Fall 2008 Loquitur—The Alumni Magazine for Vermont Law School

fall 2008

South Royalton Legal Clinic On the Move

Contents 3 4

10

17

22

28 38

The two-year-old Partnership for Environmental Law in China has moved to a new level of influence in championing China’s environment and our own.

Letter from Dean Jeff Shields Discovery From commencement to reunion, from conferences on sustainable agriculture to genocide, find out who’s been making news at VLS.

South Royalton Legal Clinic on the Move Since 1979, the clinic has provided access to legal help for Vermonters in need and given students valuable clinical experience. Read about some of the clinic’s cases, as well as plans for a new home.

Faculty Highlights VLS expands support for faculty scholarship, welcomes exceptional new faculty, and bids farewell to long-time Professor Kenneth Kreiling.

New Leaders for China’s Environment VLS has become a top destination for Chinese scholars and government officials involved with the environment.

Report of Giving Class Notes

Cover: © 2002–2008 Veer Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Loquitur Fall 2008 Volume 22, Number 1 President and Dean Jeff Shields Vice President for Institutional Advancement Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs Editor Carol Westberg Production Editor Jennie Clarke Contributing Editors Susan Davidson Jennifer Hayslett Contributing Writers Nancy Brown Diane Derby Julie Sloane Special Thanks To Milo Cutler Michael Healy Mary Lou Lorenz Design and Art Direction Glenn Suokko, Inc. Printing Capital Offset Company, Inc.

Published by Vermont Law School 164 Chelsea Street, PO Box 96 South Royalton, VT 05068 www.vermontlaw.edu Send address changes to alumni@vermontlaw.edu or call 802-831-1313 Printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper Š 2008 Vermont Law School

Letter from Dean Jeff Shields Dear Friends, One of the feature articles in this edition of Loquitur focuses on the South Royalton Legal Clinic, which has been of extraordinary benefit to Vermont Law School for over a quarter of a century, giving clinical experience to approximately 800 of our graduates.

For the year ending June 30, 2008, the clinic had 164 matters scheduled in a number of courts and administrative agencies, federal and state, spread across central and southeastern Vermont. The work spans immigration, children in contentious family matters, divorce, bankruptcy, disability and Medicaid rights, housing, and a wide variety of other issues. Jim May, Maryann Zavez ’86, Alex Banks ’87, and Arthur Edersheim skillfully work one-on-one with clinicians, assuring that they master the talents to bring cases forward in an orderly manner and to persuade the judge on behalf of their clients.

As valuable as the South Royalton Legal Clinic is to the law school and to Vermont, we are sad to say that the building in which it is housed is in very sorry shape and needs to go through a major rehabilitation. At our August retreat, the VLS Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of moving forward with a campaign to raise money for a new clinic building. The new building will permit us to train a larger number of students and to provide a safe and secure environment for clients, students, and faculty.

I hope that next time you are on campus you will take a moment to stop by the South Royalton Legal Clinic and chat with some of the students who are doing work there. You will be impressed.

Best regards,

Geoffrey B. Shields President, Dean, and Professor of Law

Rose McNulty

Stefan Hard

Discovery

Sustainable agriculture conference-goers tour a local organic farm

Food, Fuel, and the Future of Farming The two-day conference on sustainable agriculture, held July 24–25, drew more than 150 people to the Chase Center in what could be described as a “best practices” response to the growing challenges posed by soaring food and fuel costs.

The event included a keynote address by environmentalist, author, and cofounder of the Small Planet Institute, Anna Lappé, daughter of renowned author Frances Moore Lappé. Her lecture, “Eat the Sky: The Global Struggle for Climate-Friendly Food,” tackled the role of sustainable agriculture in mitigating greenhouse gas emis-

loquitur

sions and the movement to increase public policy for and awareness of connections between climate change and the food system. Her lecture is published in the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, Volume 10, Issue 1.

The conference wrapped up with a visit to Hurricane Flats farm in South Royalton, where owner Geo Honigford shared lessons learned on his organic farm. “If you’re not making money,” he said, “you’re not sustainable.”

With its focus on smaller farms and energy independence, the conference also

helped the law school learn more about how it can apply its expertise to help farmers adjust to the changing times, according to Professor Marc Mihaly, director of the Environmental Law Center.

“We feel this is a critical moment for farmers who are trying to bring American agriculture into a new era in which sustainable practices dominate,” he said. “We wanted to help in that effort by providing a forum where people with expertise can talk to each other, and from what we have heard, that is just what happened.”

John Douglas/Flying Squirrel Graphics

2008 Commencement Vermont Law School’s 33rd commencement ceremony on May 17 featured all of the attributes of a perfect graduation day: blue skies, joyous students, proud families, and motivating speeches, including a keynote by the Honorable Madeleine M. Kunin, who urged the departing students to get engaged and “be political in the broadest sense of the word.”

“It is critical for you—this generation of Vermont Law School graduates—to step into the public arena,” said Vermont’s former governor, who also served as deputy secretary of education and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland under the Clinton Administration. “Use your education to create change. Nurture your anger, feed your imagination, and cling to your optimism for dear life.”

The students turned to one of their own, Ryan Petersen ’08, who delivered a message that captured the spirit of the Class of 2008. Noting that he and his classmates will be “forever linked” by VLS, he urged students to make the most of the degree they worked so hard to attain.

