successes or
community service awards or his
college football career.
“It’s more, ‘I’m Chris Middleton.
I’m a person just like you. You’ve got
a problem. Let’s work together to
solve it,’” he says.
In big cities and rural towns and
quiet suburbs and forgotten backwaters
across the country, Vermont
Law School alumni are having these
conversations with clients. For
alumni choosing the path of the
public defender, the work is often
akin to a calling—the chance to
hold the government accountable,
to fight overzealous prosecution or
government overreaching. To give
voice to individuals who might otherwise
go unheard. To meet another
person at a dark moment in their
life, and provide some guidance and
assistance.
The stakes are incredibly high.
The days are long, the work often
grueling—large caseloads, long
nights. Many public defenders
report that it’s hard, if not impossible,
to leave work at work come
the end of the day.
Loquitur interviewed seven public
defenders, ranging from relative
newcomers to seasoned veterans,
to learn about the motivations,
challenges, and day-to-day life of
the public defender.
An Unequal Playing Field
The Sixth Amendment establishes
the right to counsel in
criminal court proceedings.
The tradition of public defense as we
know it today dates back to the 1963
Supreme Court decision in Gideon
v. Wainwright, in which the court
acknowledged that all accused criminals
have the right to a lawyer—regardless
of income.
The way states and localities
deliver indigent criminal defense
services can vary widely, however.
Some use public defender programs.
Others assign counsel from a pool of
private attorneys, and some contract
with private practices and attorneys.
And often a defendant’s access to
resources—ranging from a district
attorney’s willingness to make a plea
deal to mental health and drug court
alternatives—varies widely, too.
In Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom,
Zachary Weight JD’12 works for
Northeast Kingdom Law, a private
firm in Newport. The state contracts
Weight’s firm to do public defense
work for three counties. His caseload
is a mix of juvenile cases and
adult criminal work.
Weight is struck by what he
sees as the geographic disparity in
resources for defense clients. The
Northeast Kingdom is poor, rural,
and remote. The overwhelming
majority of Weight’s clients struggle
with legal drugs like alcohol, or illegal
drugs such as meth, cocaine,
or heroin. Some have serious and
complicated mental health issues.
And yet, in his county, Weight
says, “We’ve got nothing.” There’s no
drug court, no mental health court—
services his clients desperately need.
The work can be draining at times.
“Most of these people out here,
they don’t have anybody,” says
Weight. “I’m not sure that most of
them ever had anybody. It’s me and
my senior counsel and my staff—
we’re it.”
Focusing on the Wins
clients as young
as 15, charged with armed
“Irepresent
robbery, who are facing a
mandatory minimum of 10 years
without parole,” says Middleton. His
job is to shepherd that client—and
oftentimes, their family members—
through a legal process that can be
scary and overwhelming.
“The lawyer has to be so much
more than just a legal specialist,” he
says. “You wear so many different
hats. You have to be a counselor. You
have to be a job specialist. You have
to be a public relations specialist.”
"Most of the people
out there, they
don't have anybody...
It's me and my senior
counsel and my staff
— we’re it."
LOQUITUR 18

Adobe Stock
Should a case go to jury, Middleton
finds himself boning up on medicine,
psychology, forensic science.
But the wins, when they come,
can be sustaining. Middleton recalls
a high-profile burglary case involving
a 16-year-old defendant. He
strategized with his client, and
worked out a resolution with the
prosecution for the first-time offender
that kept a felony conviction
off of the young man’s record.
The boy went on to college. He married,
and had three children.
“This kid hadn’t even lived life
yet,” says Middleton. “When you
give someone a chance, or a second
chance, you will be amazed at what
can happen.”
In another case, he represented
a woman charged with murder,
arguing self-defense. The woman,
Middleton recalls, had been living
in an abusive relationship for seven
years. The jury came back with a not
guilty verdict in 15 minutes.
“A lot of stuff that you learn in
law school is black-and-white, letter
of the law, textbook stuff,” says
Middleton. “When you get into the
real world, and you’re dealing with
people’s lives and hopes and dreams
and aspirations, it can be somewhat
overwhelming—and rewarding, with
the right result.”
The Common Questions
From laypeople, the questions
often sound like, “But how can
you defend someone who committed
that crime?” Or, “What do you
do if you know your client is guilty?”
Misconceptions about the role and
work of the public defender abound
among clients themselves, too. Defendants
might complain about their
“public pretender” or “dump truck”—
in other words, in cahoots with the
prosecution, and eager to “dump”
cases rather than fight tooth and nail
on behalf of defendants.
In both cases, public defense attorneys
say those questions fundamentally
misinterpret their roles
and their approach to their jobs.
“Representing someone on a
criminal case is not a stamp of approval
on their conduct,” says Nicolas
Campbell JD’11. “I loathe crime,
but I couldn’t really care less what
someone did or is accused of when
I’m their advocate.”
Campbell spent several years
as a public defender in Colorado
before recently moving to Brooklyn
Defender Services in New York. He
pointed to the analogy of the doctor,
getting ready to operate on someone
who may have been a lifelong
smoker. A patient’s behavior doesn’t
influence the doctor’s ethical duty
and responsibility to treat them—just
as a defendant’s alleged crime does
not affect that person’s right to fair
representation.
Having represented individuals
accused of terrible crimes—homicide,
sexual abuse of children—Campbell
says bluntly that such accusations
don’t enter into the equation of his
feelings toward that person or his
advocacy on their behalf.
“My role is not to judge somebody,”
agrees Weight. “I’m literally,
by law, allowed to hear that person’s
deepest, darkest secrets, and I can’t
tell anybody or my license is gone.”
It’s a sentiment that’s echoed by
many VLS alumni working in criminal
defense.
“I have children. I don’t approve
of crime, and I don’t approve of people
hurting each other,” says Chris
Dearborn JD/MSEL’95, a tenured
clinical professor at Suffolk University
Law School. “That’s different than
thinking that everybody deserves to
be represented in court.”
In other words: The crime doesn’t
matter.
Before moving to full-time teaching,
Dearborn spent 10 years as a
public defender in Massachusetts,
followed by another two in private
defense work. Now he directs the
Suffolk Defenders Program, an adult
criminal defense clinic for third-year
law students.
Dearborn says out of the thousands
of individuals he represented,
only a handful are what he’d consider
“bad people.” The vast majority
were simply people who made bad
choices, he says, and there’s a huge
difference between the two.
19 WINTER 2016/2017

“When we sit with our clients,
this is another person on the other
side of the table that we’re working
with,” says Adam Us JD’11, an appellate
defender in Massachusetts. “I’m
lucky. I’m sitting on this side of the
table. A different day, a different set
of parents, whatever it is—it’s only
by the grace of God I’m on this side
of the table.”
Beth Stang JD’04 agrees. “I try to
tell myself, ‘I’m not so different than
a lot of these folks,’” says Stang, a
public defense lawyer in western
North Carolina. “I took some different
roads, and had some different
opportunities, but that’s about it.”
Thick Skin
It’s not a very popular position
to be in, defending
people who are oftentimes
charged with very serious crimes,”
says Dearborn. “You don’t win a lot
of elections, you don’t win a lot of
popularity contests, and it’s a very
thankless job.”
But Dearborn says public defenders’
thick skin must be matched by
sympathy for their clients. His first
outing with students in his criminal
defense clinic is to a local jail. “I
want them to graduate with a sense
of humanity,” says Dearborn. “I want
them to know what’s at stake.”
“What’s at stake” weighs heavily
on many public defenders. Matthew
Perrone JD’09 is a defense
attorney in Westchester, N.Y.; about
two-thirds of his caseload is public
defense work assigned by a local
panel. He left a job in corporate law
about three years ago to establish
his defense practice, and early on
heard an adage from other defense
lawyers: When a client is sentenced,
you often “do the time with them.”
Perrone recalls a trial that he
thinks should have gone his way, but
didn’t. For a week afterward, he had
trouble eating and sleeping. He finds
it all but impossible to leave work
at work—but then again, maybe it
should be that way.
“I have an ethical obligation that
I take very seriously to treat every
case the same, and give it my full
attention,” says Perrone.
"To have someone's
future and rights
in your hands is
really a high honor."
And that’s perhaps what drives a
problem that even the most tireless
of defenders can encounter: burnout.
“It’s very hard for people to be
able to turn this into a career if
they want to raise a family,” says
Dearborn. Ten years into his own
run as a public defender, he was still
working long nights and weekends
for relatively little pay. “That’s just
not sustainable over a lifetime,”
says Dearborn, and the result is that
many good lawyers move on to different
jobs or private practice.
Even on the private side, it can
be hard to make money as a defense
attorney. Dearborn pointed to the
“justice gap”—that growing number
of individuals who do not qualify for
a public defender, and yet can’t truly
afford to hire a private lawyer.
“People end up representing
themselves, and they don’t get very
good representation,” says Dearborn.
Staying the Course
What does keep public
defenders going, then, in
the face of low pay, long
hours, and burnout? Campbell, now
at Brooklyn Defender Services, says
he remains grounded by remembering,
and focusing on, his role. It’s
noble to try to lift people out of dire
circumstances, and to devote oneself
to fixing a cycle of incarceration
and poverty that propels many of
his clients into a public defender’s
office. And yet, several years into
his career, he says he’s also made
peace with a realization that “I can’t
change as much as I’d like.”
“People, especially the indigent
population, are so at the mercy of
this system, and the consequences
can just be so devastating,” says
Campbell. He tells himself, “It’s not
my case. It’s this person’s case. I’m
just merely their mouthpiece and
their advocate.” And that, he says,
“frees you a little bit” from the emotional
burden of the work.
The work can be much more than
a burden, notes Perrone. “To have
someone’s future and rights in your
hands is really a high honor,” he
says. “You have to take it seriously.”
In Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom,
Weight takes pride in his job, and
his duty to hold law enforcement
and prosecutors to their constitutional
burden.
“I believe if the government’s
going to make an accusation, then
they’re going to have to prove it,”
says Weight. “They should be held to
account.”
“My thing is, you know what,
at the darkest moment in my life,
I want somebody standing in my
corner, whether it’s my friend coming
at me or the government coming
at me,” he says. “It’s not my place to
judge people, but to make sure their
rights are being respected.”
Freelance writer Kathryn Flagg is a
former Middlebury Fellow. She writes from
Shoreham, Vt.
LOQUITUR 20

Black Lives Matter
Adobe Stock
& the Law
By Cirri Nottage
IAISING AWARENESS,
challenging norms, galvanizing voters, Black
Lives Matter (BLM) has permeated the national
consciousness. From city hall to the NFL, BLM is
changing the narrative and effectively disrupting
the status quo. Much more than a slogan, BLM is
part of The Movement for Black Lives, a political
force demanding transformative change as
outlined in their comprehensive policy platform “A
Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black
Power, Freedom & Justice.” (see inset, next page)

The Movement for
black lives
in a rigorous process to collect, to interact, to challenge, to build and
strengthen an analysis that generated the platform released August 1.
We were very intentional around centering people who were most
marginalized, and also centering the work of folks who are most marginalized
within Black communities. So that includes folks who are women,
queer, trans, youth, differently abled, low-income, incarcerated, undocumented,
etc. We knew we had to center this movement and its vision from
those. If we did not, we were not going to get free.
This is a condensed and edited interview
with M Adams, co-executive director of
Freedom Inc., a grassroots nonprofit that
seeks to end violence within and against
low-income communities of color. As a
member of the Movement for Black Lives
(M4BL) Policy Table Leadership Team,
M has been integral to the development
of their platform “A Vision for Black
Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power,
Freedom, and Justice.”
How would you describe the Movement for Black Lives?
M4BL is a broad united front encompassing over 50 organizations like
Freedom Inc, Project South, BlackBird, BLM, BYP100, and its power lies
in the fact that it is no single organization. Its impetus comes from the
history of Black folks' exploitation, colonization, enslavement and many
other issues including our ongoing legacy of resistance, resiliency.
More recently, our history points to the Ferguson uprising. Around the
country, the need to have transformative policies for people to galvanize
around was felt strongly. In 2015 M4BL convened in Cleveland where
over 2000 Black folks came together. One of the themes was we need
something united that we can collectively get behind and push forward.
From those calls we created a united front of about 50 organizations that
took up that charge.
What was the process involved in developing the platform?
The process included in-person convenings, working groups around particular
subjects or sectors, advisory councils, one-on-ones. We engaged
What was the strategy?
We built our united front around three principles: community control,
invest-divest, and building Black infrastructure.
First, we knew we had to fight for community control. We knew that
it was not enough to fight for just access but for control, and you fight for
control by building power. We are not just begging people to be right to
us, hoping that those that are oppressing us, systems that are violent and
killing us, would one day stumble into doing the right thing.
We knew that if we were to see liberation in Black communities, Black
people as a class must have power over the institutions that were impacting
our lives.
Second, we must divest from systems that are harmful to us and
instead invest in systems that will build up, repair and nourish our communities.
Third, we must build up Black community infrastructure, which
means protecting [Historically Black Colleges and Universities], other
forms of community schools, freedom schools, etc. It can also look like
restorative justice systems. Whatever those systems are—there are so
many different things our community actually needs.
We also considered what can we do to improve our communities immediately.
Through this process we developed the platform that consists of
six demands and 40 policy recommendations. (https://policy.m4bl.org)
Why is it important to elevate the experiences of the most marginalized?
It’s important to center those who are most marginalized in order to create
a different kind of system. We want freedom for all Black people so we
had to take that charge seriously. In centering queer folk, women, trans
people, when you think about police violence, not only do you include
more people who were murdered and attacked, that analysis also provides
a better understanding of the full scope of police violence. Police violence
is not just racial, it is also gendered. When you begin to think about the
way that women, queer, trans people are attacked you will understand the
way police violence is patriarchal.
Similarly, we couldn’t talk Black freedom without talking economics;
we couldn’t talk freedom by looking at single sectors, without looking at
multiple identities. We couldn’t just say race, class, education, police or
LOQUITUR 22

financial institution. We also have to say gender, ability, sexuality—intersectionality
teaches us that. We’re very clear that the structure that
we’re against has interlocking systems of oppression.
We know when most marginalized people win, everybody wins.
Many of us have been in the streets, have put our bodies on the line,
have been leading, and we have done too much to go home with anything
short of freedom. We’re going to do it for all. That has been central
for this entire platform.
You’ve said elsewhere solving racial prejudice is not the primary issue we need
to solve. Why not?
Kwame Toure said, “If a white man wants to lynch me, that’s his problem.
If he’s got the power to lynch me, that’s my problem. Racism is not
a question of attitude; it’s a question of power.”
We think ending racial prejudice is important but that work has to
be done in the white community. Our organizing and thinking is about
creating power. This is too critical of a moment, too important of a
movement to misdiagnose. If all that comes out of this is six hours of
police training we have failed this movement, this moment.
If black cops started to kill white kids because they were afraid, it
would be unallowable. Saying cops just need to get trained on how to
not to shoot white grandmothers or white kids skateboarding, they just
need therapy, we would reject that. The white community as a class is
powerful enough [that] even if you have racial prejudice, that can’t happen—which
is a direct result of power. That’s what we need. Not that we
shouldn’t change the hearts and minds of people, but there should be
something so strong in the structure to not allow violence against our
community whether or not people like us.
What does positive change look like? Can you name some victories?
It is incredibly important to recognize our victories because we are
fighting hundreds of years of oppression and colonization. Sometimes
we feel like we’re not doing anything but we’re actually doing incredible
work. The creation of this united front and this vision is no small
feat. It’s the result of hard work and is a community tool for people to
organize around. That is a huge victory.
Other victories include our new generation of young black leaders,
who are engaged in political work—inspiring folks to become more active
in changing their society than they were five years ago. We’ve seen
resistance throughout the country to the violence and the harm done in
our communities. Whenever oppressed people organize, take their power
back, you get victory. Every time we showed up, it absolutely mattered.
There are many cities who’ve fought really hard over the last few
years and who’ve achieved some level of victory in terms of policy
change, but we don’t see policy change as the only victory. We’ve seen
people create urban gardens, take back homes, land, and communities.
We’ve seen freedom schools established, organizers training more organizers,
more demonstrations, and more challenges to elected officials.
We’ve seen more Black political agendas discussed in mainstream
places; we’ve seen a challenge to the dominant narrative of hegemony—all
of those are victories.
Loquitur spoke with VLS alumni, professors and students
who are practitioners, policymakers, and activists
about the movement’s effects and its potential to impact
the criminal justice system.
“Activism, protest and civil disobedience can be ‘extralegal,’
meaning that they are often outside the established
legal strategies and may even be illegal,” says VLS Professor
Jessica West, who teaches Criminal Law and writes
on race and the criminal justice system. Over the course
of her career, West has represented protesters, and as an
academic, she writes about protest and the law, especially
focusing on the legal responses to protest and the tensions
between the law and the right to protest.
Despite being outside recognized legal structures,
protest “may be the only option for marginalized and
disenfranchised voices. It may be the only way for an
issue to get on the societal agenda” says West. Nonviolent
protests “inject into the public discourse” issues that
may not otherwise be heard. West highlights America’s
activist roots, noting that “our country was not born
in the confines of legality but through many acts of
protest”—and that protest provides a safety valve for disenfranchised
voices in lieu of actual revolution. Despite
the country’s activist roots, West says there is a deep
tension between law and activism, and it is not entirely
clear how much protest conflicts with an orderly and
lawful society.
West admits that policing issues are complicated
and the problems entrenched. “The police operate as a
quasi-independent societal entity and that entity is entrusted
with an important public role. Most police believe
strongly in the honor of fulfilling that role. While understandable,
the strong perception of police as honorable
protectors along with the insular nature of the institution
has led to the failure to acknowledge the very real
deficits they have.” Some of those “very real deficits” are
outlined in a Department of Justice (DOJ) report on the
Baltimore Police Department released in August 2016.
The report validates what the black community in Baltimore
and elsewhere has said all along—that the criminal
justice system generally, and policing in particular, have
a problem with racial bias, which brings to light the systemic
inequities. West is not enamored with individual
prosecutions of police officers, however. “The problem
is bigger than a couple of bad apples. The real culprit is
biased procedures and systems. For example, stop-andfrisk
procedures and ‘broken window’ policing are justified
to ‘protect’ black communities. These policies are
applied unevenly and have deeply racist implications.”
West believes that protests by BLM and other activists
have already accomplished much. “Recent videos
23 WINTER 2016/2017