“I don’t ever fear that anyone at this school will stay silent in the face of injustice or difficulty,” he said, mixing humor and solemnity in equal parts as he admitted to borrowing some thoughts from Ghandi.

“I have confidence that you have the will and the intelligence to succeed. But I wish for something much better than that for you. I wish for you to be extraordinary.”

The Honorable Madeleine M. Kunin speaks at commencement

John Douglas/Flying Squirrel Graphics

Calling all Alumni: Career Services Needs You

Ryan Petersen ’08

VLS is consistently recognized for its leading environmental, general practice, international, and public interest programs. These distinctions have allowed the school to attract very strong students who go on to distinguished, fulfilling careers.

The Office of Career Services has launched a coordinated effort to increase the number of on-campus interviewing opportunities available to our students. We are asking alumni to consider making a trip to South Royalton to interview VLS students.

The process is easy: we post a position description, collect résumés for your review, and then arrange interviews with the candidates you select. We understand employers have their own time frames and methodologies for hiring, so we are flexible with schedules.

If you have any questions or would like us to talk with hiring coordinators in your office, please contact Matthew Houde, associate director of career services, at mhoude@vermontlaw.edu or 802-831-1241.

fall 2008

Discovery

Reunion 2008 It was a reunion to remember. On September 12 and 13, 2008, alumni from the founding classes of 1976, 1977, and 1978, along with the classes of 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003 reunited with friends and faculty from VLS. Seventeen events brought alumni and families together for storytelling and reminiscing, outdoor play, and indoor mingling.

A special program honored the legacy of the pioneering classes, followed by a microbrew tasting that spilled out from Yates Common Room onto the back lawn overlooking the White River. The children had a great time making scarecrows and playing games at Camp VLS. We look forward to seeing the classes of 1979, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2004 at reunion next fall. The 25th anniversary class of 1984 will be special guests at commencement in May 2009.

David Firestone, one of the first two VLS professors, addresses the first three classes at the celebration honoring their contributions to the law school.

Ann Debevoise, Trustee Emerita and VLS historian, thanks the founding classes for their contributions to Vermont Law School.

Jeff Rosenthal ’78, Irwin Klein ’77, Mark Gruber ’76, and Joe Mirrione ’77 reunite.

loquitur

Discovery

Meg Casey ’11 and Megan Dickie ’11 are still smiling after helping alumni clean up the White River.

Students beat the alumni in the Ultimate Frisbee game for the first time in many years.

VLS staffer Clarke Collins helps Sophia and Luca, children of Michael Sowinski ’98 and Camille Sowinski ’99, show off their scarecrows at Camp VLS.

Jason Hutt ’98 and Jim Cooley ’98

Members of the Class of 2003 enjoy the sunshine on Waterman porch.

Photography by John Douglas/Flying Squirrel Graphics

fall 2008

Discovery

VLS in the News

Powering the 21st Century: Richard Cowart Delivers Keynote at VLS Energy Summer Conference The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) may not be a household name, but its impact is felt around the globe. RAP’s director, Richard Cowart, travels the world advising government officials on energy and environmental policy. He and his colleagues at RAP, a nonprofit organization founded by former utility regulators, work in 45 states and more than a dozen countries.

Mr. Cowart brought his expertise to VLS this summer as the 2008 Distinguished Visiting Energy Scholar. On July 18, he delivered the keynote address at the VLS Energy Summer Conference, “Pow-

loquitur

ering the 21st Century: Resource Choices in a Carbon-Constrained World.”

With the pressures brought on by booming development in China, India, and other nations, Mr. Cowart said more energy generation and reforms won’t be the answer. “The most effective way to meet the soaring demand is to focus on greater efficiencies and less consumption,” said Mr. Cowart, one of the most experienced regulatory experts in the U.S. The conference drew more than 50 regulators, energy experts, and scholars from around New England.

When National Public Radio’s Science Correspondent Richard Harris put together a three-part series in July examining states’ efforts to reduce energy demand, he turned to VLS Professor Michael Dworkin for insight.

When Newsweek went looking for an expert on the Endangered Species Act for its June 9 cover story, its reporter called Professor Patrick Parenteau.

When Sports Illustrated readers want to read more about where sports and legal issues intersect, they look to the latest SI.com “Sports and the Law” column written by one of the law school’s newest faculty members, Michael McCann.

Closer to home, regional reporters routinely turn to VLS faculty for legal analysis of the latest court decisions or legislative bills. Professors Cheryl Hanna and Michael Mello frequently comment on criminal procedure; Professor Peter Teachout authored an op-ed column on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban; and Professor Robert Rachlin discussed his work representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay. We also track the work of our alumni in the news. Alexander Lee JD/MSEL’01 has drawn media coverage in the New York Times Magazine and elsewhere for his “Project Laundry List.” Heather McArn JD’92 is a New York-based bankruptcy lawyer who was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch column.

For the latest VLS in the News clips, which are updated weekly, or to review the archives, visit our website at: www. vermontlaw.edu/x7282.xml. If you have anything you would like to see included in the clips, send it along to Diane Derby, director of media and government relations, at dderby@vermontlaw.edu.

Discovery 2008 Entering Classes

JD Class of 2011 Students

Admissions Highlights Between early September and mid-November, members of the admissions staff travel from coast to coast to participate in about 30 law school forums and college recruiting events. Our student body is so geographically diverse because we work hard to cultivate relationships with undergraduate faculty and advisors in virtually every state and territory.

During the fall we also host a campus Open House for prospective students.

Each year, there are candidates who travel from as far off as the West Coast and the deep south for the day. This event is hosted in early October when Vermont’s foliage is at its peak.

191

Male

49.7%

Female

50.3%

States and Territories Represented

44

Students of Color

13%

LSAT Median

155

Colleges and Universities Represented

133

Master of Environmental Law and Policy Students

24

Master of Laws in Environmental Law Students

15

Master of Laws in American Legal Studies Students

As always, the VLS alumni community is an important network for applicants.

Please contact Kathy Hartman, associate dean for enrollment management, at

4

khartman@vermontlaw.edu, or by calling 802-831-1232 if you have a candidate you would like to recommend.

Understanding Genocide: Former U.N. Official Keynotes ILSA Conference A native of Argentina, Juan E. Méndez knows firsthand of the brutality of human rights abuse. As a lawyer representing political prisoners in his homeland, he was arrested by the military dictatorship in the 1970s and tortured by his captors for more than a year.

Mr. Méndez spent the next three decades working tirelessly as a human rights advocate with groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights before being named president of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). In 2004, he was appointed the U.N.’s special advisor on the prevention of genocide, a post he held for three years.

Mr. Méndez was an ideal keynote speaker as the law school hosted the International Law Students Association’s 2008 fall conference on October 2–4. The conference, “Understanding Genocide: Pre-

vention, Prosecution and Progress,” drew law students and scholars from around the country to examine international atrocities and the legal responses.

Ashley Santner, cochair of the law school’s International Law Society (ILS), said the student group was honored to be chosen to host the national event this year.

With nearly one of every four VLS students involved in ILS, many had a hand in making the conference a success.

“This conference gave us the opportunity to better understand genocide, especially through the eyes of survivors and those who represent them,” she said. “It also offered a critique of the legal framework in place to prosecute war criminals, as well as a dialogue about future progress the international community can make in this critical area of law.” For more information, visit www.vermontlaw.edu/ News_and_Events/News/Understanding_Genocide.htm.

fall 2008

“It’s just not right that people don’t have access to legal information.”

—Jim May, Director, South Royalton Legal Clinic

by Nancy Marie Brown Photography by Kathleen Dooher

10 loquitur

Ross Elwyn ‘09 Jim May, SRLC Director Erin Jehn ‘09 Lilette Granade ‘10

fall 2008 11

he safety net has holes in it. Low-income families in Vermont have over 60,000 legal problems a year, according to the Vermont Supreme Court, and 75 percent of them face their problems without a lawyer.

“Our students are in law school because they have some innate sense of what’s fair and what isn’t,” said Jim May, director of the South Royalton Legal Clinic, which offers free legal aid to low-income Vermonters. “It’s just not right that people don’t have access to legal information. That’s enough for some students. Then you have the merits of each case.”

Take Tom. “He’s the typical example of someone struck out of the blue,” May said. Young, married, with a long work history—suddenly he was diagnosed with a rare genetic defect and couldn’t work. “This was not your routine slipped disk,” May said. “We had to do a fair amount of legal and medical research to prove he deserved it, but he was awarded Title II Social Security benefits, and he is ecstatic.”

“It was good to have somebody to back you up,” said Tom. “I was really pleased with how diligently the clinic worked on my case, how they kept pushing and never once gave up. It was very noble of them.”

Or take Maria. She is an immigrant trapped in an abusive

marriage to a U.S. citizen. Cases involving immigrants are on the rise in Vermont. Some only need help filling out the forms to apply for a Green Card. Maria needed more than that. She had come from Russia as a high school exchange student, living with a family in Essex Junction. She met a boy, stayed in touch, finally married—then things went downhill. “She was not a U.S. citizen, and her immigration status was dependent on the person who was beating her,” explained Professor Arthur Edersheim. If she left him, she could be deported. “Luckily, there are immigration fixes to deal with those types of cases.”

“I’ve been in the U.S. for most of my adult life,” Maria said. “I had managed to build a life here—a normal life, except for the unfortunate end of my marriage. I really like living in Vermont. For people like me, who are pretty much clueless, the people at the clinic are a huge help,” she added. “I consider myself very fortunate that they were able to help me when I really didn’t know how to proceed.”

Between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, staff and students of the South Royalton Legal Clinic carried a caseload of over 153 clients, appeared at 164 scheduled hearings, and helped scores of call-in or walk-in individuals with matters involving bankruptcy, disabilities, domestic abuse, family law, housing,

Amy Wilcox ‘09

Erin Jehn ‘09

12 loquitur

“We hook these women into the system and empower them.”

—Professor Maryann Zavez

immigration, juvenile protection, probate, unemployment, veterans’ benefits, and welfare. With the Petrozavodsk State University in Karelia, Russia, the clinic has helped to establish a similar community law program. Said May, “Human nature is the same. Russia has people in need, along with governments, laws, courts, law schools, students. They could easily make the leap to our model. Similarly, in working with our Russian colleagues, I’ve learned a lot that has benefited our clinic, such as the need to always start new initiatives—the idea that things can always be renewed and done differently.”

Offered as a one-semester elective course since 1979, the South Royalton Legal Clinic now consists of four attorneys and two administrative aides who, in 2007­–08, oversaw 31 forcredit students and 27 work-study students—over 33 percent of the JD class of 2008. The course starts with a three-week “boot camp,” May explained. “Each student fills out a biographical questionnaire. Then we give the students case blurbs, which they rank from 1 to 10. We match student to case.” Working in Pierce House, the cramped, mustard-colored cottage on Chelsea Street, the students develop skills that employers value and that are tested on the bar exam, such as how to analyze a case file. They also learn about themselves.