have done a lot to undercut the pervasive perspective
of police as community protectors. Most of mainstream
America now sees that their vision of policing is not
everyone’s experience. This is huge and it could not have
been accomplished without the social movements,” West
says. Because of that shift, police departments are now
looking at their procedures, talking about implicit biases,
beginning to grapple with some systemic changes. “And
it’s not courts that are making them do that—it’s more
organic. Probably, that’s a good thing,” West says. “The
law is at its core a deeply reactionary and conservative
institution and tends to be uncomfortable getting out
in front of social change. And anyway, social change is
most secure when it happens through evolving social
norms rather than through mandates.”
On Capitol Hill, a recently launched Bipartisan Working
Group between the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
and the House Judiciary Committee is pursuing legislative
and non-legislative solutions to “what we see happening
around the country and also in an effort to find
a path forward on overarching criminal justice reform,”
says CBC Policy Director Kendra Brown JD’12.
Working with a variety of civil rights groups and
nonprofits, Brown says there is a strong likelihood that
Congress will move forward on criminal justice reform. “I
know that certain bills have moved through the judiciary
committee and have passed markup. As we move forward
with criminal justice reform, there is a lot of bipartisan
energy looking at what needs to be considered, what are
the issues that cut across all of our communities, where
are the areas that we know we can find common ground.
Everyone really understands that this is a time when we
need to act.”
But Brown is quick to add that there are many different
areas that need attention. “So many statistics show,
unfortunately, in many key areas African Americans are
not doing well and that really needs to be addressed.”
Brown cites an extensive report that shows many black
communities are hurting compared to other demographics,
including in access to wealth, employment, education,
health, and incarceration.
“Over the years, certain policies have had a disparate
impact on African Americans and that’s why when BLM
started a majority of Americans didn’t understand,”
Brown says. “With the murder of Trayvon Martin there
was an overwhelming sense that in the grand scheme of
things African American lives did not and were not receiving
the attention and the same level of commitment
that others were receiving. When you have Trayvon Martin,
Michael Brown, Eric Garner—and that is just three—
you have all these individuals that have been killed and
then it seems as if there is no accountability? It makes
one feel as if my life may not count and matter as much
as someone else’s. Now people in our nation are starting
Jay Mallin
LOQUITUR 24

'The problem is
bigger than a
couple of bad
apples. The
real culprit
is biased
procedures
and systems.'
KENDRA BROWN JD'12, POLICY DIRECTOR FOR THE
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, PHOTOGRAPHED AT
THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL.
to understand, taking another look and saying, ‘Let me
see if I can change my perspective and fully understand
why African Americans feel this way.’
She credits BLM. “What BLM has helped to do is really
illuminate the impact of some of the policies that over
the years have led to the numbers of minorities being
incarcerated.”
The CBC is also focused on recommendations set
forward by the President’s Task Force on 21st Century
Policing. Brown says Barack Obama is issuing a record
number of pardons because he understands the many
roadblocks the formerly incarcerated face when reentering
society.
“I really think BLM has helped to infuse a sense of
pride, a sense of my life matters, I matter,” Brown says.
“I am not a statistic, I am a living, breathing individual,
and I matter. They have helped to infuse that reflective
component into all that we do.”
James Moreno JD’88/MSEL’93 is an assistant federal
defender in the Federal Community Defender’s Office
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He represents
individuals awaiting trial on capital charges and those
individuals who have been convicted and sentenced
to death. His office handles cases in Pennsylvania and
throughout the country. Moreno has been doing capital
work for almost 24 years and says race is a constant factor.
“I have a lot of experience watching how race plays a
role in who gets charged, who their lawyers are, and how
the criminal justice system has pretty strong bias against
people of color.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
25 WINTER 2016/2017

A Delaware judge recently displayed such bias toward
a client’s family members who were wearing BLM shirts
that said “Free” and the client’s name, says Moreno.
“When the judge walked into the courtroom he launched
into them about how there would be none of this in
his courtroom, there would be no wearing shirts, there
would be no protest. He wasn’t having any of it and
[said] how it didn’t help, and he went on and on. Very
interesting that is the first thing the judge gravitated
toward. These folks were doing nothing but sitting there
listening. They were sitting in the back respectfully
showing their support for the client.”
Moreno says bias also affects the level of representation.
“We sometimes deal with lawyers who are representing
our clients at trial level who use phrases like
‘these people,’ ‘those people,’ really differentiating themselves
[and] not making any attempt to connect.”
Moreno maintains the resistance to BLM within the
law is real. “The defense and capital defense communities
have been raising issues of jury discrimination and
discrimination in charging decisions for years but courts
don’t like to hear this stuff. It challenges the status quo.
No one wants to think of themselves as being involved in
a system that’s biased and we are.”
Articles about bias and racial sensitivity trainings are
“becoming more mainstream in the law community and
can really help a lot,” says Moreno. At his own office,
where “Everyone here is anti-death penalty, pretty damn
liberal, a number of us tested out as racists,” he laughs.
“It was stunning, really very interesting.”
Ultimately, Moreno is hopeful but acknowledges the
difficulty. “I like the BLM movement. It’s bringing awareness
in a real way by people who are truly affected by
the criminal justice system. I’m hoping that it has an
impact on the judicial system, but it’s really hard to make
that kind of impact. It takes time to get judges that are
receptive to the notion that race really does play a role.
Everyone wants to believe they’re colorblind in matters
of justice but bottom line is we’re not. ... No one wants to
confront their own prejudices if they don’t have to.”
Former deputy defender general and longtime VLS
Professor Anna Saxman JD’85 echoes Moreno’s assertion
that judges and the system can be biased. Saxman
has worked in Vermont’s public defender system for 26
LOQUITUR 26

years, training criminal defense and juvenile law attorneys.
“I think looking carefully without assigning intentional
racism to our prosecutors or judges, but perhaps
unconscious bias, will operate to the disadvantage of
minorities—in police stops, bail, charging decisions, and
sentencing.”
The numbers tell the story. According to the Vermont
Department of Corrections, black people constitute 1.2
percent of the state’s population but nearly 11 percent of
Vermont’s inmates—one of the most disproportionate
ratios of incarceration of blacks in the U.S.
Saxman cites the Shamel Alexander case as “emblematic
of what’s been going on for years.” Alexander,
a black man from Brooklyn, was racially profiled and
subjected to an unlawful search and seizure in Bennington,
Vt. During the search, heroin was found and he
was arrested. His motion to suppress the evidence was
denied and he lost at trial. On appeal, Saxman convinced
the Vermont Supreme Court to rule that the police did
not have sufficient suspicion to expand the stop into a
drug investigation. The court agreed that the description
of Alexander as “a large African-American male” coming
Adobe Stock
into town in a cab was insufficient to provide suspicion
that he was the alleged drug dealer.
“The judge gave him an incredibly harsh sentence, ten
to ten years and a day. No time for rehab, no recognition
that rehab could be an issue, no possibility of parole,
zero.” Saxman has noticed a belief that Vermont’s drug
problem exists because people are bringing drugs into
Vermont, not because Vermonters are addicted.
Defense attorneys at sentencing are now trying to
help judges view defendants as individuals. For example,
some attorneys show a video of the client’s family, where
they grew up or the particular factors that led to becoming
a drug mule. Saxman says, “It’s one hopeful step. Our
country had to adopt insane myths in order to justify
slavery and the inhumane treatment of slaves. Many of
those myths are still with us.”
Like many other states, Vermont has a problem with
stops. VLS student Shakia Woods JD’17 has been stopped
a number of times. “Someone said to me, ‘Do you
mention you are at the law school when you get pulled
over?’ I always say no, because not every minority has
that option. I would like to be treated like everyone else.”
Jordan Gaither JD’17 also has been stopped. In Arkansas,
Gaither was cuffed and taken in for having an expired
license. At the station, he says, the sheriff declared,
“You can take those cuffs off. He’ll make a good target if
he runs.”
Woods says BLM is effecting positive change through
“making people aware of many injustices around the
country. It has been providing a platform, organizing
people, asking questions, and forcing cities, towns, and
states to respond to situations. This has been a young
persons’ movement that has gotten everyone involved.”
Brittmy Martinez JD’17 agrees. Martinez is a Black Law
Students Association (BLSA) parliamentarian and works
with Black Lives Matter VT in building relationships with
community advocates and pairing the movement’s initiatives
with BLSA’s interests. “BLM sets a millennial tone to
a perpetual issue that our country tries to move past but
refuses to address and properly heal from. BLM challenges
the notion of a post-racial America and forces all of
us to pierce the veil of colorblindness and see our community
in its true colors so that we can work together in
achieving equity and justice for everyone.”
Martinez says VLS students are becoming more
comfortable discussing the intersectionality of race in
classes. “I personally have had students come up to me
to grab a cup of coffee and just talk about my experiences
before VLS and during my time here. People are
beginning to accept that progression toward equity and
justice starts with a conversation with those that are being
marginalized.”
27 WINTER 2016/2017

'People are
beginning to
accept that
progression
toward equity
and justice
starts with a
conversation
with those
that are being
marginalized.'
Because BLM has forced some police departments to
change their techniques and review community relations,
Woods says laws will change. “BLM has continued
to show the world how people are being treated. BLM is
showing people they have power. For instance, voting for
a candidate that may help with issues in your community
or voting someone out.”
Indeed, last February, outraged voters in Cook County,
Ill., and Cuyahoga County, Ohio, ousted veteran prosecutors
for their roles in the aftermath of the heinous murders
of Laquan McDonald and Tamir Rice. Ferguson, Mo.,
voters have also flexed their power. For the first time, the
city has almost equal representation on the city council.
Martinez also sees BLM having success demanding a
higher level of transparency and accountability from institutions.
BLM VT is compiling narratives from marginalized
communities, capturing a comprehensive history of
the misconduct, discrimination, and prejudice institutions
have conducted against these communities. BLM VT and
Justice for All are also interviewing local candidates about
efforts to hold these institutions accountable if elected.
Such transparency and accountability were on display
at a community-policing forum this summer in Brattleboro.
The event was co-organized by retired NYPD
Officer Jose Maldonado Jr. JD’17. Maldonado came to VLS
because he wanted to make an impact in the criminal
justice field. “I became a police officer after 9/11. I wanted
to give back to the community and I hope to continue to
do that as a lawyer.”
Maldonado is well on his way. During his internship
with the Windham County State’s Attorney, he and former
victims advocate Patrina Lingard brought citizens,
law enforcement, educators and activists together as
a response to the Dallas and Baton Rouge shootings.
“I think it was a great conversation,” Maldonado says.
“You saw citizens talking to police, [saying,] ‘This is what
happened, this is what I’ve seen going on,’ and police answering,
‘This is where we are allocating officers, where
we usually try to patrol.” Maldonado says there was an
emphasis on positive police interactions in the community,
like “shooting hoops with some kids.”
Maldonado views the BLM movement as a positive.
“The good thing about BLM is they’re bringing issues to
the national consciousness. If you look at what happened
in the cases of [Philando] Castile and [Alton]
Sterling, people can see it online and form their own
reactions and be out there talking about something very
important.”
Further, Maldonado says BLM will influence police
training. “With the rise of social media—people being
able to record—that also has got to be in a police officer’s
mind. Everything you say is going to be out there. You
have to pay attention to how you conduct yourself, how
you do your job, making sure a stop is lawful. You are going
to see a lot of things brought into training.”
Maldonado emphasizes the humanity and diversity
of police officers. “Even though we wear blue, we are all
races as well. In Baton Rouge, Montrell Jackson was a
black police officer. I’m Hispanic and served with a lot of
minority officers. We’re all different races. These heroes
wanted to go home. It’s a tough job and sometimes they
make the ultimate sacrifice.”
It remains to be seen what will be the long-term legal
implications of BLM. Will the movement effect substantive
and/or procedural change? We’ve already seen
change in some policing procedures, e.g. body cameras,
and a willingness among some prosecutors to bring
charges against officers who use deadly force without
valid justification. But what is clear and seems unlikely
to fade is the sense that the system does not present a
level playing field for people of color in this country.
Cirri Nottage is a writer, educator and producer whose work
includes film and video, lecturing in film and media, African and
African-American studies and women’s and gender studies, and
writing for digital and print publications.
LOQUITUR 28

Adobe Stock
In Search
of Justice
A GALLERY
of VLS Alumni
By Kathryn
Flagg

Photo courtesy of Amanda George-Wheaton
JD’11
Amanda
George-
Wheaton
THE ADVOCATE
EVERY VICTIM HAS A CRIME.”
That’s the lesson Amanda
George-Wheaton took from her
time as a victim/witness advocate
in the months and years following a
mass shooting in 2012 at an Aurora,
Colo., movie theater. It’s the message
that, today, she wants defense
attorneys, prosecutors, and judges to
keep at the forefront of their minds
as the wheels of the criminal justice
system turn.
For two years following the
Aurora attack, George-Wheaton
and her colleagues—a four-person,
federal grant-funded team devoted
to assisting victims of the crime—
threw themselves into the work of
identifying and supporting victims. All
told, they identified 1,200 individuals.
They provided information
and resources throughout the
investigation, trial, and sentencing,
and sat by victims’ sides during the
months-long trial.
Acting on the prosecutors’
request, the judge in the case allowed
victims to be present without being
sequestered—just one of several
rulings in the case that George-
Wheaton says protected victims’
rights.
“It makes a huge difference for
victims to feel and to know that they
have a right to be there, and to feel
that their voices are being heard,” says
George-Wheaton.
She urges prosecutors, defense
attorneys, and judges alike to build
trust with victims, include victims
in the criminal justice process, and
provide resources and referrals for
additional assistance. More broadly,
she believes the United States needs
better policies and funding for victim
witness programs.
“I believe we can be doing better for
our victims across the board, from the
night when the crime happens to the
completion of trial, should we get that
far,” says George-Wheaton. “Victims
need a lot of assistance, and it might
be that we’re the only people who can
give it to them.”
JD’11
WHEN JEFFREY HEINRICK LEVELS WITH HIS COURTappointed
clients about what’s likely coming
down the pike, the Arizona public defender
speaks from experience: Not long ago, Heinrick was on the
other side of the courtroom, serving as a prosecutor in
Maricopa County, Ariz. “It’s the best legal experience and
legal college that I ever had in my life,” says Heinrick. “They
throw you into it, and you have to learn.”
Learn he did—and today, Heinrick puts
many of those same lessons to work defending
clients from the other side of the aisle. As a public
defender, he’s worked with clients facing charges ranging
from misdemeanor trespass to deadly assault involving prison
gangs and the Mexican mafia. He’s litigated more than
40 felony trials, and earned kudos as the 2014 “Young Trial
Attorney of the Year” from the Arizona Public Defender Association.
He’s currently one of only 34 attorneys in Arizona
qualified to do death penalty defense.”
“That’s part of the fun as a defense attorney,” he says.
“You see everything, you do everything, and you learn
everything.”
SEEING BOTH SIDES
JD’10
Jeffrey
Heinrick
Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Heinrick

NEW LOOK AT AN OLD CASE
JD’15
Hope
Lemieux
Dave Barnum
WHEN HOPE LEMIEUX SAW THE JOB
posting for a senior paralegal specialist
to work on a capital punishment case in
Vermont, her interest was piqued. A little Googling
led her to one conclusion: This could only be the
Donald Fell retrial, the latest in a 16-year saga following
the murder of a Rutland, Vt., woman.
For Lemieux, the case offers a chance to bring a
fresh perspective to an old case. A jury convicted
Fell of murder in 2005, but that conviction was overturned
in 2014 on the ruling of juror misconduct.
Since last October, Lemieux has been busy prepping
for trial and sifting through files that sat dormant
for years. That’s meant extracting files from
floppy disks and sending old photographic negatives
off to specialists to be developed and enlarged, and
tracking down witnesses who’ve retired or moved.
Prosecutors in the case are fighting for the death
penalty—a harder sell in today’s political climate
than it was just 10 years ago. The case will take an
estimated four months in trial, likely beginning in
late winter next year.
“I just look at the family, and sixteen years later,
they’re still showing up at every court hearing,” says
Lemieux. “Even when [the work] gets disheartening,
you can look at them [and remember] you’re fighting
for justice for the victims.”
31 FALL 2015