Lilette Granade ’10 wanted to investigate different kinds of law. She had come to VLS to study environmental law, looked into property law, and this summer worked at the clinic in the Children First! program, which serves children who are caught in highly contentious family law cases, such as divorce and guardianship proceedings. The project’s caseload focuses on children from families with a history of domestic violence or in which noted animosity exists between the parents. The South Royalton Legal Clinic is the only law office in Vermont that provides free representation across the spectrum of family and juvenile cases.

The students are quick to establish a rapport with their clients, said Professor Alex Banks ’87. “When Lilette went to visit a teenage client for the first time, the first thing out of the client’s mouth was, ‘Boy, I’m really glad you’re going to be my lawyer. Alex is a nice guy, but he’s so old.’”

As a teaching tool, Banks said, working with children is marvelous for teaching perspective. “When we’re representing adult clients, it’s easy to get direction,” he explained. “They say, ‘I want X.’ When we represent kids, we speak to the parents, to the teacher, to the counselor—and get four perspectives. The student learns that in litigation, as in life, there is more than

Samatha Grist ‘09

Fonda Wilcox ‘09

fall 2008 13

one—more than two—ways of seeing something.”

It’s also, as Lilette discovered, “a little intense. You start to read the case files and you think, ‘This must be made up! But is it possible to make this stuff up?’ It’s horrific to know parents treat their kids that way. Sometimes it makes my stomach hurt.

It feels good to know that you’re giving these kids a voice in the legal system. There’s such a need for this. But,” she sighed, “it’s not for me. I can’t learn to leave it behind at the office.” She thinks she might go into copyright law instead.

Another eye-opening program at the clinic focuses on issues faced by women in prison. “In so many cases, there are children left behind,” said Professor Maryann Zavez ’86.

If her children are in foster care, a mother could lose her parental rights if she doesn’t take certain steps according to the state’s timeframe. But finding suitable housing or taking parenting classes can be impossible while in prison. “We hook these women into the system and empower them,” Zavez said.

“They have some idea of the procedures, but we’ll sit down and explain what the law really is.”

After two years establishing a program at the state correctional center in Windsor, Zavez is hoping to continue it when

the prison moves to St. Albans. “It fills a gap,” she said. “More women are participating in their child welfare cases. They’re much more tuned in to how the process works. They realize that if they want to be reunited with their children they have to get involved.”

Student Maja Toncic ’09 said meeting with these women and understanding the barriers they face was “the best learning experience I’ve had this summer. I always thought I wanted to do child welfare law and work for the state’s Department of Children and Families. I got a very different perspective on DCF from working with moms whose kids have been taken away by the state. It made me realize that there are a lot of gray areas. It’s not black and white.”

As a future lawyer, she said, “I definitely would love to work in this area. I’ve always enjoyed working with children.

Kids are so resilient. They can change their own lives if they’re just given the opportunity. And as lawyers, we have the chance to give it to them.”

Asked if she shouldn’t “follow the money”—take the bestpaying offer—Maja scoffed. “Follow the money? No, I follow my heart.”

South Royalton Legal Clinic’s Pivotal Role • established in 1979, now represents clients from eight Vermont counties • the only pro bono law office in Vermont offering a wide range of representation in immigration, family, juvenile, and other civil law areas • staff and students traveled 26,000 miles in FY08 on clinic cases and activities • 967 people served in FY08 including 153 clients • 164 hearings scheduled in FY08 SRLC faculty and staff: Professor Maryann Zavez ’86 Professor Alex Banks ’87 Legal Administrative Assistant Linda Sullivan Office Manager Sharon Levasseur

14 loquitur

• serves as a worksite each year for over 60 clinical student and work-study positions, about one-third of a typical JD class

Building a Better Clinic For 29 years, the South Royalton Legal Clinic has provided an estimated $1.5 million annually in no-cost services to lowincome Vermonters—all from a deteriorating residence and converted barn.

“The South Royalton Legal Clinic fosters the development of practical legal skills, community service, and a sense of professional identity in VLS students,” says Stephanie Willbanks, vice dean for academic affairs. “It is a critical component of the curriculum that confirms our commitment to the public good.

The building is not the program, but the program is nothing without the building.”

VLS plans to renovate and expand the 155-year-old Pierce House, which suffers from years of heavy use. The quirky struc-

ture lacks adequate access, standard safety features, sufficient meeting space, and much more. Staff attorneys, law students, and a constant stream of clients must endure its many deficiencies, as clinic alumni will attest.

Upgrading Pierce House will provide a safe and professional facility where, for decades to come, law students will learn the best skills, values, and traditions of public service law, and Vermonters in need will receive competent legal assistance in vital legal matters. Construction plans will depend on the success of fund raising, which is under way. Those who would like more information on the upcoming project should contact Dorothy Heinrichs at dheinrichs@vermontlaw.edu or 802-831-1267.

fall 2008 15

John Sherman

energy regulation global warming land development immigration reform ethical corporate governance human rights child protection

Now more than ever

Our world needs Vermont Law School graduates

Help VLS train the next generation of solution makers. Now more than ever, your gift matters.