COP TO COURTROOM
ALEX MANNING HOLDS
LAW enforcement officers
to a high standard.
When the Atlanta, Ga.,
defense lawyer takes on a case,
she scrutinizes officers’ work.
And she knows when that work
doesn’t pass muster: For 15
years, Manning worked as a
law enforcement officer, doing
everything from undercover
work with the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation to investigating
cases for the DA’s office.
“I like to look at cases as
if it had been a case I would
have worked. What would I
have done?” says Manning.
Her advice to officers, many of
whom she trained and taught,
is simple: “If you do your job
right, it’s going to make my job
a lot harder.”
Together with her law partner,
Manning does criminal
defense work, family law, and
some pro bono work for Legal
Aid. She also serves as a magistrate
judge in one Georgia
county.
How did a law enforcement
officer go from investigating
crimes to defending those accused
of them? Manning has
been motivated at each step by
a desire to help people. Now
she’s passionate about helping
those who are “victims of the
system.” She sees her role as,
in part, keeping the criminal
justice system accountable,
responsible, and fair.
“I believe in everything I do,
and I believe in the clients that I
represent, and getting them the
best outcomes I can get,” says
Manning.
JD’06
Alex
Manning
Johnathon Kelso
LOQUITUR 32

JD’01
Wendy Fuller & Joe Perella
JD’88
AS TWO OF FOUR ASSISTANT
U.S. attorneys in Vermont
focusing on heroin-related
cases, Wendy Fuller and Joe Perella
are on the front lines of a battle that
sometimes seems unstoppable.
“Wendy and I could work seven
days a week, 12 hours a day, and
we wouldn’t catch up,” says Perella.
“There are always targets out there
that we could potentially charge.”
Since early 2015, this team of
AUSAs has gone deep on heroin,
each tackling a geographic region of
the state to better understand—and
prosecute—those who bring drugs
into Vermont. The prosecutors were
especially interested in identifying
the “facilitators”—often local addicts
who let out-of-state dealers set up
shop in their homes. Their office
typically doesn’t charge low-level
addicts with little or no criminal
history—but by concentrating on
a region, prosecutors know when
facilitators squander second, third,
and fourth
chances.
ON THE FRONTLINE OF THE HEROIN EPIDEMIC
“We’re trying to work up the chain
to arrest and convict the larger-level
distributors,” says Perella—those
who are driven not by addiction, he
says, but by greed and profit motive.
The problem is fueled by simple
economics: Heroin commands a
much higher price in Vermont than
it does in major cities. “Even if we
pull off what we think is a pretty
sizable operation … there’s a void
and it is automatically filled,” says
Fuller.
Even so, both Fuller and Perella
find ways to be optimistic about
their work. They’re rooting for
the lower-level offenders, addicts
themselves, to succeed, and
cherish the stories of those who’ve
found success in managing their
addictions.
“I’ve had people that
I’ve prosecuted who have
thanked me for saving their
lives,” says Fuller. “I feel like
I’m helping, even if we are not
fixing the problem entirely.”
Dave Barnum

JD/MELP’10
Tim Fair
ADDICT TO ATTORNEY
TIMOTHY FAIR WAS LEADING A DOUBLE
life. He earned accolades and
praise as a student at Montpelier’s
Woodbury College, but begged out of class
early to go home and get high. Fair was
addicted to cocaine.
It all came to a head in 2004, when he was
arrested on possession of cocaine. He was
facing a felony charge. “I thought my life was
over,” says Fair. In fact, it became a turning
point. “If I hadn’t been arrested that night,
I most likely would be dead. I was incapable
of quitting.”
What followed was a series of what
Fair considers lucky breaks—a lenient
judge who believed in second chances, an
understanding probation officer, a lawyer
who negotiated the right plea deal. The
felony disappeared, replaced by three
consecutive misdemeanors. Fair spent six
weeks in prison, several of those at a work
camp, and then spent the next year getting
clean. And though no one could guarantee
he’d pass the bar’s character assessment, he
set out to become a lawyer.
His passion now is litigation, specifically
criminal defense. As an associate at
Burlington practice Blodgett, Watts & Volk,
Fair sums up his job as part social worker.
Outside of work, he’s passionate about
advocating for criminal justice reform.
“I’m a living example of second chances,”
says Fair. “It allows me to not judge a
person based on a limited set of actions.
Just because somebody breaks the law,
because somebody does something we would
consider horrible or evil, that doesn’t define
a person.”
Dave Barnum

Gary
Medvigy JD’81
Photo courtesy of Gary Medvigy
GARY MEDVIGY’S WIDE-RANGING CAREER HAS TAKEN
him from the fragmented world of post-war Bosnia to
the northern prisons of Afghanistan. Now retired after
33 years in the military, 15 of which he spent on active duty,
the former major general isn’t slowing down: Medvigy serves
as a Superior Court judge in the criminal division in Sonoma
County, Calif., a post he’s held since 2007.
During his multifaceted career in the military, Medvigy’s
job was often to advise on the development of legal systems
in post-war countries. In Bosnia, he wrote a code of ethics for
prosecutors. In Kabul, he led the charge for
establishing a secular school of law at the
University of Kabul for judges, prosecutors,
and defendants. “It didn’t ignore Sharia Law,” Medvigy says,
“but it was fundamentally trying to get statutes in place, laws
recognized, and practitioners trained.”
Stateside, Medvigy spent years as a prosecutor before Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench. From
Kabul to California, Medvigy says one lesson he learned is that
there’s no one perfect way to shape a criminal justice system.
“It was mind-blowing to realize there are no right or wrong
answers,” says Medvigy. “There are no black-and-white solutions.
A culture and a country like ours shapes how justice is
carried out, and that can be a very different process in California
versus Texas, or New Jersey.”
AG TO JUDGE
JD’11
Adobe Stock; inset, photo courtesy of Adam Schmelkin
FOLLOWING HIS SECOND YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL, ADAM
Schmelkin landed what he thought was his dream
internship: a position with the Natural Resources
Defense Council in New York, working on litigation and environmental
justice. Yet to his surprise, Schmelkin—who’d
long planned to pursue work in environmental law—began to
wonder if his goal missed the mark.
“Day in and day out, you’re not really involved with people,
and helping clients so directly,” says Schmelkin. This fall,
following a yearlong clerkship with the
appellate division of the New Jersey
Superior Court, Schmelkin made his
first steps into a career as a family defender at Brooklyn
Defender Services. He’ll help families navigate heartbreaking
cases—abuse, neglect, the threat of termination of parental
rights.
It’s not what he imagined he’d be doing a few years back,
but Schmelkin sees a connection between advocating for the
environment and serving as a family defender; in both cases,
he’s interested in what it takes to build healthy and sustainable
communities.
“You can’t look at what the client is being accused of
without considering the impact of poverty,” says Schmelkin.
“Public defense, and family defense in particular, is social
justice lawyering.”
THE NEWCOMER
JD’15
Adam
Schmelkin
Johnathon Kelso

Anna JD’85
Saxman
ANNA SAXMAN GOT HER FIRST TASTE of legal
work as a paralegal with Legal Air, representing
patients at the Vermont State Hospital
during the “golden age of mental health law.”
Representing autistic children and elderly people
who were being “warehoused” at the state facility,
Saxman got a crash course in mental health law.
And when she went on to practice criminal law
slightly later in her career, she came to a startling
realization.
“In criminal cases, I began to realize that a
lot of our clients had some form of emotional
or mental disability,” says Saxman. As
Vermont’s deputy defender general, and
as a professor at VLS,
she went on to investigate
the intersections of
criminal and mental health law. Her goal,
she says, is to better understand ways to
avoid “locking people up who may not have
the cognitive ability to really understand what
they’re being charged with, or are not really
responsible for what they did.”
Saxman was among those who
led the charge to establish the
Criminal Law Clinic at Vermont
Law School. Though
many students come to VLS
for its reputation in environmental
law, Saxman
stresses that criminal law
has much to offer prospective
lawyers—particularly
at a moment when the
country is beginning to
investigate what real
criminal justice reform
might look like.
“It’s never boring,”
says Saxman, of
criminal justice work.
“Though it’s hard and
sometimes sad, it’s
never boring.”
NEVER BORING
Rob Bossi

THE CRUSADER
JD’87
Robert
Sand
Rob Bossi
FOR A LONG TIME, ROBERT SAND—“LIKE
almost every prosecutor in the world”—
measured his success by the number
of convictions he obtained or the duration of
sentences he achieved.
These days, Sand thinks differently. Over
time, the former state’s attorney of Windsor
County, Vt., saw those metrics as skewed;
as he and colleagues racked up convictions
and sentences for drug offenses, other cases
languished.
So Sand spoke up. As one of the first
elected prosecutors in the country to publicly
support significant marijuana and other drug
policy reform, he ruffled feathers. But he also
made headway. He rallied colleagues around
collaborative initiatives like the Sparrow Project,
a drug and mental health support program for
those who enter the criminal justice system, and
went on to lay the groundwork for Vermont’s first
DUI treatment court.
Now a professor at VLS, Sand is championing
more treatment courts in Vermont. “For under
three million dollars a year we could have a drug,
DUI, and mental health court in every county in
this state,” says Sand. It’s not “chump change,”
he acknowledged, but it’s also not beyond the
realm of possibility.
More broadly, he hopes his legacy could help
prosecutors find a new way of measuring success
in their work.
“Maybe to some small extent I helped people
think about how the role of a prosecutor could be
different, and that prosecutors could absolutely
do their job with full fidelity to their oath, and
still support criminal justice reform.”
37 FALL 2015

LOQUITUR 38
Barnum Photography

CLASS NOTES
NOTES FROM THE VERMONT LAW
SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
This issue of Loquitur, examining
criminal law, justice, and guns,
highlights issues and concerns
that deeply resonate with many
alumni. By reaching out to the entire
Vermont Law School community,
we all benefit from learning more
about the work and commitments
that motivate our peers and former
classmates.
The new school year provides an
occasion to look back on the recent
efforts of the Vermont Law School
Alumni Association.
This winter and spring, the
VLSAA advised the VLS trustees
and the administration during the
development of the 2016 Strategic
Plan, unveiled this summer.
The Strategic Plan sharpens the
school’s focus on its aspirations,
readies current students for the
modern profession, and invests in
the commitment to the faculty and
community. The VLSAA counseled
the school on alumni priorities,
particularly bar passage, the alumni
debt load, and job placement—with
a specific emphasis on increasing
overall resources, and dedicating
more resources to Master’s students.
In addition to developing a thoughtful
strategy, the administration and
trustees have identified tactics to
achieve the goals during the coming
years. VLS will build on its strengths
and continue to make alumni proud.
June marked the annual reunion
and homecoming. During a sunny
weekend in South Royalton, 40 years
of alumni convened to celebrate
the law school and to consider the
greater ideals for which the school
stands. Alumni speakers and panelists
described their personal and
professional experiences serving the
law and bettering their communities
and their worlds, from small towns
in Vermont to the corridors of Washington,
D.C., to farther-flung corners
of Europe and Africa. The reunion
also provided an opportunity to
honor the remarkable accomplishments
of several alumni whose impact
on the VLS community and in
the field of human rights, deserved
special recognition. The Office for
Institutional Advancement yet again
surpassed itself in planning and
orchestrating a joyful celebration.
As we look ahead, the VLSAA
Board of Directors will advise on implementation
of the Strategic Plan,
cultivation of the first-year studentmentoring
program, and expansion
of the regional groups, which most
recently welcomed a new chapter in
Paris. We will continue to celebrate
and support ties between alumni,
connect the generations of classes,
and ensure that the alumni voice
and perspective enhance the school.
For the accomplishments of
the past year and for efforts yet to
come, I am grateful to the leadership
of the alumni regional groups, the
VLSAA Board of Directors, the Board
of Trustees, and the alumni trustees.
The steadfast work of those alumni
is one of VLS’s greatest strengths.
In closing, I thank Mark Sciarrotta
JD’96 at the end of his second
term as an alumni trustee. His tenure
and leadership as a trustee and
with the VLSAA Board of Directors—
including serving as president—has
greatly enriched VLS and the alumni
for years to come.
Sincerely,
Brian E. J. Martin JD’10
President, Vermont Law School
Alumni Association
brian.e.j.martin@gmail.com
connect.vermontlaw.edu/vlsaa
39 WINTER 2016/2017

CLASS NOTES
NEWS FROM THE DC REGIONAL ALUMNI GROUP
The D.C. Vermont Law School Alumni
Association (DCVLSAA) continues
our streak of events offered every
month. We’ve been trying out new
activities beyond our annual rooftop
event—which was so much fun!—and
happy hours to see what interests
D.C. alumni. We hosted another
“Swan Talks” (a TED-style talk by
alumni), attended professional
soccer games, went to a ballgame
at Nationals Park Stadium, and
organized our annual Achievement
Awards in November. We continue
to foster skills and increase
employment with a mentoring
program and a career panel for
students and graduates alike.
We hope to see you all at future
events.
As always, we want to hear from
you. Contact us at dcvlsaa@gmail.com
or follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, or Instagram to keep up-todate
on the D.C. activities. You can also
contact D.C. Chapter President Jami
Westerhold at jwesterhold@gmail.com.
1976
Mark Portnoy
mhportnoy@gmail.com
1980
Scott Cameron
jscameron@zclpc.com
1981
Tim McGrath
timbomcg@juno.com
1977
Thomas Donnellan
tomlaw333@comcast.net
1978
alumni@vermontlaw.edu
Please email alumni@vermontlaw.edu if you
are interested in serving as class secretary.
Elaine Williams Crockett JD’80,
former Attorney in the Office of the
General Counsel at the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission in Washington,
D.C. is pleased to announce that
her 2015 novel, “Do Not Assume,”
is the winner of two national book
awards: the 2015 INDIEFAB Book of
the Year Award for Best Mystery and
the 2016 National Indie Excellence
Award for Best Political Thriller. “Do
Not Assume” is the story of a Federal
Judge who discovers a mysterious
link between the President of
the United States and the rape and
murder of a beautiful teenage girl
in a Maine resort town forty years
earlier. Elaine is working on a new
novel, due to be released in 2017.
www.elainewilliamscrockett.com.
Gary Medvigy JD’81 writes, “I am
now retired from the US Army
after 33 years of active and reserve
service. My oldest daughter, Elyse
(USMA 2012), was just promoted
to captain and recently summited
Everest on behalf of veterans and
to draw attention to soldier suicides
and overcoming war wounds. One of
her fellow climbers summited with a
prosthetic leg after losing his to an
IED in Iraq. My youngest daughter is
entering her last year at West Point
and will be commissioned a second
lieutenant in May 2017. I have a son
working in the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation
and a daughter living in Vermont. I
retired as a Deputy District Attorney
in 2007 and have been serving as a
Superior Court Judge in the criminal
division continuously since then
(when not performing military duty).”​
1979
Deborah Bucknam
dbucknam@vtlegalhelp.com
ELAINE WILLIAMS CROCKETT JD’80.
LOQUITUR 40

CLASS NOTES
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
1982
Larr Kelly
photolarr@verizon.net
John Shea MSEL’82, of Mackie
Shea, PC, has been selected by his
peers as Best Lawyer for Environmental
Law and Environmental
Litigation. He is included in the 23rd
Edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
1983
Martha Lyons
malyonsesq@hotmail.com
MARK MILLER JD’83
1984
Charles Van Gorder
chase@vglaw.com
1985
alumni@vermontlaw.edu
Please email alumni@vermontlaw.edu if you
are interested in serving as class secretary.
Kevin Bernstein JD’85, an environmental
and energy attorney at
Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC in
Syracuse, New York, was elected to
chair the firm’s management committee
in November 2015. This year,
he has been recognized in the 2016
Upstate New York Super Lawyers list
in the category of Environmental
Law. Kevin also practices in other
areas such as land use, condemnation,
and real estate.
Fulbright Specialist Dr. Robert Robertson
MSL’85 was appointed as
the first president of The Bahamas
Technical and Vocational Institution
in August of this year.
Years ago a teenaged Mark Miller and his father solved a problem that had been hounding the elder
Miller’s friends in the medical field: how to avoid contamination of blood flowing into the uncovered
top of a device called a manometer, used to measure central venous pressure or, in essence, blood
pressure. The father-son inventing team developed a device to measure blood pressure that wasn’t
open to the air, thereby preventing airborne contamination from infecting the blood. Having grown
up under the guidance of a physicist and inventor father, this endeavor was par for the course for
Mark whose proclivity for science, the mechanics of invention, and his father’s efforts to patent his
inventions, led him to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Connecticut.
Mark surprised everyone by not pursuing an advanced degree in physics and instead choosing
to attend law school, which, “at the time, was pretty much unheard of for someone with a science
background.” Choosing a school where he could balance his studies with a passion for skiing, Mark
landed at VLS. He managed to teach skiing and to pursue a musical partnership with classmate
Peter McGee, all the while maintaining his studies. He took Torts with Ralph Bischoff and Contracts
with Grant Gilmore, and fondly recalls his first experience with a true “audio book” when reading
Gilmore’s “The Death of a Contract ”: “It was one of the few times in my life that I read a book, and
heard it in the voice of the author.” Mark pursued a career in intellectual property (“IP”), and upon
graduation, procured a job at an IP boutique in Washington, D.C. He met his future wife in the bar
review study course, and the couple stayed in Washington, D.C., for three years before moving to
San Francisco, where he joined another IP boutique. “It was a classic IP practice, where I handled
all phases of the practice—transactions and litigation. That was the model, IP counsel would do
everything that the client needed in the IP space.” The trend of general practice firms in the mid-
1990s was to either grow organically or swallow up IP boutiques. As the use of patents grew in an
increasingly competitive marketplace, particularly in the chip industry in the Silicon Valley, Mark
realized that to continue litigating he’d have to move to a large firm. In 2002, he joined O’Melveny &
Myers, where he works today.
Mark currently has patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark cases pending in New York
and California, and several proceedings pending before the Patent and Trademark Office Patent
Trial and Appeal Board and Trademark Trial and Board. He also handles many trademark matters
relating to the selection and clearance of new trademarks and brands. He works in a landscape of
IP law where now “the first to file gets the patent,” and where, as Mark describes, the 2014 U.S. Supreme
Court decision Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International held that–in essence–an invention (idea)
that can be performed with pen and paper is an abstract concept and not patentable. The structure
and operation of cellphones has stabilized, and as Mark described, “Patent litigation around those
devices has settled down, and people are wondering, what is the next new technology?”
Illustration and story by Hannah Morris
41 FALL 2015

CLASS NOTES
1991
Peg Stolfa
margaret.stolfa@gmail.com
1993
Elaine Schwartz
geowoman3@aol.com
KEVIN BERNSTEIN JD’85.
1986
M.P. Zimmerman
pattyzim@comcast.net
1987
Mark Ouellette
mouellette01@gmail.com
David Galgay, Jr. JD’87 of Verrill
Dana, based in Portland, Maine, was
recognized by Best Lawyers© 2017 in
Real Estate Law.
1992
Margaret Olnek
mlo@olneklaw.com
Carole Wacey JD’92, Vice President
of Education at WNET in New York
City, hosted Ali Cohen for a summer
internship, where she learned how
WNET supports underserved youth
in New York City and beyond. Ali is
the daughter of Dan Cohen JD’91
who is a partner with Newman &
Simpson in New Jersey. Ali will be
a Junior at Penn State in the fall
where her major is Education and
minor is Spanish. Carole writes,
“I don’t think we would have envisioned
during our hours of playing
chess at VLS that one of us would
be hosting the other’s child for an
internship.”
1994
Joseph Galanes
joseph.galanes@gmail.com
Leza Driscoll JD’94 writes, “I am
excited to share a bit of professional
news. I am very honored to have
been selected to the 2017 North
Carolina Super Lawyers list. I practice
in the area of Federal Criminal
Defense; Federal Appeals; and State
Criminal Defense. It was a thrilling
surprise.”
John Gilroy MSEL’94 writes,
“I graduated with a MSEL in 1994 . . .
on a Marsh Teaching Fellowship.
I have just earned my Ph.D. in law
from the University of Cambridge.
It is my second Ph.D., my first being
in Political Philosophy from the
University of Chicago.”
1988
Sandra Allen
sallen19@roadrunner.com
1995
Karen Moore
kj.moore@judicial.state.co.us
1989
Kim Montroll
kimmontroll@gmail.com
1990
Mario Gallucci
mfg7102@aol.com
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CAROLE WACEY JD’92,
ALI COHEN, AND DAN COHEN JD’91.
Sam Angell JD’95 is pleased to
announce that Amelia Darrow
JD’15 joined Corum Mabie Cook
Prodan Angell & Secrest, PLC this
past fall. Amelia’s practice includes
estate planning, probate administration,
business law, and intellectual
property law. Amelia joins fellow VLS
alumni Angela Prodan JD/MSL’94,
and Joe Cook JD’97 currently practicing
at the firm. Along with Jesse
Corum JD’77 (1950–2014), she is the
sixth VLS alumni to work at the firm.
LOQUITUR 42

CLASS NOTES
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Karis North JD’95 was named to
the Board of Directors of the Straits
Pond Watershed Association, a
local advocacy organization that
promotes and educates surrounding
residents about the 100-acre tidal
estuarine pond, which is a Massachusetts
Area of Critical Environmental
Concern.
1996
William Fewell
williamfewell@vermontlaw.edu
Adam Necrason JD/MSEL’96
recruited Rebecca Ramos JD/
MSEL’97 from her post as the chief
of staff for the Senate President
to join Necrason Group, which is
a busy Vermont government and
public affairs firm. Rebecca joins
Jessica Oski JD’92 at the center
of the firm’s lobbying action. The
firm’s clients include major clean
energy interests, affordable housing
and land conservation groups,
health care providers, progressive
social change campaigns, labor
unions, and major telecommunications,
technology, and cooperative
banking companies. For the recent
Legislative Session, they hosted VLS
semester-in-practice students Karen
Oelschlaeger JD’16 and Alicia
Artessa JD’16, and intern Brittmy
Martinez MELP’16.
Mollie Roth JD’96 writes, “After
a decade of working remotely or
for myself on the business side of
the house (business development,
marketing, COO, managing partner)
and avoiding all things legal to the
extent possible, I have taken a hard
left and reentered the world of law.
In March of this year I took a position
as Assistant General Counsel,
Compliance for medical device
manufacturer CR Bard, covering
their Tempe, Ariz., and Salt Lake
City divisions, ensuring compliance
MARC HOLZAPFEL JD’95
Marc Holzapfel’s interest in space can in part be traced to his appreciation of Star Trek.
But it is environmental law that was his primary interest, and in the vast terrain of space,
Marc has the opportunity to utilize law in a relatively unchartered environment. Hired in
2007 as the first U.S. employee to manage the legal affairs for Virgin Galactic, part of Sir
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group that focuses on commercial space transportation, Marc is
the company’s senior vice president and general counsel. He contends with the challenges
of delivering proper legal advice while “still being mindful of the need for speed and nimbleness,”
he described, especially in a business breaking into intergalactic frontiers.
Virgin Galactic—“the world’s first spaceline”—is one of an increasing number of commercial
space flight companies seeking to start the next generation of space travel. Since
NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011, manned space flight from the United States has
been in a state of suspension. Forward-thinking and futuristic companies have stepped in.
Virgin Galactic’s goal—once commercial spaceflight becomes more established—is to lower
the ticket price from the current $250,000 to something the general public can afford.
“I found that VLS prepared me exceedingly well,” Marc described, surveying a career that
now finds him in charge of a legal staff of five people, leading all legal and corporate transactions
and regulatory compliance matters involved in bringing the business to commercial
launch. “Although it was over 20 years ago,” said Marc, recalling Professor David Firestone,
“I vividly remember the first day of contracts, and am surprised at how much of his teachings
I use in my day to day life. I found tax with him invaluable, and don’t think I ever would have
grasped basis or debt/equity without him.” He fondly recalled Professor Stephen Dycus and
the poem he would read before class started—“a gentle reminder that life existed beyond the
mundane, daily tasks.”
Marc learned the nuts and bolts of lawyering working for two large law firms in New York
City. He became in-house counsel for The Linde Group, an industrial gas company, “primarily
because I felt that working for a company let you become more involved in the business
side of things.” Enjoying the greater range of issues and the stability of working with one,
long-term client, Marc continues to appreciate “the continuity as opposed to hopping from
one matter to the next.”
Commercial spaceflight will continue to present legal issues and challenges. Marc is
quick to point out, though, “regardless of how novel an area of the law is, some of the basic
underpinnings are still there—minimizing risk and liability. At the end of the day, it all comes
down to the piece of paper people negotiated and the allocation of risk that was agreed.”
Illustration and story by Hannah Morris

CLASS NOTES
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
JEN DUGGAN JD/MSEL’07
The corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana— known as Cancer Alley—was a
catalyst for Jen Duggan. Born in south Louisiana, Jen regularly traveled this area to visit family,
observing all the while the clusters of industrial and chemical plants. “The communities, toxic odors,
and polluted air left a big impression on me,” Jen described. “It planted the first seeds of awareness
of the connection between public health and the environment and was the foundation for my passion
to fight for equal access to a clean and healthy environment.”
Nowadays, in her role as General Counsel at Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, she utilizes
this passion in service of the agency’s mission to protect public health and the natural environment
on behalf of the people of Vermont. As a working parent of two young children, Jen faces many of the
same challenges other lawyers face—“there are never enough hours in the day,” Jen adds. “One of the
most important skills a lawyer needs to have is the ability to prioritize limited time to advance important
priorities instead of only putting out fires.” In managing legal services for the Agency’s Central
Office and its three Departments (Environmental Conservation; Fish and Wildlife; Forest, Parks, and
Recreation), Jen’s spends her time working to improve the Agency’s legal systems and processes and
working directly on significant permit, litigation, and enforcement matters.
Jen never considered becoming a lawyer until a friend suggested Vermont Law School. With an
undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Anthropology, she had taken several years off to
travel in the U.S. and British Columbia, working various jobs along the way. Spurred by her passion for
the environment, public health protection, and environmental justice and human rights, and inspired
by Vermont Law School’s commitment to public interest law and the environment, she enrolled.
Working as a student clinician for the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic with professors
David Mears and Pat Parenteau was invaluable, preparing her for a job with the Environmental
Integrity Project (EIP) in Washington, D.C. “Just a few months after I joined EIP, I was assigned to work
on a citizen suit enforcement case to clean up leaking coal ash landfills,” Jen recalled. “I don’t think
I would have known where to start without the experience I gained as a student clinician. Ultimately,
the lawsuit resulted in a settlement agreement to clean up the three landfills.”
Reflecting on her current role, which she has held since the spring of 2015, Jen remains
inspired by the power of environmental law in combatting injustice as well as offering opportunities
for growth. “As an environmental lawyer, you not only have to know the law, you have to also
understand the underlying scientific and technical issues, which can be complex.” She continued:
“Each new case is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the science, work with talented technical
experts, and learn something new.”
Illustration and story by Hannah Morris
with the False Claims Act, antikickback
statute and Sunshine Act
among other things. Not only am I
working for an actual corporation
but it’s the first time in my career
I have had to DRIVE to work every
day! Couple that with not being able
to sit around in my work out gear
all day and it’s a big, big change,
but going well so far. Thankfully,
my company has afforded me the
opportunity to continue to work on
a conference and coalition I started
a couple years ago in the microbiome
space, focused on the hurdles
that industry faces in commercializing
new microbiome based therapies,
diagnostics, and consumer
products. This is a burgeoning area
of research with some fascinating
correlations between the microbiome
and human health and disease
going on so I get to keep my hand
in an emerging field of scientific
inquiry while feeding my creative
side as I try to figure out how to run
a conference and coalition. Aside
from that, Arizona is actually welcoming
its first full size aquarium
this year, which clearly makes no
sense from anything other than
an economic perspective. But I am
helping sort out the volunteer diver
program and look forward to actually
being able to dive in the desert
(and see something other than lake
weeds) in short order.”
1997
Cheryl Deshaies Davis
davis4nh@comcast.net
1998
Thomas Leary
thomas.f.leary@gmail.com

CLASS NOTES
1999
Joy Kanwar-Nori
joy.kanwar@gmail.com
2003
Shannon Maher Bañaga
vlsmaher@yahoo.com
2005
Meg Munsey and Kelly Singer
vermontlaw2005@gmail.com
Meredith Hatfield JD’99/MSEL’96
recently joined the Barr Foundation
in Boston as Clean Energy
Program Officer after many years
of energy work in New Hampshire
state government. “I’m loving the
walking commute over the Charlestown
Bridge and through the North
End (wondering what it will be like
in snow!)” writes Meredith, “and
adjusting to going from 1,200 square
feet to about 100 for the same price.
Crazy real estate market in this
town! Looking forward to reconnecting
with VLSers in Boston.”
2000
Anna Fry
adafry@aol.com
Kristy Caron
kristycaron@gmail.com
Kelly Baetz JD/MSEL’00 of Verrill
Dana based in Portland, Maine, was
recognized by Best Lawyers© 2017 in
Land Use and Zoning Law.
2001
Karen Murray
kmurray9515@gmail.com
Samara Anderson JD/MSEL’03
writes, “I left the Attorney General’s
office on August 19, and started
a new legal position at Health &
Human Services Enterprise (HSE)
as the Sustainability Legal Lead on
complex projects to modernize the
IT environment that delivers health
and human services to the most vulnerable
members in Vermont. This
is a very exciting time to be at HSE
as these projects have never been
tackled before by Vermont. I have
been given the opportunity to be a
part of ground-breaking programs
to reshape and enhance internal
business processes and optimize the
utilization of information to provide
a better platform for both the providers
and the beneficiaries of these
human service benefits programs.
Additionally, I will become an expert
in this integrated project as well
as every health and human service
program that delivers benefits in
the State of Vermont. Overall, I am
excited to be a part of addressing
Vermonters’ needs by creating a
person-centric system that streamlines
management and access to
health and human services. And, I
am able to do this and continue to
teach yoga and mindful practices
workshops throughout New York,
Vermont, and New Hampshire! Life
couldn’t be better.”
Steven Kelton JD’05, is now the
Litigation Support Supervisor for
the Colorado Department of Law.
His team uses technology to support
the department’s 270-plus attorneys
with eDiscovery, document review,
case management, and trial presentation
solutions. Steve and his family
live in Boulder, Colorado.
Amy Manzelli JD’05/MSEL’07,
Jason Reimers JD’05, and Elizabeth
Boepple JD’97 are excited to
have joined forces. Their firm, BCM
Environmental & Land Law, PLLC, is
now expanding from New Hampshire
to Vermont and Maine.
Evan Mulholland LLM’05 writes,
“In March 2016, I began serving as
the Compliance Bureau Administrator
for the Air Resources Division of
the New Hampshire Department of
Environmental Services. The Bureau
is tasked with ensuring that all stationary
sources of air pollution comply
with the Clean Air Act and state
law.” Evan and wife, Liz (Vires)
Mulholland JD’07, are celebrating
their ten-year wedding anniversary
this September.
2002
Paige Bush-Scruggs
paigescruggs@comcast.net
2004
Spencer Hanes
spencer.hanes@duke-energy.com
AMY MANZELLI JD’05/MSEL’07, JASON REIMERS
JD’05, AND ELIZABETH BOEPPLE JD’97 HAVE
JOINED FORCES AT THE FIRM BCM ENVIRONMENTAL
& LAND LAW, PLLC.
45 WINTER 2016/2017

CLASS NOTES
2006
Ashley Carson Cottingham
ashleybrey@gmail.com
Ebony Riggins
erriggins@gmail.com
2007
Greg Dorrington
gregdorrington@gmail.com
Liz Lucente
liz.lucente@gmail.com
Christopher Middleton JD’06 was
awarded the Robbie Robinson Award
by the Young Lawyers Division of
the Savannah Bar Association. The
Robbie Robinson Award, named
in honor of the late Civil Rights
attorney, recognizes a member
of the legal profession who has
demonstrated dedication to the
principles of service to individuals
and of advancement of the legal,
political, social and civil rights of
the Savannah community. Christopher
is Deputy Chief Assistant
of the Other Felony Division at the
Eastern Judicial Public Defender’s
Office in Savannah, Georgia. He
is also treasurer of the Port City
Bar Association—a bar association
comprised mostly of minority
attorneys who live and practice
within the greater Savannah area.
He is the recipient of the State Bar
of Georgia’s Justice Benham Award
for Community Service, member
of the Chatham-Savannah Citizen’s
Advocacy Association, and recipient
of the 2015 Savannah Youth City
Community Leader Award.
Stephen Ball JD’07 writes, “On May
24 we welcomed our second daughter,
Abigail Elizabeth. We are having
a blast and her big sister Eleanor
(now 3) is loving the company. We
live in Stamford, Conn., where I am
a patent and trademark attorney.
Please drop me a line if you are ever
in the area.”
ELEANOR BALL HOLDS HER NEW YOUNGER SISTER
ABIGAIL ELIZABETH BALL.
Ben Blank JD’07/MSEL’08 and
Christine Romero welcomed their
son, Charlie Blank, into the world on
May 21, 2016. They were supported
lovingly by a team of midwives
during their home birth. Charlie is
happy, healthy, and starting to allow
his parents to sleep every now and
then. Christine is a kindergarten
teacher in Baltimore City, and Ben
continues his employment with the
Department of Legislative Services
in Maryland.
BEN BLANK JD’07/MSEL’08 AND CHRISTINE
ROMERO CELEBRATED THE BIRTH OF THEIR SON,
CHARLIE BLANK, THIS PAST SPRING.
Ellen Crivella MSEL’07 received the
Women of Wind Energy Rising Star
award, which is given to one woman
annually at the American Wind
Energy Association conference.
Jessica Fox JD/MSEL’07 will be
awarded the first ever President’s
Special Recognition Award by the
Ingham County Bar Association.
Jessica has served on the Board
of Directors for the ICBA since
2009. She has served as Secretary,
Treasurer, Vice-President, and it is
anticipated that she will be President-Elect
during the 2016–2017
bar year and President during the
2017–2018 bar year.
Elizabeth (Vires) Mulholland JD’07
writes, “On March 9, 2016, I was
appointed as an Assistant Attorney
General for the N.H. Department of
Justice. I serve as a litigator in the
Civil Bureau, defending the state in
court.” Liz and husband, Evan Mullholland
LLM’05, are celebrating
their ten-year wedding anniversary
this September.”
LOQUITUR 46