Participate today at www.vermontlaw.edu/why_give.htm or contact Susan Davidson, Director of Alumni Programming and Annual Giving at 802-831-1315 or sdavidson@vermontlaw.edu.

Faculty Highlights

Jason Czarnezki

Timothy Duane

New to Vermont Law School Following a concerted faculty recruitment effort over the past year, VLS is delighted to announce that a record number of exceptional new faculty members began teaching at VLS this fall. Here are some of the most recent faculty to join VLS. Jason Czarnezki joins the Environmental Law Center as associate professor of law, where he teaches courses such as Property, Frontier Issues in Environmental Law, and Federal Natural Resources Law.

John Echeverria

Donald Kreis

Sean Nolon

Stephanie Farrior

Michael McCann

Timothy Duane joins the environmental faculty as associate professor of law.

Coming to VLS from the University of California at Berkeley, Professor Duane teaches land use and natural resources law courses.

John Echeverria will come to the Environmental Law Center at VLS in 2009 as professor of law. He has been the executive director of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute at Georgetown University Law Center since 1997 and has produced several books and numerous articles on the private property rights issue, land use management, and natural resource management.

Stephanie Farrior comes to VLS as a professor of law and director of International and Comparative Law Programs.

Formerly the legal director and general counsel of Amnesty International, and most recently on the faculty of Penn State Dickinson School of Law, Professor Farrior teaches Current Topics in International Law at VLS in the spring.

Donald Kreis joins VLS as associate director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment and assistant professor of law. Most recently, he served as general counsel of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. Professor Kreis will conduct research on the intersection of energy and environmental laws and sustainable energy options. He will also be teaching Administrative Law and Energy Law. Michael McCann joins VLS as associate professor of law and specializes in sports law, torts, and consumer and corporate law. Professor McCann is a legal expert for Sports Illustrated and the “Sports and the Law” columnist for SI.com. He’ll be teaching Sports Law and Sales at VLS. Sean Nolon comes to VLS as associate professor of law and director of alternative dispute resolution. Most recently a faculty member at Pace University School of Law, Professor Nolon has specialized in environmental solutions and land use law, and is teaching alternative dispute resolution and environmental dispute resolution at VLS. For more information about these and other professors new to VLS, visit www. vermontlaw.edu/newfaculty.

fall 2008 17

Faculty Highlights

Linda O. Smiddy ’79: Bringing the World to VLS and VLS to the World On September 5, 2008, the International and Comparative Law Programs held a dinner in honor of Professor Linda O. Smiddy ’79 as she hands the directorship baton over to Professor Stephanie Farrior. In the 10 years Professor Smiddy has directed the programs, VLS has added partnerships with institutions in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy, and established the LLM in American Legal Studies.

In addition to her accomplishments as an academic leader, colleagues noted Smiddy’s “thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit” and the “profound attention, care, respect, and commitment she gives to her every encounter with people.” Her warmth, poise, and ease of manner have made her “the best bridge-builder” in developing the International and Comparative Law Programs, “helping to bring the world to VLS and VLS to the world.”

18 loquitur

New Directions in Faculty Scholarship In July, VLS announced a new effort to help faculty take full advantage of expanding options in legal scholarship.

Professor Oliver Goodenough, who will head the initiative as director of scholarship, is an exemplar of a highly diversified and broadly published scholar. He teaches business law, from intellectual property to securities, is a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, publishes on the burgeoning connections between neuroscience and law, and is a frequent op-ed commentator.

As more law schools intensify their support for faculty scholarship, Professor Goodenough’s experience with new publishing options will be very helpful. “Typically,” he says, “you wrote for law reviews in a way that explored doctrine, a fairly expected and good kind of scholarship.

With the new electronic journals, interdisciplinary writing, books, and blogging, the portfolio has opened up.”

He anticipates that the scholarship office will greatly—though not excluMark Washburn

John Sherman

“If you look at the offerings for courses, certificates, and dual degrees under our International and Comparative Law Programs web page, you will find Linda Smiddy’s fingerprints on virtually every single academic offering appearing there.” – Bruce Duthu, Professor of Law

Faculty Highlights

sively—encourage junior faculty as they seek their place in this new scholarship mix. “We’ll be able to routinize our guidance function and bring junior faculty along with a bit more support,” he says.

Goodenough also feels that VLS is a good base from which to pursue diversified scholarship. “The collegial aspect is quite open to work that’s not necessarily traditional. It’s been a great place to be a scholar.”

He looks forward to taking on this new role: “I’d like to give back and help colleagues find answers to their questions.

We’re fostering a conversation—where are good places to publish? What is respected by your colleagues and what isn’t? That conversation will ratify the traditional law review scholarship while giving some value to some of the others. It’ll be a fun challenge. The saying goes that ‘the best way to learn something is to teach it,’ and I’d like to bring that kind of deliberate process to faculty scholarship.”

Goodenough plans regular, informal discussions about engaging agents and publishers, publishing op-ed pieces, and researching publication opportunities. Plans are also afoot for twice-yearly workshops on specific topics, he says.

“One of the tricks with VLS is always to make modest resources do a lot of work.

We do have a budget for bringing people here—not only scholars, but those in the scholarly publishing world. Last year, we hosted the head of Social Science Research Network, one of the premiere online publishing services. It was a great opportunity to hear more about how the new electronic world works.”

There is good reason for Goodenough’s faith in his colleagues. “This is a faculty full of ideas,” he says. “Scholarship comes from inside—people will write what makes them happy—so a piece of this is liberating them to ‘follow their bliss’ in scholarship and match it to the expectations of VLS and of the academy.”