CLASS NOTES
2008
Samantha Santiago
santiago.samantha@gmail.com
New Hampshire Business Review about
the craft beer industry’s effect on
New Hampshire’s economy.
Jamie Williams
willjamie@gmail.com
On April 23, 2016, Laura Furrey
JD’08 married Kristopher Olson
in Tempe, Arizona. Celebrating
with them were Samantha Santiago
JD’08, Jami Westerhold JD/
MSEL’08, Alison Share JD’08,
Andrea Steiling JD’08, Maggie
Stubbs JD/MSEL’07, and Victoria
Aufiero JD/MSEL’08. Laura is currently
a Senior Resource Analyst
with the Salt River Project, the
nation’s third largest public power
utility, working in their resource
acquisition and analysis department.
Kristopher is a criminal
defense attorney with the Phoenix
law firm Storrs & Storrs. They live
in Gilbert, Arizona, with their dog,
Gucci, and tortoise, Houdini.
LAURA FURREY JD’08 MARRIED KRISTOPHER
OLSON THIS SPRING, CELEBRATING WITH FELLOW
CLASS OF 2008 ALUMNI.
VLS ALUMNI FROM THE CLASS OF 2008 CELEBRATE
THE WEDDING OF ELIZABETH NOLAN JD’08.
Elizabeth Nolan Davis JD’08
writes, “I married Brian Davis on
June 11, 2016, at Hauser Estates
Winery in Biglerville, PA, just
outside of Gettysburg, PA. In
attendance were Laura Baker JD/
MSEL’08, Samantha Fredieu (Simmons)
JD’08, Brian Fredieu JD’08,
Frank Skiba JD’08 and Ashley
Martin JD’08.”
2009
John Miller
johndmillerjr@gmail.com
Jennifer McDonald
jmcdonald@drm.com
Geoffrey Sewake JD/MELP’09
reports, “This past Memorial Day
Weekend, VLS grads and their families,
Aaron Lotlikar JD/MELP’09
and Regine (Monde) Lotlikar
JD’09, daughter Aaryah; Peter
Gill JD’09 and Catherine McLinn
JD/MELP’09, son Everett; James
“Jake” Marren JD/MELP’09 and
Ella Thodal, daughter Cora and son
Gus; Geoffrey Sewake JD/MELP’09
and Gillian Sewake, son William;
Robb Spensley JD’09 and Sybren
Spensley, daughters Iyla, Ruby, and
Faye, gathered in Waitsfield (Mad
River Valley), Vermont for a few
days of relaxation and fun in the
sun.” On another note, Geoffrey,
a community and economic field
specialist for the UNH Cooperative
Extension in Grafton County, NH,
recently published an article in the
GEOFFREY SEWAKE AND FELLOW ALUMNI
GATHERED IN VERMONT’S MAD RIVER VALLEY
THIS PAST SPRING. TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):
AARON LOTLIKAR JD/MELP’09, PETER GILL JD’09,
JAKE MARREN JD/MELP’09, ROBB SPENSLEY
JD’09, SYBREN SPENSLEY. THIRD ROW (LEFT TO
RIGHT): RUBY SPENSLEY, GUS MARREN, IYLA
SPENSLEY, FAYE SPENSLEY. SECOND (LEFT TO
RIGHT): REGINE (MONDE) LOTLIKAR JD’09, KATIE
GILL JD’09, ELLA THODAL, GILLAN SEWAKE,
GEOFFREY SEWAKE JD/MELP’09. FIRST ROW (LEFT
TO RIGHT): AARYAH LOTLIKAR, EVERETT GILL,
CORA MARREN, WILLIAM SEWAKE.
2010
Cara Cookson
caracookson@yahoo.com
Laurie Wheelock
lauriewheelock@gmail.com
Shelbie Lewman JD’10 and Peter
Norris JD’10 welcomed their
daughter, Josephine Anna Margaret
JOSEPHINE ANNA MARGARET NORRIS, DAUGHTER
OF SHELBIE LEWMAN JD’10 AND PETER NORRIS
JD’10, WAS BORN THIS PAST JUNE.
47 WINTER 2016/2017

CLASS NOTES
Norris, on Father’s Day (June 19,
2016). Peter took three months of
family leave and will return to his
job as Assistant Public Defender
for the State of Maryland in mid-
September. Shelbie took six months
of family leave and will return to
her job as an attorney for the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in
January 2017.
Jillian Riley JD/MELP’10 and
Joey Solomon JD/MELP’10 were
married last September in Stowe,
Vermont. The “Hung Jury” gang
joined them back in Vermont
to celebrate: Derek Hasek JD/
MELP’10, Robert Betts JD’10,
Andrew Rouchka JD/MELP’10,
Markell Ripps JD/MELP’10, Patrick
Munson JD/MELP’10, Louisa Yanes
JD/MELP’10, Matt Johnson JD/
MELP’10, Hayley Williamson JD’10,
Scott Souers JD’10, David Huber
JD’11/MSEL’08, and Kaveh Navab
JD/MELP’10.
2011
Amanda George-Wheaton
amanda.georgewheaton@yahoo.com
Sarah McGuire
sarah.mcguire18@gmail.com
Merrill E. Bent JD’11, formerly
an associate attorney at Witten,
Woolmington, Campbell & Bernal,
P.C., is now a director. The firm has
changed its name to Woolmington,
Campbell, Bernal & Bent, P.C.
Elizabeth Newbold JD’11 and Cory
Steckler JD/MELP’11 celebrated
their one-year anniversary this
year after getting married in September
2015.
2012
Susan Lettis
susanlettis@gmail.com
Lauren Miller
lauren.miller.e@gmail.com
Véronique Jarrell-King JD/
MELP’12 and her husband, Jake Pippenger,
welcomed their son, Callum,
to the family on January 28, 2016.
“He is such a wonderful addition to
our family, with his joyous smiles
and love for exploring the outdoors.
We couldn’t be happier.”
JILLIAN RILEY JD/MELP’10 AND JOEY SOLOMON
JD/MELP’10 WERE MARRIED LAST SEPTEMBER,
AND WERE JOINED IN THEIR CELEBRATION BY
FELLOW ALUMNI FROM THE CLASSES OF 2008,
2010, AND 2011.
CELEBRATING THEIR FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
THIS YEAR, CORY STECKLER JD/MELP’11 AND
ELIZABETH NEWBOLD JD’11 WERE MARRIED IN
SEPTEMBER, 2015. PICTURED HERE: ELIZABETH
SCHILLING JD’12, JORDAN GONDA JD/MELP’11,
FALKO SCHILLING JD’11, LESLIE WELTS JD’11, JP
ISABELLE JD’11, MICHAEL ROHWER JD/MELP’11,
CORY STECKLER JD/MELP’11, ELIZABETH NEWBOLD
JD’11, RIAZ MOHAMMED JD/MELP’11, KEISHA
SEDLACEK JD/MELP’11, BRAD LEISER JD’11,
MEGAN DICKIE JD/MELP’11, BETSY CRUMB JD’11.
Jack Peters JD’11 writes, “I am still
working for the Boulder DA’s Office,
where I prosecute felonies and
handle appeals. I recently argued—
and won—a case before the Colorado
Supreme Court. That was really
cool! And my son, Owen, who was
born a few months before I graduated,
just started kindergarten. Five
years have gone by fast!”
VÉRONIQUE JARRELL-KING JD/MELP’12 AND
HUSBAND, JAKE PIPPENGER, WELCOMED THEIR SON,
CALLUM, TO THEIR FAMILY THIS PAST JANUARY.
2013
Brian Durkin
brian.o.durkin@gmail.com
Rae Kinkead
rmkinkead@gmail.com
Annie Honrath JD’13 reported
that she and husband, Jeff Aslan
JD’13, recently received a Net-
Zero Energy Certification for their
home from the International Living
Future Institute—the only home
in Whatcom County, Washington,
to have done so—and they are one
of only 33 certified in the world!
According to Annie, her husband,
LOQUITUR 48

CLASS NOTES
Jeff, the program manager at
Sustainable Connections, doesn’t
just talk the talk: “Jeff and I were
in the JD class of 2013, and Jeff
was in the Energy Institute at VLS.
He is still walking the walk here in
Bellingham.”
Stephanie Tavares-Buhler JD/
MELP 2013, and Brendan Buhler
welcomed a son, James Mark Buhler,
into the world on May 11, 2016.
2015
Crystal N. Abbey
cnabbey88@gmail.com
Alona S. Tate
alona626@yahoo.com
Patrick Larkin MELP’15 writes to us
that he completed the Appalachian
Trail this year. In his note to us, he
wrote, “Look closely at the shorts!”
2016
James LaRock
jamesmlarock@gmail.com
Paul Tuck JD’16 married Leah Giffin,
Development Officer and MELP
candidate, on May 28, 2016. Karen
Oelschlaeger JD’16, Shannon
McClelland JD’16, Rick Contino
JD’16, Kerrie Johnson JD’16, and
Rebecca Blackman JD’17 attended
their wedding. Paul and Leah went
to southeast Asia on their honeymoon.
Paul began working as a
judicial law clerk in Syracuse, NY,
for the Honorable Frederick Scullin
Jr. in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of
New York. Leah continues to work
as Development Officer for the
Office of Institutional Advancement
at Vermont Law School.
STEPHANIE TAVARES-BUHLER JD/MELP’13 AND
HUSBAND, BRENDAN, WELCOMED THEIR SON,
JAMES MARK BUHLER, INTO THE WORLD THIS
PAST MAY.
2014
Whitney Standefer
whitneystandefer@gmail.com
Cristina Mansfield
cristinaleila@hotmail.com
PAT LARKIN MELP’15 COMPLETED THE
APPALACHIAN TRAIL THIS YEAR.
PAUL TUCK JD’16 MARRIED LEAH GIFFIN,
DEVELOPMENT OFFICER AND MELP CANDIDATE
AT VERMONT LAW SCHOOL ON MAY 28, 2016, IN
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.
49 WINTER 2016/2017

IN
MEMORIAM
Elizabeth Anne Leopold JD’80,
62, died peacefully in the company
of her family on April 19,
2016. Her death was a result of a
traumatic brain injury following
a fall in her home in Greensboro,
Vt. The beloved daughter of
Barbara S. Leopold and Jonathan
P.A. Leopold, M.D., she was born
November 11, 1954, in Buffalo,
NY. Liz (her family and childhood
friends called her “Anne”) was
a 1972 graduate of Champlain
Valley Union High School and
graduated from the University
of Vermont in 1976. She earned
her JD in 1980 and became a
member of the Vermont Bar. As
a teenager and young woman,
Liz was enthusiastically involved
in her family’s Morgan Horse
program, Enterprise Farm. She
loved animals and maintained a
lifelong passion for animal rights,
including volunteering countless
hours to the Lucy McKenzie
Humane Society in Woodstock,
Vt. Throughout her life, Liz appreciated
all genres of music
and loved attending live musical
events, including the Vermont
Mozart Festival and James Taylor
concerts. Following her graduation
from law school, Liz pursued
a career in law devoted to public
service. She served Vermont
in several capacities, including
deputy state’s attorney in both
Caledonia and Chittenden counties,
assistant attorney general to
the Department of Mental Health,
and later as a traffic court judge.
Throughout Liz’s career she was
a strong advocate for children,
crime victims, and animals. She
possessed a strong sense of
compassion, fairness and justice
for all. Liz struggled with clinical
depression and mental illness
during her adult life. In her later
years she also experienced severe
chronic pain and debilitating
arthritis. The last several months
of her life were filled with a sense
of optimism, hope, and a commitment
to wellness. Liz leaves
her beloved friend of 33 years,
devoted partner and spouse,
Jane Woodruff, and their beloved
Doberman Pinscher, Emma. She
is also survived by her three
brothers. Liz was predeceased by
her parents. She delighted in her
many nieces, nephews, and grand
nephews.
Marianne Kennedy JD’86, 66,
passed away on September 18,
2016, at her home in Shaftsbury,
Vt., surrounded by family,
friends, and her beloved golden
retriever, Maggie. Marianne was
born to William and Elizabeth
Kennedy in the Bronx, New York.
She attended St. Helena’s Catholic
School in the Bronx. She began
her professional career at Albert
Einstein College of Medicine
at Montefiore Medical Center,
assisting doctors on important
research. In the mid-1970s, Marianne
and her first husband, Robert
Cutler, moved from the Upper
West Side of New York City to a
103-acre mountain parcel in Sandgate,
Vt., where they built and engineered
a round house by hand.
She gave birth to her only child,
David, in 1979. Marianne received
her law degree from Vermont Law
School in 1986, an achievement
made more exceptional by raising
her son as a single mother. She
practiced law with the firm of
Joseph O’Dea, opened her own
private practice, and formed the
law firm of Windburn, Kennedy
& Ameden, primarily focusing
on family law. Beginning in
the 1990s, she devoted herself
to non-profits and public agencies,
serving as a consultant, a
health policy analyst, and expert
in restorative justice. She was
Executive Director of the Bennington
County Court Diversion
Program and Executive Director
for the Rutland Women’s Network
and Shelter, and was tapped
to work for the Administration
of Governor James Douglas on
his Long Term Care & Medicaid
Program. Her work there led to
her role in the formation of the
Battenkill Valley Health Center in
Arlington, Vt. She returned to law
again, joining the Rutland, Vt.,
firm Kenlan Schwiebert in 2006.
She taught and lectured at area
colleges, and provided testimony
regularly before the Vermont
State Legislature. She received
the Vermont Bar Association Pro
Bono Award for providing distinguished
legal services to underprivileged
citizens of Vermont. In
1987 she met and married Shane
Sweet of East Arlington, Vt. The
inseparable couple found common
love for dogs, nature, and
home renovations as they moved
often to accommodate their
ambitious careers. Marianne was
known for her gregarious nature,
her Bronx street-smarts, and
her passion for life. She made
a strong impression on nearly
everyone she met. She will be
missed by her many friends who
fondly recall her gift for telling
fantastic stories from her
life: hiding razor blades in her
hair; nailing herself to a roof
overnight when her ladder fell;
outrunning a bear down the road
near her house; and many more.
She is survived by her husband,
Shane Sweet; her dog, Maggie;
her son, David Kennedy Cutler,
and his wife, Mellissa Huber, of
Brooklyn, NY; and her sisterin-law,
Mary Jane Kennedy, of
Rowayton, Conn.
LOQUITUR 50

Caption This
INTER ALIA
WE’RE PROVIDING A CARTOON IN NEED OF
a punchline. As the reader, you can
submit your caption idea to us at alumni@
vermontlaw.edu (with “Caption Contest”
in the subject line.) We will choose the top
three finalist captions, and will then post
them online at connect.vermontlaw.edu/
captioncontest (not yet set up) where you
can vote for your favorite. The winning
caption, along with the cartoon (and the
winning submitter), will be printed in the
next issue of Loquitur. Vermont Law School
alumni, students, faculty, staff, trustees,
and former trustees can enter their
caption idea.
Angela Boyle