Professor Kreiling in 1979

…and in 2006

Hallmark of VLS: Professor Kreiling Honored at Retirement Long-time VLS professor Kenneth Kreiling retired with emeritus status at the end of the spring semester. Appointed in 1976

by Dean Thomas Debevoise, Professor Kreiling built a distinguished career at VLS, specializing in scientific and expert evidence and teaching classes such as Civil Procedure, Evidence, Expert and Scientific Evidence, and Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation.

“Ken is a remarkably versatile professor,” says Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Stephanie Willbanks. “Although his primary focus is the traditional law school classroom, Ken is an expert on clinical legal education. He wrote the seminal article, ‘Clinical Legal Education and Lawyer

Competency: The Process of Learning to Learn from Experience Through Properly Structured Clinical Supervision,’ 40 Maryland Law Review 284 (1981). That article continues to be cited both nationally and internationally.”

Kreiling’s students describe him as a “hallmark of VLS,” and a “clearly brilliant” teacher who genuinely cares that his students do well, doing “whatever it takes to get the material across to the students.”

In addition to having “a mind like a steel trap when it comes to civil procedure,” Professor Kreiling is noted for inflecting his lectures with his own verbal flair and a dry and witty sense of humor.

fall 2008 19

Faculty Highlights

Faculty News Visiting Professor Betsy Baker embarked on a journey from Barrow, Alaska, on the USCG icebreaker Healy as the only lawyer among the group of 35 scientists and researchers setting out to help map the extended continental shelf in the U.S. Arctic. Link to Professor Baker’s trip blog at http://arctic-healy-baker-2008.blogspot. com/, or read about her trip at http://www. vermontlaw.edu/x7591.xml.

Professor Jason J. Czarnezki published “Working Class Judges” (with William Henderson & Christopher Zorn), 88 Boston University Law Review 829 (2008); “An Empirical Investigation of Judicial Decisionmaking, Statutory Interpretation & the Chevron Doctrine in Environmental Law,” 79 University of Colorado Law Review 767 (2008); as well as “An Empirical Investigation of the Confirmation Hearings of the Justices of the Rehnquist Court” (with William K. Ford & Lori A. Ringhand), in Symposium: The Rehnquist Court in Empirical and Statistical Retrospective, 24 Constitutional Commentary 127 (2008) (a faculty-edited journal).

In August, Aspen published a 2008–2009 Supplement to National Security Law (4th ed. 2006–07) by Professor Stephen Dycus (with William C. Banks at Syracuse and Peter Raven-Hansen at GW).

At 306 pages, more than half the content dates from June and July.

Land Use Institute Associate Director Peg Elmer will serve as president of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planners Association and was appointed by Governor Douglas to the “smart growth” seat on the Vermont Downtown Board. The board is responsible for designating downtowns, village centers, new town centers, and growth centers and for awarding the money appropriated

20 loquitur

for historic tax credits and grants each year. In addition, Ms. Elmer, Professor Kinvin Wroth, and LLM Fellow Katherine Garvey will serve on a legislative study committee looking at the effectiveness of Act 250 in addressing housing and smart growth.

In July, Professor Stephanie Farrior wrote an invited commentary on the controversial House of Lords decision in an appeal brought by a dual British-Iraqi national held by UK forces in Iraq without charge or trial since 2004: “Introductory Note: House of Lords (on the Application of Al-Jedda) (FC) v. Secretary of State for the Defence,” 47 International Legal Materials 607 (2008). Professor Farrior has been invited by Oxford University Press to submit an article to the inaugural issue of a new journal it is creating, the Journal of Human Rights Practice. This first issue will explore some of the key challenges and opportunities facing human rights practitioners in the next 5 to 10 years. Oxford has asked Professor Farrior to write a piece on the cutting-edge agenda for advocates working on gender issues.

Professor John Greabe had two law review articles accepted for publication this summer: “A Better Path for Constitutional Tort Law” (in Constitutional Commentary) and “Moving Beyond Gartenberg: A Process-Based and Comparative Approach to Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act” (forthcoming in Boston University’s Review of Banking and Financial Law). He was also hired to draft a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Jones v. Harris Associates, LP, which challenges certain mutual fund advisory fee practices. They lost their en banc petition in this Seventh Circuit case by a 5 to 5 vote, with Judge Posner (joined by four other judges) publishing a strong

dissent from the denial of the petition. In addition, congratulations go out to Professor Greabe, as he was admitted to the New Hampshire bar this summer.

Professor Greg Johnson spoke at the National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Convention in New Orleans in July. Professor Johnson debated Professor George Dent of Case Western in a two-hour session on interstate recognition of same-sex marriage. He has also been appointed to the Nominating Committee and the Website Committee of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Legal Research and Legal Reasoning.

Professor Michael Mello and VLS alumna Anna Saxman ’85, the state’s deputy defender general who teaches criminal procedure at VLS, both testified at a July 17 State House hearing with Vermont’s advisory panel to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The panel examined racial profiling in Vermont and highlighted the lack of a statewide data collection system that would help determine the scope of the problem.

Professor Philip Meyer ’80 recently completed a book, Making Our Clients’ Stories Heard: A Guide to Narrative Strategies for Appellate and Postconviction Lawyers. He is coauthor of the book with Anthony G. Amsterdam. In addition, Professor Meyer’s book chapter, Revisiting L.A. Law will be published in Lawyers on Television (American Bar Association Press 2008).

Professor Craig Pease’s “Law and Science” column in the July/August Environmental Forum overviews the abundant and exciting scientific literature on the causes of land use change, much of which is being ignored by current zoning practices. His

Faculty Highlights

September/October column’s provocative conclusion is that future global climate change will be noticeably less than what the IPCC predicts, simply because there are insufficient fossil fuel reserves to produce the carbon dioxide emissions that the IPCC assumes will occur in the future— one can’t burn natural gas, oil, and coal that does not exist and that cannot be economically mined. This column ends with “The IPCC richly deserves its Nobel Prize.

But this is a colossal blunder.”

Professor Brian Porto delivered a Vermont Public Radio (VPR) commentary that aired on August 14, entitled, “Understanding the Brett Favre Soap Opera,” http://www.vpr.net/episode/44241/. He

also offered commentary on VPR, “Celebrating Willie O’Ree,” remembering a professional hockey player who broke that sport’s color barrier 50 years ago. He authored an op-ed that appeared in the May 31 edition of the Valley News, scrutinizing Governor Douglas’s veto of a campaign finance reform bill. Professor Porto has also published “Halfway Home: An Update on Title IX and College Sports,” 34 Vermont Bar Journal 28 (2008).

Professor Robert Rachlin and VLS alumnus David Sleigh ’82 were guests on VPR’s Vermont Edition on July 9, discussing their roles representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay and the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that affirmed the

detainees’ constitutional right to habeas corpus. The episode can be heard at http:// www.vpr.net/episode/43987/.

Professor Peter Teachout was a guest on the July 2 edition of VPR’s Vermont Edition, which explored Vermont’s legislative history on gun control. You can listen to the program at http://www.vpr. net/news_detail/81168/.

Dean Stephanie Willbanks presented “Strategic Change as Impacted by the Bar Exam” at the ABA Academic Deans Conference in Denver in June. She was also recently appointed to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar Committee on Law School Administration. In addition, on July 16–25, 2008, she participated in the annual National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in Big Sky, Montana.

Professor Kinvin Wroth made a presentation in May on “The Multinational Practice of Law: Its Impact on North American Legal Education,” as part of a panel entitled “Faculties of Law under Pressure: Internationalization, Professional Constraints, and Globalization,” at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers in Montreal.

Professor Deng Haifeng of Tsinghua University School of Law and visitor to VLS through the Partnership for Environmental Law in China was featured in this Global E-Law blog piece, “A Beijing Visitor, the Olympics and the Environment.” The article also noted that Professor Tseming Yang traveled to Beijing with his summer environmental law class. http://globalenvironmentallaw.blogspot. com/2008/08/beijing-visitor-olympicsand.html.

Professor Betsy Baker on the USCG icebreaker Healy

fall 2008 21

By Julie Sloane

New Leaders for China’s Environment At a conference in Guangzhou, China last June, organized by Vermont Law School (VLS) and Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU), an attendee from another American university made a pointed comment: “We recently found out that China has surpassed the U.S. as the biggest carbon emitter, and the gap was bigger than we thought.”

Participant Wei Xu, an assistant professor at South China Agricultural University School of Law, might have deflected blame, pointing out that if the U.S. and India aren’t serious about curbing carbon emissions, they shouldn’t hold China’s feet to the flames. But she didn’t.

Professor Tseming Yang, director of the Partnership for Environmental Law in China, atop Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.

“There’s no sense in pointing the finger at anyone,” she replied.

“China is emitting so much carbon because you’ve exported your manufacturing center to us. We’re emitting the carbon for the goods you’re buying. We’re all in this together.”

Her comments mirror the spirit of the two-year old partnership between VLS and SYSU and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with help from U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy: together the two schools hope to have a significant impact on environmental law in China. Sixteen conferences and workshops, 18 visiting scholars and students, and 10 collaborative research papers later, the program is well on its way to do just that.

A Global Dialog “When a Chinese environmental delegation comes to the U.S., they’ll come to California, Washington, D.C., and South Royalton, Vermont,” says Marc Mihaly, director of the VLS Environmental Law Center. “We’ve become a top destination for any Chinese scholar or government official involved with the environment or energy regulation.”

The partnership involves three main elements: conferences and workshops, academic exchanges, and collaborative research.

In addition to guiding the conferences and workshops the partnership hosts in Vermont and in Washington, D.C., most recently in June at the Environmental Protection Agency, Tseming Yang, VLS professor of law and director of the VLS/ SYSU partnership, travels to China four or five times annually, often joined by program associate director Jingjing Liu and other VLS faculty. There they’ve cosponsored conferences and workshops in both Guangzhou and Beijing, attended by hundreds of Chinese lawyers, scholars, and government officials.

While environmental law in China is already fairly sophisticated, says Yang, the problem is often one of enforcement.

“There are some significant details that make a difference in implementation—independence of judges, a trained legal bar that can represent plaintiffs and defendants, clearly established roles for both central government and local government,” he 24 loquitur

“When a Chinese environmental delegation comes to the U.S., they’ll come to California, Washington, D.C., and South Royalton, Vermont.”

—Marc Mihaly, Director, Environmental Law Center

says. “Like so many things, the devil is in the details.” The details that make the U.S. system work are of great interest to conference attendees.