VERMONT ALBUM
CONTRA DANCING DURING FALL 2016 ORIENTATION.
LOQUITUR 52

REPORT OF GIVING
FISCAL YEAR 2016
Dave Barnum

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS WILL TACKLE OUR WORLD’S MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS. Vermont Law
School is investing in those who will make a difference. We are committed to providing the most expansive kind
of preparation: small class sizes, clinical settings, on-the-ground training. We couldn’t do it without the
generous support of those included in this report. On behalf of the Vermont Law School community,
thank you!
LEADERS’ CIRCLE
The Leaders’ Circle giving society recognizes the commitment and contributions of donors who support Vermont Law School at a
leadership level, year after year. To become a Leaders’ Circle member, donors make a five-year forward pledge of $1,000, $2,500, or
$5,000 per year, and/or have demonstrated a five-year, consistent giving history at a minimum of $1,000 per year.
Anonymous (5)
Adour and Helen Aghjayan P’16
Christopher ’94 and
Marietta ’94 Anderson
Steve ’79 and Ellen Ankuda
Abby Armstrong ’84^
Bradford T. Atwood ’90
Vice President Lorraine Atwood^
Richard* and Beth Ayres
Professor Betsy Baker
Dr. Marilyn Bartlett ’91
Edna Y. Baugh ’83*
Joshua L. Belcher ’08 and Sarah E. Belcher
Glenn J. Berger, Esq. ’78*^ and
Rachel S. Cox
Sandra L. Bograd ’83
Brent Bohan ’10
Heather Bowman ’98
Chantelle*^ and Andrew^ Brackett
The Honorable Jaclyn A. Brilling ’79
Judson ’89 and Carol Burnham
Ingrid Busson-Hall ’99
Leslie A. Cadwell ’94*
J. Scott ’80** and Cathleen Cameron
Lisa M. Campion ’11
J. Lee Clancy, Ph.D. ’92
Caryn J. Clayman ’83
Jim ’91* and Joni ’91 Clemons
Alexa A. Cole ’98
Peter B. Colgrove ’84
Torend L. Collins ’09
Colleen H. Connor ’85* and
Brian P. Kelahan
Joe Cook ’97
David J. Coviello ’99
John ’78 and Janet Craven
Scott M. Cullen ’97* and
Carrie G. Cullen ’98
Ann T. Debevoise**
Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Debevoise*
Michelle T. Delemarre ’91 and
Ronald L. Vavruska ’91
Priscilla B. Dube ’80
Chip ’97 and Ashley (Brown) ’99 Duffie
Brian Dunkiel ’96* and Leslie Halperin
Tom ’85 and Susan Durkin P’14
Christopher* and Ann Dutton
Michael H. Dworkin P’13^
Earth Asset Partnership LP
Douglas Ebeling ’97
Professor John Echeverria^ and Carin Pratt
Matthew J. Ellis ’04
Robert A. Fasanella ’86
Tom Federle ’96
Jennifer Feeley Hyzer ’02 and
Cameron Hyzer
Steve Feldman ’93
Caroline Fisher ’04
Robert B. Fiske, Jr. P’90*
Mary E. Fletcher ’92
Mr. Philip B. Flynn and
Ms. Lois G. Golde P’18
Janice A. Forgays, Esq. ’85**
Michael J. ’85 and Mary C. Franco
Marjorie Northrop Friedman ’99 and
Peter J. Friedman
Bridgette G. Gallagher ’11
Mario F. Gallucci ’90
Jackie Gardina**^
Edward Gillis ’92 and
Linda Mandell Gillis ’94
John R. Gonzo ’90
Sheppard** and Joan Guryan
Peter W. Hall* and Rebecca M. Dunton
Zoe ’06 and Spencer ’04 Hanes
James E. Hanson ’83*
Christopher ’77 & Martha Harold P’12
Harris Family ’76
Todd M. Heine ’11, JD, LLM, Master 2
Droit, Suitless Inc.
Lou Helmuth ’84 and Lisa Steindler
Stuart ’83 and Janet Hersh
Stephen T. Hesse ’89
Professor Barry E. Hill, Esq.^
Michael O. Hill ’84
Jerry Howe MSL ’83 and Jodi Frechette
Anthony Iarrapino ’03** and
Joslyn Wilschek ’03
W. Owen Jenkins ’77
Jeff Johnson ’82 and Mary Kehoe
Gerard E. Jones** and Emily G. Jones
Harold V. Jones*
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph E. Jones III P’17
Howard ’01 and Karolina Kanner
Karl A. Karg IV ’94
Edward T. Keable ’86 and Scot M. Rogerson
Dianne Kenney ’91
Patrick ’03 and Cara Kenney
Michael Kessler ’80 and Christine Kessler
Kathryn C. Kilguss LLM ’05
Kolleen Kirk ’99
Adam M. Kushner ’84
Susan G. Lacoste ’03, P’11
John ’87 and Claudine Lanahan
Professor Mark A. Latham^
Joan Sarles Lee ’80
William G. Madsen ’90
Sun Hill Foundation and
Lori** & Timon Malloy**
Margaret A. Mangan ’86
Edward G. Martoglio ’82
Kirk Marty ’96
Edward C. Mattes, Jr. ’83**
The Matule Family*
Bob Maxwell ’86
William L. McCoy ’96
David M. McCullough ’07 and
Melissa C. McCullough
Alice and George* McKann
M. Andrew McLain ’05
Michael and Jane McLain P’05
David ’91**^ and Nancy Mears
David ’97 and Erin ’97 Meezan
Kevin R. ’87* and Lori J. Mendik
Sharon D. Meyers ’79 and
Andrew L. Meyers
Marc*^ and Chris Mihaly
James Moreno ’88 and Sarah Nicklin
Constance Neary ’89*
Gail H. Nichols ’80**
Karis L. North ’95*
Mara Williams Oakes
Margaret L. Olnek ’92
Jessica L. Olson ’07
Anne Debevoise Ostby ’88*
James A. Ostendorf ’13
W. Bruce Pasfield ’84
Christian H. Pedersen ’99
Frederick V. Peet ’93
Joseph Perella ’88
Pamela J. Pescosolido ’90
Jill Pfenning ’07
Alex S. Polonsky ’98
Brian H. Potts ’04 and Abigail Wuest ’04
E. Miles Prentice III, Esq.**
Andrew A. Reich, Esq. ’91
Christopher M. Reid ’99 and
Tara A. Reid ’98
Lamar S. Rhodes ’04
Katie Rowen ’05 and Jen Willis ’05
Robert Schweitzer ’93
S. Mark Sciarrotta ’96*
Charles E. Shafer ’77** and
Judith W. Shafer
Robert M. Shafer ’79**
Alison Share ’08 and Jami Westerhold ’08
M. Jane Sheehan, Esq ’87
Alexandra B. Sherertz ’12
Alexander D. Shriver ’95**
Mr. Don A. Smith and
Mrs. Rachel C. Smith P’02
Karen and Fernando Sotelino P’09
Adam G. Sowatzka ’97
Kemp ’87 and Edith Stickney
Steven F. Stitzel ’79
Robert D. Taisey, Esq.*
William E. Taylor ’83
David Thelander ’87**
Brian ’08 and Vicky Thompson
Richard L. Vanderslice ’01
Jeremy T. Vermilyea ’96
Jonathan R. Voegele ’12
Margaret I. Waldock ’92
Alma Walls ’01
Scott M. Watson ’06
Donna Watts ’83 and John Monahan ’83
John S. Webb, Esq. ’92
Rob^ and Nora Webber
Mac Webster ’99
Vice President Mary L. Welz^
John Westerman ’82
Stephanie^ and Stephen Willbanks
Sean B. T. Williams ’10
Karen Willis ’95 and Marty Collins
Bradley D. Wine ’95
Ned ’89 and Mary Witte and Sons
Kinvin**^ and Deborah Wroth
Andrew J. Yoon ’99
Peter H. Zamore ’79
2
*= TRUSTEE DURING FY 2016 **= TRUSTEE EMERITUS/FORMER TRUSTEE †= DECEASED ^ = FACULTY/STAFF

PRESIDENT’S SOCIETY
Anonymous (6)
Jessie-Lea Abbott
David M. Anderson
Richard* and Beth Ayres
Glenn J. Berger, Esq. ’78*^ and
Rachel S. Cox
Melvyn † and Maxine Bergman P’94
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Berndt
Ms. Margaret C. Bowles
Judson ’89 and Carol Burnham
The Byrne Foundation
Leslie A. Cadwell ’94*
J. Scott ’80** and Cathleen Cameron
Wick R. Chambers ’78
David P. Chang †
Caryn J. Clayman ’83
Jim ’91* and Joni ’91 Clemons
Ms. Amy Cohen**
David N. Cole ’86
Ed** and Nancy Colodny
Colleen H. Connor ’85* and
Brian P. Kelahan
Julien Cornell †
Thomas † and Ann T. Debevoise*
Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Debevoise*
Christopher* and Ann Dutton
Professor Stephen Dycus^ and
Elizabeth R. Dycus
Ms. Gillian C. Ehrich
Mr. Perez C. Ehrich**
Terry M. Ehrich † **
Ms. Shannon K. Ehrich Warren
Joel T. ’94 and Carolyn Faxon
Anthony M. Feeherry, Esq.
Carl and Judy Ferenbach
Alden L. Fiertz
DOUGLAS MEREDITH
LEGACY SOCIETY
The President’s Society honors Vermont Law School’s most generous supporters, those distinguished alumni and friends whose
lifetime contributions have reached $25,000 or more.
The Estate of Beverly F. Fiertz ’86 †
Stuart Fiertz
Robert B. Fiske, Jr. P’90*
Janice A. Forgays, Esq. ’85**
Edwina Gillis
The Estate of Ben Gingold †
Maxine Jo Grad ’85
Sheppard** and Joan Guryan
Mickey Haggerty ’77
James E. Hanson ’83*
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Hanson
Robert Haydock † **
Mrs. Elizabeth D. Healy
Harold H. Healy †
Professor John W. Hennessey** and
The Honorable Madeleine Kunin
Heather** and Patrick Henry
Stephen T. Hesse ’89
Nicholas E. Heyl ’88**
Michael O. Hill ’84
The Honorable Philip H. Hoff**
Mr. Lawrence S. Huntington
Barbara Mulligan Huppé ’88
The Honorable James M. Jeffords †
Jeff Johnson ’82 and Mary Kehoe
Gerard E. Jones** and Emily G. Jones
James Kalashian ’83 and Pat DeLuca ’84
Edmund H. Kellogg †
Max** and Paige Kempner
Patrick ’03 and Cara Kenney
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kimball P’86**
Barbara G. Kirk †
John M. Kirk †
Professor Kenneth Kreiling^ and
Ms. Blanche Podhajski
Gerry and Bill ’82** Leckerling
Mr. Adam J. Lewis
Crea S. Lintilhac
Dunbar Lockwood ’83 †
Mrs. Irene L. Lockwood †
Mr. Dan Lufkin
Edwin A. Malloy † **
Sun Hill Foundation and
Lori** & Timon Malloy**
Edward C. Mattes, Jr. ’83**
The Matule Family*
J. Michael McGarry III, Esq.**
William D. McGuire
Alice and George* McKann
Michael and Jane McLain P’05
Bernard Mendik †
Kevin R. ’87* and Lori J. Mendik
L. Douglas Meredith † **
Marc*^ and Chris Mihaly
Phoebe A. Mix ’79**
Gail H. Nichols ’80**
Marjorie Northrop Friedman ’99 and
Peter J. Friedman
Mr. Dwight D. Opperman †
Anne Debevoise Ostby ’88*
R. Allan Paul, Esq.** and Elsie E. Paul
Pamela J. Pescosolido ’90
E. Miles Prentice III, Esq.**
Robert D.** and Catharine B. Rachlin
Mr. and Ms. Stephen Ramsey
Mrs. Evelyn Redlich
Norman Redlich † **
Bill Reynolds ’87
The Estate of Marcus T. Reynolds †
Laurance S. Rockefeller †
Elizabeth Ross † **
Robert L. Sand ’87**^
Jay A. Scherline, Esq. ’76 †
Lorrie L. Scherline
Robert Schweitzer ’93
Charles E. Shafer ’77** and
Judith W. Shafer
Robert M. Shafer ’79**
Dean Jeff Shields † ** and
Genie Bird Shields
The Estate of Janice C. Shields †
Mr. John W. Shields †
Mrs. Anna Simon
Mr. Don A. Smith and
Mrs. Rachel C. Smith P’02
Ms. Elizabeth Steele
Peter D. Sudler
Robert D. Taisey, Esq.*
Richard K. Teitell ’77
David Thelander ’87**
Bill T. Walker, Esq. ’76**
Alma Walls ’01
Lucy McVitty Weber ’85
The Estate of Patricia H. Weisberg †
John Westerman ’82
Ann W. Wick
Hilton A. Wick † **
Mara Williams Oakes
Norman † and Jeanne Williams
Karen Willis ’95 and Marty Collins
Mary G. Wilson**
Charles B. Yates ’93 † **
Mr. Craig Yates
Dr. Fran Yates**
Jean and Jeffrey Young
Vermont Law School recognizes the following donors to the Douglas Meredith Legacy Society for including VLS in their estate plan
through a will or living trust, creating a charitable remainder trust (naming VLS as the remainder beneficiary), entering into a charitable
gift annuity agreement with VLS, or naming VLS as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan.
Anonymous (8)
Caryn J. Clayman ’83
Edwin** and Nancy Colodny
Colleen H. Connor ’85* and
Brian P. Kelahan
Thomas M. † and Ann T. Debevoise**
Mr. Perez C. Ehrich*
Terry M. Ehrich †
Robert A. Fasanella ’86
Lillian and Ben Gingold †
Mickey Haggerty ’77
Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs
Randy A. Hertz**
James and Sally † Hill
The Honorable Philip H. Hoff** and
Joan Hoff
Barbara Mulligan Huppé ’88
R. Scott Johnston ’82 and
Marsha G. Ajhar ’81
Gerard E. Jones** and Emily G. Jones
Roger † and Frances Kennedy
Michael Kessler ’80 and Christine Kessler
Alex Manning ’06
J. Michael McGarry III, Esq.
L. Douglas Meredith †
Marc*^ and Chris Mihaly
Francis E. Morrissey ’88 †
Daniel G. Murphy ’81
Andrew H. Neisner ’84 †
Katherine E. Nunes †
The Honorable James L. Oakes † and
Mara Williams Oakes
Margaret L. Olnek ’92
J. Brian Potts ’81
Elizabeth Ross †
Charles E. Shafer ’77** and
Judith W. Shafer
Robert M. Shafer ’79**
The Estate of Janice C. Shields †
Dean Jeff Shields † and Genie Bird Shields
Denton Shriver †
Gus and Cameron Speth
Kemp ’87 and Edith Stickney
William E. Taylor ’83
David Thelander ’87**
Harry F. Waggoner ’00
The Estate of Patricia H. Weisberg †
Professor Burns Weston
Hilton A. Wick †**
Norman and Jeanne Williams †
Mary G. Wilson*
Dr. Fran Yates*
Jean and Jeffrey Young
*= TRUSTEE DURING FY 2016 **= TRUSTEE EMERITUS/FORMER TRUSTEE †= DECEASED ^ = FACULTY/STAFF
3

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
DONOR LIST
Anonymous (22)
Jen Abdella ’07 and Charlie Benjamin
David and Elaine Abraham P’11
Chris Adamo ’04^
Amy K. Adelman ’85
Robert H. Adkins
Maria L.C. Mendoza Adleman ’94
Steve ’82 and Lisa ’82 Adler
Richard, Lori, and Mary Adrianse
Maurice and Angela Agresta P’16
Peter Agresta ’16
Ryan and Jill Ahrens
Dorothy M. Aicher ’81
The Honorable Frederic W. Allen †
Sandra Allen ’88
Eric Alletzhauser ’92
Marisela Alonso P’16
Ian D. Altendorfer ’16
Cornelia Alvarez ’16
Mrs. Esther D. Ames P’07
Sam Ames ’07
Mr. Francis P. Anania
Julia Anastasio MSEL ’96
Christopher ’94 and
Marietta ’94 Anderson
Erik ’01 and Melissa ’01 Anderson
Samara D. Anderson, Esq. ’03
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas B. Angell
Steve ’79 and Ellen Ankuda
Lori Anthony ’97
Peter D. Anthony, Ph.D. ’88
Cynthia Corlett Argentine ’91
Abby Armstrong ’84^
Robin Arnell ’89
Al Arpad ’02**
Penny Huss Asherman ’99
Chuck ’85 and Jennifer Marindin ’87
Assini
Bradford T. Atwood ’90
Katelyn ’10^ and John Atwood
Vice President Lorraine Atwood^
Jeffrey B. Axelrod ’85
Richard* and Beth Ayres
Mr. Bruce A. Baird, Esq.
Professor Betsy Baker^
Laura M. Baker ’08
Steve Baker ’88
Steve Ball ’07
Jenny and Joe Ballway
Raymond Baribeault ’89
The Barnowskis P’17
M. Robin Barone ’85^ and Sydney Lea
Professor Margaret Martin Barry^ and
H. Patrick Barry ’14
Dr. Marilyn Bartlett ’91
John R. Bashaw ’87
Edna Y. Baugh ’83*
James and Carol Baum
James L. Beausoleil, Jr. ’94
Diane Runyan Bech ’89
Jonathan Beck ’95 and
Suzi Black Beck ’94
Liz and Bill Becker P’15
Colin G. Beckman ’14
Robert and Ini Beckman P’14
Joshua L. Belcher ’08 and
Sarah E. Belcher
Adam ’06 and Kayte Bellusci
Barbara and Bill Bennett P’99
Joe Benning ’83
Robert R. Bent ’81 and
Jacqueline A. Hughes ’81
Kelly L. Berfield ’01
Glenn J. Berger, Esq. ’78*^ and
Rachel S. Cox
Gene Bergman ’94 and Wendy Coe
John D. Bernetich P’11
Clare Cragan ’11 and John Bernetich ’11
Andrea Berlowe ’93 and
Jonathan Binder ’92
Veronica C. Boda ’78
Sandra L. Bograd ’83
Brent Bohan ’10
Michael W. Borkowski ’76
Robert B. Borowski ’11
Rebecca E. Boucher ’03
Heather Bowman ’98
Rachel M. Boylan ’92
Chantelle*^ and Andrew^ Brackett
Roberta S. Bren ’78
Sheila A. Brennan P’97
Richard L. Breyer P’17
Brian Barrett for Essex County Court
The Honorable Jaclyn A. Brilling ’79
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Brilling P’79
Claudia Horack Bristow ’78
Cynthia L. Broadfoot
Randy* and Andrea Brock
Elizabeth Bailey Brodeur ’95
Professor and Mrs. Richard O. Brooks
Charles ’93 and Tracy Brown
Edward A. Brown ’93
Katie Brown ’95
Kendra Brown ’12
Vanessa L. Brown ’12
Mr. & Ms. Henry P. Brubaker P’98
Carolyn L. Buckingham ’06
Clare A. Buckley ’92
Katherine A. Buckley ’14
Peter ’82 and Tia Bullard
Brent Burgee, M.D. ’01
Emily E. Burgis ’14
Judson ’89 and Carol Burnham
Amanda Bush ’10
Ingrid Busson-Hall ’99
Rep. Sarah Buxton ’10
The Byrne Foundation
David B. Cabrera ’91
Leslie A. Cadwell ’94*
Heather S. Calderwood ’14
Christopher Callahan ’01
Shannon Slowey Callahan ’04
J. Scott ’80** and Cathy Cameron
Lisa M. Campion ’11
Gregory V. Canale ’89
Paul R. Cantilina ’91
Deb Carlson ’88
Mary F. Carlson
Dave Carpenter ’97
James and Kathleen Carr P’17
Ashley Carson Cottingham ’06 and
Carroll Cottingham
Peter H. Carter, Esq. ’78**
Pat Casey ’87 and Amy Walker-Casey
John J. Cavanaugh, Jr. ’11
Richard A. Cawley ’84
Michael Jay Chernick ’91
Edward J. Chesnik ’76**
Alford & Lana P. Chin P’92
Nesha R. Christian-Hendrickson ’08
Ana M. Cimino ’17
J. Lee Clancy, Ph.D. ’92
Peter M. Clark ’07
Kenneth Clarke ’81
Scott D. Clausen ’03
Caryn J. Clayman ’83
Mary Stubblefield Clemmensen ’13
Jim ’91* and Joni ’91 Clemons
Christopher Cocoma ’93
Mr. Edmund Coffin
Jamie ’80 and Jill Coffrin
Kathryn H. Cogswell P’95
William D. Cohen ’84
Kevin E. Colangelo ’94
Alexa A. Cole ’98
Nancy J. Colfax ’79
Peter B. Colgrove ’84
Daniel E. Collins ’95
Torend L. Collins ’09
Christian Colwell ’91 and
Kathleen Bradley Colwell ’91
Helene L.J. Combes
Charles S. Conerly ’96
Caryn Connolly ’16
Colleen H. Connor ’85* and
Brian P. Kelahan
Elizabeth A. Cook ’13
Joe Cook ’97
Peter H. Cooper ’95
Thomas N. Cooper ’81 and
Susan H. Cooper ’81
Robert W. Corbisier ’03
Tyler E. Corn ’12
Andrea Courtney ’01 and Robert Fisher
David J. Coviello ’99
Stephen J. Craddock ’84
John ’78 and Janet Craven
Jeffrey C. Crawford ’87 and
Shirley J. Hoeppner-Crawford ’87^
Elaine Crockett ’80
John Milton Cross, Jr. ’79
Eric and Kathy Crowell
Martha E. Csala
Scott M. Cullen ’97* and
Carrie G. Cullen ’98
James M. Cunningham
Carolina T. Curbelo ’05
Stephen and Catherine Curtis P’16
Robin C. Curtiss ’86
M. Douglas Dagan ’13
Adam ’98 and Andrea ’97** Daly
Peter F. Davis ’97
Polly D. Davis ’91
Timothy B. Davis ’99
Ann T. Debevoise**
Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Debevoise*
Larry and Connie Deetz P’10
Ms. Melody DeFlorio^
Colleen M. DeShazer
Ashley J. DeVerna ’11
Charles E. Di Leva ’78
Natalia C. Diaz ’06
Megan Dickie ’11
William Dietrich ’02
Marianne Donahue Perchlik ’92
John and Sandra Dooley
Norman and Harriette Dorsen
Michael G. Dowd ’82
Robert C. Downey ’93
Andrew Dressel ’07
Priscilla B. Dube ’80
Chip ’97 and Ashley (Brown) ’99 Duffie
Mr. Joseph C. Duggan and
Ms. Teresa K. Duggan P’07
John P. Dumville
4
*= TRUSTEE DURING FY 2016 **= TRUSTEE EMERITUS/FORMER TRUSTEE †= DECEASED ^ = FACULTY/STAFF

^
2016 SPA OFFICERS INCLUDE
(front row, left to right) Elise
Iannone JD/MELP’18, Emma-
Rose Boyle JD’17, (back row, on
right) Joseph Haase JD’19, and
Michael Ferrari JD/MELP’19.
Not pictured: Robert Reeves
JD/MELP’18.
SPA (Student Philanthropy Ambassadors)
ELISE IANNONE ’17, A JD/MELP CANDIDATE, JOINED
THE STUDENT PHILANTHROPY AMBASSADORS
(SPA) DURING HER FIRST YEAR AT VERMONT LAW
SCHOOL. “What initially attracted me to the group were
the practical skills we would gain from participating,”
Elise described, reflected on her decision to participate
in this newly formed group of students dedicated to
spearheading each year’s class gift campaign. “There is
a lot of networking going on, making phone calls and
writing letters and e-mails, all of which have to be professional
and well-written, so I knew right off the bat
this was going to be something that would not be your
run-of-the-mill extra-curricular activity.”
Conceptualized by Leah Giffin, Development Officer,
and Rachel Noyes, Advancement Operations Coordinator—both
working out of the Office for Institutional
Advancement—and guided by Giffin, Noyes, and a team
of faculty and staff advisors, SPA formed in 2015 with the
mission to foster a culture of philanthropy at Vermont
Law School. Through organizing student body events to
raise money for the class gift to hosting a commencement
barbecue, SPA endeavors to create legacies that
persist for generations of students to come. Through
participating in learning activities, SPA members prepare
for their own future professions by gaining experience
in fundraising and organizational advancement.
In her role as events manager for SPA, Elise brings
enthusiasm and conviction to the group: “SPA is an
important group because it builds upon so many skills
that we will all have to face in the years of our careers.”
She continued, “I’ve had the privilege of working with a
talented and inspiring group of people who always put
100 percent into what we’re working on, and I’m looking
forward to bringing in a new group of students.”
Learn more about SPA at connect.vermontlaw.edu/spa.
Follow their activities on Twitter @VLS_Philanthrop and
on Facebook: facebook.com/VLSSPA.
5

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
DONOR LIST CONTINUED
Jarrett B. Duncan ’06
Brian Dunkiel ’96*and Leslie Halperin
Ms. Suzan Dunkiel P’ 96
Tom ’85 and Susan Durkin P’14
Christopher* and Ann Dutton
Lucie Bourassa Dvorak ’95
Michael H. Dworkin P’13^
Douglas Ebeling ’97
Professor John Echeverria^ and
Carin Pratt
Jonathan Eck ’06
Professor Arthur Edersheim^ and
Ms. Susan Elder
Earth Asset Partnership, LP
Patrick M. Egan ’76
Kelsey M. Eggert ’16
The Honorable Warren W. Eginton
Jenna ’06 and Matt Einstein ’06
Craig and Dianne Eldred P’13
Matthew J. Ellis ’04
Noura Eltabbakh
Mr. J. R. Emens and
Ms. Beatrice E. Wolper P’95
Lisa and Eli ’02 Emerson
Bradley K. Enterline ’84
Dr. Michael Epstein and
Mrs. Susan Epstein
Carla Erskine
Joanne M. Ertel ’92
Seth A. Eschen
William S. Eubanks II ’08^
Timothy M. Eustace ’96
Todd M. Everts ’91 and Cynthia A. Everts
Lucy and John Eysenbach P’17
Christine A. Faris
George T. Faris ’78 †
Laura J. Farkas ’11
Joseph A. Farnham ’89
Barbara Farr ’91
Stephanie Farrior^ and Jeff Schumann
Robert A. Fasanella ’86
Tom Federle ’96
Anthony M. Feeherry, Esq.
Jennifer Feeley Hyzer ’02 and
Cameron Hyzer
Steve Feldman ’93
Richard L. Ferguson
Joseph Fierros ’16
Steven W. Firsichbaum ’76
Viggo C. Fish
Amanda Jacquette Fisher ’13
Caroline Fisher ’04
Robert B. Fiske, Jr. P’90*
Courtney A. Flanagan ’97
Mr. Ken Fletcher
Mary E. Fletcher ’92
#COUNTMEIN
2016 REUNION GIVING CHALLENGE
Cronin Photography
FOR A SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, THE ANNUAL
#COUNTMEIN REUNION GIVING CHALLENGE
DRUMMED UP POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND ALUM-
NI PARTICIPATION, not to mention fundraising
success. The four-week campaign that started
mid-May came to a competitive end on Friday
evening of Homecoming Weekend, June 17–18,
2016. #countmein posed a challenge to Vermont
Law School reunion year classes (those classes
ending in ’01 and ’06): which class could close the
fiscal year with the highest participation rate in
giving?
With a 16 percent participation rate, the Class
of 1976 won the challenge, earned the Reunion
Class Participation Award, and helped VLS reach
its fundraising goal of $100K. The campaign was
created to assist students with financial aid packages,
provide student services, and attract and retain
quality faculty and staff, through the generosity
of an anonymous donor who pledged a $50K
match for money raised during the campaign.
All contributions by each reunion year class
paved the way for VLS to successfully raise the
specified amount.
6

GIVING BY CLASS YEAR
Mr. Philip B. Flynn and
Ms. Lois G. Golde P’18
The Honorable ’92 and Mrs. David Foley
Susan Boyle Ford ’84**
Janice A. Forgays, Esq. ’85**
David Foster ’90
Warren E. Foster ’87
James and Diane Foust P’14
Andrew W. Fowler ’14
Megan C. Fowler Myers ’11
Susan L. Fowler ’80
Robert J. Fox ’83
Michael J. ’85 and Mary C. Franco
Steven Freihofner, Esq. ’80
Kay and Neal Frey P’16
C. John Friesman
Allison Nassau Fulcher ’91
Gary A. Gabree ’84
David L. Galgay, Jr. ’87
Bridgette G. Gallagher ’11
Mario F. Gallucci ’90
Joshua Galperin ’08 and Sarah Kuebbing
Jackie Gardina**^
Peter ’99 and Victoire Gardner
Stephanie Gardner ’14
William C. Garlow P’16
Paul W. Garrity ’94**
Elizabeth Georg ’03
Robert P. Gerety, Jr. ’80
Ernest and Charlotte Gibson
Edward Gillis ’92 and
Linda Mandell Gillis ’94
Robert and Betty Gilson P’13
Clare Ginger ’83
Diedre M. Gish ’11
Kristin Hines Gladd ’10 and
Nicholas Gladd ’12
Suzanne Fay Glynn ’78
Richard A. Goldberg ’78
Rachel Goldwasser ’06 and
Christopher Aslin ’06
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Golian P’98
John R. Gonzo ’90
Richards Gordon ’82
Robert D. Gray P’18
Joseph T. Griffo ’07 and
Shannon Vallance Griffo ’07
Ken and Diane Grimes P’18
Daniel F. Grossman ’80
Jeff Guevin ’12
Sophie A. Guilfoyle ’15
Sheppard** and Joan Guryan
Michael J. Hall ’99
Peter W. Hall* and Rebecca M. Dunton
Judith Halsema P’11
Petra A. Halsema ’11
Susan L. Hamilton ’88 and
Edwin C. Krebs
Seth H. Handy ’96
Molly Shubert Hann ’12
James E. Hanson ’83*
Tom S. Hanson ’95
Christopher ’77 and
Martha Harold P’12, ’13
Elizabeth Grace Harold ’13
Harris Family ’76
Cammie Hart P’02
Jennifer B. Hartman ’14
Kathleen A. Hassey ’84
Bill ’93 and Kathy ’93 Hatfield
William D. Hayes ’12
Don Hebert ’89 and Holly Fazzino
Karen A. Heggen ’91
Job C. Heintz ’95
Lou Helmuth ’84 and Lisa Steindler
Gary L. Helton ’15
Karen L. Henderson ’07 and
Brian E. Jensen
Professor John W. Hennessey** and
The Honorable Madeleine Kunin
Stuart ’83 and Janet Hersh
Michael B. Hershberg ’16
Elizabeth B. Hessami
Stephen T. Hesse ’89
Aaron J. and Barbarina M. Heyerdahl
Professor Barry E. Hill, Esq.^
Michael O. Hill ’84
Shelley Hill ’81
Charles and Karen Hines P’10
Venice and Peter ’82 Hochman
Maureen Bayer Hodson ’07
The Honorable Philip H. Hoff**
Kevin Hogan ’91
Neil Holzman ’13
Jefferson C. Hooper ’89
Julia H. Horrocks ’08
Rachel H. Houseman ’93
Jerry Howe MSL ’83 and Jodi Frechette
Richard J. Howrigan, Jr. ’02
Deborah S. Hudler
Jehmal T. Hudson ’06
Don C. Hunter ’78
Mr. Raymond L. Hurt and
Mrs. Kathy F. Hurt P’01
Jason Hutt ’98** and Maria O’Donnell
Peter S. Hyndman ’89
Anthony and Martha Iarrapino P’03
Anthony Iarrapino ’03** and
Joslyn Wilschek ’03
Erin Jacobsen ’11^
W. Joe Jacumin ’04
Jessica E. Jay ’97^
Associate Dean Shirley A. Jefferson ’86^
W. Owen Jenkins ’77
William and Mary Jo Jesmer P’13
Professor Gregory Johnson^
Jeff Johnson ’82 and Mary Kehoe
Richard A. Johnson, Jr. ’97
Keith Johnston ’04
R. Scott Johnston ’82 and
Marsha G. Ajhar ’81
Harold V. Jones*
Professor Kevin B. Jones^
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph E. Jones III P’17
Elizabeth Kahn ’14
Michael R. Kainen ’92^
James Kalashian ’83 and Pat DeLuca ’84
Renata Z. Kalnins ’79
Byron S. Kalogerou ’86
Darwin Holder ’89 and
Katrina Kamantauskas-Holder ’88
Howard ’01 and Karolina Kanner
Karl A. Karg IV ’94
Edward T. Keable ’86 and
Scot M. Rogerson
Christopher J. Keach ’14
Peggy and Robert Keach P’14
Peter C. Keller
Yolanda L. Kelly-O’Neill ’06
Max** and Paige Kempner
Heather Spurlock Kennealy ’02 and
Brian Kennealy
Alyson H. Kennedy ’12
Frances Kennedy
J. Patrick Kennedy ’93
Bryan L. Kennelly ’10
Dianne Kenney ’91
Patrick ’03 and Cara Kenney
John R. Keough ’80
John W. Kessler ’88**
Michael Kessler ’80 and Christine Kessler
Richard A. Kessler ’78
Shazia A. Khan
Benjamin A. Kia ’17
Susan Kidd ’83
Gail Killefer ’80**
Patricia A. Killigrew ’98
Michelle Brandt King ’03 and
Jason King ’02
Kolleen Kirk ’99
Elizabeth C. Kline ’84
Karen Weidner and Kurt Klotzbuecher P’12
Marilyn L. Komessar ’93
Eula Lee Kozma ’08 and
Josh B. Sattely ’08
1976
17.39%
PARTICIPATION
1977
8.08%
PARTICIPATION
1978
20.45%
PARTICIPATION
1979
28.77%
PARTICIPATION
1980
17.82%
PARTICIPATION
1981
14.29%
PARTICIPATION
1982
15.15%
PARTICIPATION
1983
18.18%
PARTICIPATION
1984
17.12%
PARTICIPATION
1985
11.4%
PARTICIPATION
7

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
DONOR LIST CONTINUED
1986
13.85%
PARTICIPATION
Melissa A. Krah ’11
Pamela Kraynak ’84
Professor Kenneth Kreiling^ and
Ms. Blanche Podhajski
Jane Woldow ’99 and Kurt Kuehl ’99
William C. Kuehn ’88
Michele Kupersmith ’82
Kathleen M. Kushi-Carter
Adam M. Kushner ’84
Susan G. Lacoste ’03, P’11
Katherine M. Lamson ’07
John ’87 and Claudine Lanahan
Alison R. Landis ’13
Gary W. Lange ’82
Professor Mark A. Latham^
Peter and Hrysa Lazaropoulos P’16
Christine LeBel ’94
Amory A. Ledyard
Joan Sarles Lee ’80
Robert D. Lees
Benjamin Leoni ’11 and
Reade Wilson ’11
Christopher ’78 and Jennifer Leopold
Lepionka-Lacroix Family
Kevin O. Leske ’99
Lewis S. Levin ’77
Cynthia Lewis^
Lori J. Lewis ’93
Tracey L. Lewis ’09
Crea S. Lintilhac
Bernard Lisman, Esq. † **
Timothy and Jane Lochhead P’11
Reed Elizabeth Loder^
Harvey Loeb ’79
Jonathan and Jessica (Frohman)
Lubetsky ’02
William B. Lytton, Esq.*
Joseph A. Maccario ’77
Ms. Catherine MacKenzie*^
William G. Madsen ’90
Jerry Magee MELP’08
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Maier P’81
Philip L. Maier ’81
Ms. Margarita Maldonado P’17
Margaret A. Mangan ’86
Zachary Manganello ’08
Nicholas D. Mangold ’10
Alex Manning ’06
Patrick I. Marass*
Joseph and Linda Maressa P’17
Peter Marshall ’88
Brian E. J. Martin ’10 and
Katherine L. Martin ’11
Jeffrey ’79 and Deanna Martin
Laurie Martin^
The Honorable Stephen B. Martin
Edward G. Martoglio ’82
Kirk Marty ’96
Katharine A. Marvin ’92
Sarah E. Mason ’08
Richard A. Matasar*
Edward C. Mattes, Jr. ’83**
The Matule Family*
Bob Maxwell ’86
James^ and Natalia E. May ’09^
William J. Maynard P’16
Karen McAndrew, Esq.
Justin W. McCabe ’08^ and
Kathleen M. Whelley McCabe
Joe W. McCaleb ’95
Michael G. McCann ’94
Ellen Young McClain ’81
Shannon J. McClelland ’16
Beth McCormack^
William L. McCoy ’96
Jack and Mitzi McCrory
David M. McCullough ’07 and
Melissa C. McCullough
Kristine A. McDonald Jampel ’92
Larry ’80 and Ginny McGovern
The Honorable Mary McGowan Davis and
Mr. Frederick T. Davis
Patty McIlvaine
Jennifer McIvor ’07
Alice and George* McKann
Mr. William E. McKay and
Mrs. Carol McKay P’94
M. Andrew McLain ’05
Michael and Jane McLain P’05
Susan Keane McManus ’07 and
Daniel McManus ’01
Scott D. McNamara ’91
Christopher J. McVeigh
David ’91**^ and Nancy Mears
Sharon Mee^
Andy Meeks ’03
David ’97 and Erin ’97 Meezan
Mr. and Ms. James E. Meketa
Craig A. Melodia
Alfred B. Mencuccini ’82
Kevin R. ’87* and Lori J. Mendik
Peg Merrens ’94
Katie^ and Jason Merrill
Professor and Mrs. Philip N. Meyer ’80^
Sharon D. Meyers ’79 and
Andrew L. Meyers
Gary R. Michael ’76
C. K. Middleton ’06
Bob Miessau ’93
Elena M. Mihaly ’13
Marc*^ and Chris Mihaly
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Mikolop P’00
E. David Millard ’79
John D. Miller, Jr. ’09**^
Mark E. Miller ’83
Mike Miller ’91
Natalie A. Mims ’04
Joe Minadeo ’94
Clayton R. Mitchell ’96^
Lynne Mitchell ’86 and Dick Lewis ’85
John and Nancy Mohr P’97
Tony and Julie Mollica P’18
Megan Foote Monsky ’02
Maureen Moriarty^
Daphne Moritz ’90
Dick and Faith Morningstar
Hannah Morris^
Bruce C. Morrissey ’76
Jim and Gretchen Morse
Dr. Jill Mortensen P’14
Andrew Robert James Muir ’12
Teresa M. Munson ’86
Laura K. Murphy^ and
James G. Murphy ’06
Paula Murphy
Karen A. Murray ’01
Barbara and Gilbert Myers GP’17
Michael Myers ’93
Jeffrey Neal and Susan Cellmer
Constance Neary ’89*
Sirotkin & Necrason, PLC
Professor Katharine F. Nelson
Betsey S. Neslin ’80
Elizabeth Newbold ’11 and
Cory Steckler ’11
Grace G. Newcomer
Newman Family
Professor and Mrs. Phillip J. Nexon
Gail H. Nichols ’80**
Leslie A. Nielsen ’84
Karis L. North ’95*
Marjorie Northrop Friedman ’99 and
Peter J. Friedman
Jeanne O’Brien ’86
Michael O’Brien ’02
Keely O’Bryan ’99
Tom ’96 and Shannon ’97 O’Donnell
Mara Williams Oakes
Terry and Linda Oelschlaeger P’16
Margaret L. Olnek ’92
Jessica L. Olson ’07
Nicole Allard ’01 and
Yates Oppermann ’01
Opticus IP Law PLLC
Susan E. Oram ’83
1987
13.64%
PARTICIPATION
1988
10.91%
PARTICIPATION
1989
12.31%
PARTICIPATION
1990
7.24%
PARTICIPATION
1991
15.88%
PARTICIPATION
1992
10.65%
PARTICIPATION
1993
9.30%
PARTICIPATION
1994
9.89%
PARTICIPATION
1995
10.37%
PARTICIPATION
1996
13.48%
PARTICIPATION
8

1997
Anne Debevoise Ostby ’88*
James A. Ostendorf ’13
George H. Ostler ’83
George A. Overstreet
Elise N. Paeffgen ’09
Alexander B. Pankonin
Steven K. Parady ’81
Professor Patrick Parenteau^
Matthew S. Parish
Todd K. Parker ’06
Danielle M. Parkinson ’12
Vikram S. Patel ’13
David C. Patterson ’76
R. Allen Paul, Esq.** and Elsie E. Paul
Nadege (Charles) Paulson ’02 and
Kyle Paulson ’00
Christian H. Pedersen ’99
Frederick V. Peet ’93
Joseph Perella ’88
Mr. Jean R. Perrette and
Ms. Virginia S. Perrette P’94
Pamela J. Pescosolido ’90
Christine G. (Berry) Peters ’00
David Peterson and Laurie Reiss P’16
Ian R. Peterson ’16
Joanna J. Peterson
Pam Peterson P’16
Melinda J. Petter ’15
Jill Pfenning ’07
Joseph J. Pizonka ’76
Alex S. Polonsky ’98
David L. Polow ’79
Jeffrey O. Polubinski ’13
Professor Brian Porto^
Brian H. Potts ’04 and Abigail Wuest ’04
Marjorie Power ’84
E. Miles Prentice III, Esq.**
Tom Puchner ’04
Rebecca S. Purdom ’96
John C. Putney ’81
Brian C. Quiros ’11 & Carly Weiland
Christopher Recchia ’83
Mr. Richard O. Redder and
Mrs. Eleanor C. Redder P’ 83
Mrs. Evelyn Redlich
Charles L. Redman
Kristen Michelle Reed ’09
Gabrielle A. Regney ’17
Todd M. Rego and Lori A. Rego P’18
Andrew A. Reich, Esq. ’91
Christopher M. Reid ’99 and
Tara A. Reid ’98
Tara A. Reilly ’83 and John H. Reilly ’83
Anthony and Jess ’11 Reiss
Stephen A. Reynes ’79
Bill Reynolds ’87
Lamar S. Rhodes ’04
Rowland Richards III ’96
Ellery R. Richardson ’13
Caleb B. Rick ’88^
Jillian Meade Riley ’10
Laurie Ristino^
Diane and Tom Ritland P’13
Dawn and Kevin Roche P’16
Craig and Amy Roebuck P’16
Curtis H. Roggi ’79
Gabor Rona ’78
Margaret P. Roraback ’87
Jeffrey ’78 and Lea Ann Rosenthal P’12
David ’01 and Tiffanie Ross
Mollie D. Roth ’96
Catherine Johnson Rothwell ’82
Mr. Douglas Ruley^
Gary D. Russell ’96
Dr. Rosemarie Russo ’86
Donna L. Russo-Savage ’89
Richard A. Sadlock ’86
Jennifer Deck ’96 & Matthew C. ’96
Samuelson
Robert L. Sand ’87**^
Gail Sanderson ’87 and Beverly Fiertz ’86
Timothy W. Sargent ’03
Professor Melissa Scanlan^
Gary M. Schaff ’76
Charles R. Schaller ’90
Jerome C. Schaub, Jr. ’79
Donald G. Scheck ’77
Chris Bullard and Todd Schlossberg ’90
Robert & Carol Schwartz P’10
Paul Schwartzberg ’87
Robert Schweitzer ’93
S. Mark Sciarrotta ’96*
Patricia Scribner P’81
Raquel Sefton
James and Mimi Segel
C.J. and Gail Seitz P’07
Mr. Ranbir Sekhon and
Dr. Shobha Sekhon P’17
Mark Seltzer ’08
Jan M. Sensenich ’83
Geoffrey Sewake ’09
Charles E. Shafer ’77** and
Judith W. Shafer
Robert M. Shafer ’79**
David Shanks ’06
Jay and Jill Shapiro P’16
Alison Share ’08 and Jami Westerhold ’08
Jeramy A. Shays ’08
M. Jane Sheehan, Esq ’87
Robert Sheftman ’78 and
Elisabeth Sheftman ’85
Kim Shelton ’06
Alan R. Sheredy ’77
Alexandra B. Sherertz ’12
Genie Bird Shields
Elizabeth A. Shienbrood ’94
Nathaniel Shoaff ’07
Alan M. Shoer ’83
Alexander D. Shriver ’95**
Christa Shute ’12 and James Peterson
Morris L. Silver ’86
Debbie H. Silverwolf
Camilla Simon ’14
The Simpson Family P’16
John P. Simpson ’96
Robert V. Simpson, Jr. ’78
Mr. Michael D. Sirotkin, Esq.
Jeremy G. Clemans ’06 and
Emma M. Sisti ’06
William E. Slade ’84
Emily K. Slagle ’12
Samuel E. Slaiby
Professor Linda O. ’79 and
James D. ’79 Smiddy
Beriah C. Smith ’16
Bonnie L. Smith ’17
Christopher M. F. Smith, Esq. ’14
Mr. Don A. Smith and
Mrs. Rachel C. Smith P’02
James E. Smith
Allen Smith ’15
Taylor C. Smith
Dain Smoland ’12
Matthew J. Snyder ’10
Daniel ’09 and Mariah Sotelino
Karen and Fernando Sotelino P’09
Scott W. Souers ’10
Adam G. Sowatzka ’97
Lindsay Speer ’14, Creating Change
Consulting
Elizabeth L. Spellman ’13
Professor Gus Speth^
Dr. and Mrs. Donald Spicer P’96
Andrea Spinale P’16
Vivien Spyra
James R. Standring ’99
Ms. Elizabeth Steele
Mark L. Stephen ’76
Professor Pamela Stephens**^ and
Rick Melberth, Ph.D.
Kemp ’87 and Edith Stickney
Steven F. Stitzel ’79
Kurt Terwilliger ’90 and
Margaret Stolfa ’91
8.64%
PARTICIPATION
1998
6.02%
PARTICIPATION
1999
10.56%
PARTICIPATION
2000
1.27%
PARTICIPATION
2001
9.09%
PARTICIPATION
2002
7.03%
PARTICIPATION
2003
8.33%
PARTICIPATION
2004
8.02%
PARTICIPATION
2005
3.59%
PARTICIPATION
2006
12.14%
PARTICIPATION
2007
9.90%
PARTICIPATION

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
DONOR LIST CONTINUED
Frederick W. Stolle, Jr. ’79
John P. Stonner ’89
Charles Storrow ’82
Paula M. Stuart ’01
Hilary (Hurt) ’01 and Karl Stubben
Pat and JJ Sullivan P’05
Timothy Sullivan ’05 and Dana Barile ’04
William G. Sullivan ’13
Allen ’77 and Andrea Susser
Tyler J. Sutton ’01
M. P. Sweeney, C.P.A. ’80
Robert D. Taisey, Esq.*
Brenda K. Taite, M.S., J.D. ’05
Alan L. Talesnick
Michelle A. Tarnelli ’12
Alona S. Tate ’15
Professor Jennifer Taub^
Richard W. Taussig ’11
Stephanie M. Tavares-Buhler ’13
Ashley W. Taylor ’02
William E. Taylor ’83
Professor Peter R. Teachout^ and
The Honorable Mary M. Teachout
Isabelle M. Thabault ’77
David Thelander ’87**
Johanna ’07 and Rory ’07 Thibault
Charlotte E. Thomas ’84
Brian ’08 and Vicky Thompson
Claire Z. Thorp ’95
David A. Tilton ’04
Tamara D. Toles ’09
Beverly S.K. Tom ’90
Sandra Torget ’99
Paul D. ’78 and Lynn W. Trimper
Margarita and Larry Trotter P’16
Tom ’79** and Nancy Truman
Robert F. Weisberg ’01
Jim and Lea Tuck P’16
Craig Wells ’95
Paul ’16 and Leah^ Tuck
Vice President Mary L. Welz^
Frank Twohill ’85
John Westerman ’82
Oliver L. Twombly ’85
Emily ’04 and Michael Wetherell
Anthony Q. Vale ’95
Patricia A. Whalen
Margaux J. Valenti ’13
Dr. James N. Whipple P’98
Chase Van Gorder ’84
Steven ’07 & Rebecca ’07 Whitley
Tammara M. Van Ryn ’90
Jess Wilkerson ’12
Elisabeth S. Van Woert
Stephanie^ and Stephen Willbanks
Richard L. Vanderslice ’01
Sean B. T. Williams ’10
Michelle T. Delemarre ’91 and
Katie Rowen ’05 and Jen Willis ’05
Ronald L. Vavruska ’91
Karen Willis ’95 and Marty Collins
George Vernon
Bob Willson ’86
Peter M. Vetere ’11
Craig P. Wilson ’92
VLS 2012–2013 Frenchies
Zaw Win ’08
Jonathan R. Voegele ’12
Bradley D. Wine ’95
Ms. Sarah W. Vorder Bruegge P’92 Timothy R. Winslow ’06
Margaret I. Waldock ’92
Ned ’89 and Mary Witte and Sons
Victoria S. Wallin Forman ’13
Dinah G. Wolff ’91
Alma Walls ’01
P. H. Worrall ’89
Lawrence S. Walters, Jr. ’81
Christopher S. and Jacqueline M. B.
Martin and Brooks Walton P’16
Wren P’99
Morgan B. Walton ’16
Daniel Wright ’96
Shengzhi Wang ’16
Kenneth and Judith Yalowitz
Paul A. Ward, Jr. ’81
Professor Carl Yirka^ and
Jonathan and Susan Wasserman
Ms. Micki Colbeck
James L. Watson ’76
Andrew J. Yoon ’99
Scott M. Watson ’06
Peter H. Zamore ’79
Donna Watts ’83 and John Monahan ’83 Jennifer C. Zegarelli ’03
John S. Webb, Esq. ’92
Mike ’96 and Katie ’96 Zeliger
Rob^ and Nora Webber
Frederick N. Zeytoonjian ’92
Mac Webster ’99
Haoling Zhang
Stephen W. Webster
Pat Zimmerman ’86
Patricia Weisberg P’01 † Robert Zywno ’13
2008
8.96%
PARTICIPATION
2009
4.87%
PARTICIPATION
2010
6.40%
PARTICIPATION
2011
10.50%
PARTICIPATION
2012
6.15%
PARTICIPATION
2013
7.57%
PARTICIPATION
2014
6.77%
PARTICIPATION
2015
2.53%
PARTICIPATION
2016
7.82%
PARTICIPATION
Cronin Photography
2017
2.41%
PARTICIPATION
10

TRIBUTE GIFTS
In Memory of Robert H. Bahner
Tom ’85 and Susan Durkin P’14
In Memory of George T. Faris
Christine A. Faris PwC
In Memory of Rodney K. Jones
C. K. Middleton ’06
In Honor of Matthew D. Roche
Dawn and Kevin Roche P’16
In Honor of Sarah A. Bandomer
Mr. Ken Fletcher
In Honor of David B. Firestone
W. Owen Jenkins ’77
In Honor of Environmental Health
Jason King ’02
In Honor of Melissa Shapiro
Jay and Jill Shapiro P’16
In Honor of Jaclyn A. Brilling
Patricia A. Whalen
In Honor of Matthew J. Carr
James and Kathleen Carr P’17
Raytheon Company
In Honor of Caroline A. Fisher
Keith Johnston ’04
In Honor of Jackie Gardina
Jehmal T. Hudson ’06
In Memory of Elizabeth A. Leopold
Christopher ’78 and Jennifer Leopold
In Memory of Kenneth R. Marshall
Ms. Suzan Dunkiel P’ 96
In Memory of Geoffrey B. Shields
The Honorable Warren W. Eginton
Dick and Faith Morningstar
Charles L. Redman
In Memory of Michael G. Sullivan
In Honor of Herbert Cohen
William D. Cohen ’84
In Memory of Cheryl Hanna
Andrea Courtney ’01 and Robert Fisher
Raquel Sefton
In Memory of Karen A. Partyka
Veronica C. Boda ’78
Tom ’79 and Nancy Truman
In Memory of Marcus T. Reynolds
In Honor of Environmental Health
Jason King ’02
In Honor of Denise R. Johnson
Rebecca E. Boucher ’03
Anthony Iarrapino ’03 and
Joslyn Wilschek ’03
Bill Reynolds ’87
Cronin Photography

REPORT
OF GIVING
FY 2016
DONOR LIST CONTINUED
FOUNDATIONS
Anonymous (3)
The Braxton Fund, Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.
The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation
The Chicago Community Trust
Community Foundations of the
Hudson Valley
The Dow Chemical Company Foundation
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Food and Nutrition Resources
Foundation, Inc.
The Ford Foundation
General Electric Foundation
Institute of International Education
James Scott and Sally Foss Hill
Foundation
Jephson Educational Trust
The Johnson Family Foundation
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust
Lintilhac Foundation
The Mary W. Harriman Foundation
Mascoma Savings Bank Foundation
The McLain Family Foundation Inc.
Nuveen Benevolent Trust
Organic Consumers Fund
Overhills Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
PwC
Rockefeller Family Fund, Inc.
Schwab Charitable Fund
The Cortes Foundation
The John Merk Foundation
The McKnight Foundation
Vermont Bar Foundation
Vermont Community Foundation
The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation
CORPORATIONS
Anonymous
AmazonSmile Foundation
Benchmark Coffee Traders
The Benevity Community Impact Fund
The Boeing Gift Matching Program
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Cohen and Rice
CR Bard
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C.
Dunkiel Saunders Elliott Raubvogel &
Hand, PLLC
Earth Asset Partnership, LP
Eversource
Gensburg, Atwell & Greaves
Google
IBM Corporation
Leidos
Markel Underwriting Managers, Inc.
Melendy Moritz PLLC
MidAmerican Energy Company
MMR, LLC
Necrason Group, PLLC
Notis Professional Services
Phillips, Dunn, Shriver & Carroll, P.C.
Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer, P.C.
Raytheon Company
Shobha Sekhon, MD
Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Thomson Reuters
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Matching
Gifts Program
Walls Law Firm, PLLC
Wells Fargo Matching Gifts Program
Zalinger Cameron & Lambek, P.C.
www.vermontlaw.edu
Vermont Law School
164 Chelsea Street | PO Box 96
South Royalton, VT 05068
802-831-1000
alumni@vermontlaw.edu
Every effort has been made to ensure
accuracy within this report. If you find
an error, please accept our sincere
apologies and notify the VLS Office for
Institutional Advancement by emailing
jlawrence@vermontlaw.edu or by
calling (802) 831-1325.
Dave Barnum

SAVE THE DATE
Homecoming 2017
SOUTH ROYALTON + KILLINGTON, VT
FRIDAY, JUNE 23-SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2017
There’s no place like Homecoming!
Come home to VLS for Homecoming 2017.
All alumni are welcome to attend this
memorable summer weekend. Classes ending
in 2 and 7 will celebrate milestone reunions!
connect.vermontlaw.edu/homecoming2017
Cornin Photography