Everyone acknowledges China has far to go, but there have been some positive signs of late. China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection was recently promoted to cabinet-level status, and it’s working to open regional offices that share authority with Beijing. Still, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection employs only 400 people—the U.S. EPA, by contrast, employs 18,000. The Beijing Olympics put pollution in the media spotlight and prompted some serious, if temporary, government attention to the problem. All 600 law schools in China are now required to teach a course in environmental law, creating job opportunities for the field.

Because environmental law is not yet a prominent field in China—the overwhelming majority of law school graduates go into business or economic law—the opportunities for professional development created by the VLS/SYSU partnership are invaluable to the participants.

At the June conference, there were roughly 40 environmental law professors in attendance, most under the age of 40.

“These were all professors teaching in Guangdong Province in south China, but many had never met each other,” says Mihaly.

“They’re by and large working by themselves. They were not only happy to meet senior Chinese and American law professors, they were thrilled to be at a conference where they could talk to each other.”

During their visits to China, Yang and the VLS staff have been able to open a dialog with key Chinese officials, learning about their needs and problems while offering specialized information about environmental law in the U.S. and other countries.

In December, Dean Shields, Yang, and Liu met with Pan Yue, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Bie Tao, deputy director of its Policy and Law De-

partment. Both men are among the leading environmental advocates within the Chinese government. “The purpose was to give them some background about our program and our interest in China,” says Yang. “They talked about the challenges they face and were particularly interested in how other developing countries have been building environmental law systems.”

Another high-level official, Dr. Sun Youhai, director of the legislative office of the Environment and Natural Resource Committee of the National People’s Congress, was a keynote speaker at a conference VLS cosponsored in Guangzhou in 2007. Sun is a key author of China’s economy law­­, which pertains to recycling, waste disposal, and sustainability. The law requires low energy consumption and high efficiency, low emissions of pollutants, and minimal waste discharge. At the conference, he discussed how the law was being put together and heard ideas on it from participating scholars.

“We talked during the conference and had dinner after-

ward,” says Liu. While she can’t know for certain whether their exchange of ideas shaped the legislation, Liu believes it made an impact. “I think he took some of our ideas into account,” she says.

Visitors to South Royalton While conferences took place on both sides of the globe, the SYSU presence was felt in South Royalton. To date, six professors from SYSU have been in residence on the VLS campus for three months or more, auditing courses and pursuing their research interests. Each also gives a lecture to the VLS community. In addition, six LLM candidates from SYSU and one from another Chinese university have spent the summer taking courses at VLS. One of those summer students, Fang Lei, is an LLM student majoring in environmental law at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, where she also volunteers at the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, a leading environmental NGO in China. Raised in a coal mining town in Shaanxi province in central China, Lei saw firsthand the problems of pollution.

“At first people focused on economic development and didn’t care about the environment,” she says. “Now they realize the air is dark and the water is almost black sometimes. A lot of people around me got hurt from the pollution. I want to fight for their rights.”

Lei and her summer classmate, Yingjun Wu, who is an LLM candidate majoring in environmental law at SYSU, were both excited by the opportunity to study environmental law in the United States. At first, they found the classroom experience unfamiliar. In China, straight lecture is the typical format.

The idea of student participation was initially strange, but ultimately exciting for Lei and Wu. “There were no materials or textbooks to find information from,” says Wu. “The teacher wanted us to search out information on the Internet and present it to the class. I found it very interesting to immerse myself in a topic.”

“The energy of the class is also good,” says Lei. “It opens fall 2008 25

“A lot of people around me got hurt from the pollution. I want to fight for their rights.”

—Fang Lei, LLM student, China University of Political Science and Law

your mind. I noticed many different concerns and perspectives.

The professors made us use this kind of thinking to connect the dots.”

That energy and passion for the subject are also good for the Chinese students. “The entire community of VLS takes environmentalism very seriously,” says Yang. “You can’t necessarily say the same thing about law schools in China. We want to provide opportunities to nurture people who are genuinely interested in the field but may not find the support for that interest in the communities they’re from.”

Collaborative Research Each fall since the partnership began, five students from VLS have teamed up with five students from SYSU to work on collaborative research. While their initial contact comes through email and Internet telephony, the VLS students have visited Guangzhou halfway through the projects to spend two weeks with their Chinese counterparts.

This peer-to-peer learning, says Yang, offers something that can’t happen in a classroom. “It not only allows for VLS students to learn a lot about China, but it engages the SYSU students on a personal level. They get to know an environmental law student in the U.S., understand how they learn about the environment, why they care about it. Those are connections that a professor cannot make.”

Two papers from the most recent class year will be published in prominent law journals. One, focusing on corporate disclosure of environmental information and written

by Timothy Riley ’08 and Huiyan Cai, will be published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review. A second, written

by Jack Sautter ’08 and Jeanne Li and covering the Clean Development Mechanism in China, will appear in the Virginia Environmental Law Journal. A new round of collaborative student research began this fall, with another five VLS students visiting Guangzhou in December.

26 loquitur

Also this fall, three Chinese law scholars—June conference participant Wei Xu among them—began a full year of study at VLS as part of a new Chinese LLM program. The experience will include classes and time for personal research as well as internships with government agencies, NGOs, or law firms. In the future, Yang and Liu hope the program can expand to 10 to 15 students and also grow to include practicing lawyers and government officials from China.

By nurturing future leaders like Wei and giving them opportunities for higher education, VLS aims to enhance their importance and authority in their home institutions. “Our emphasis has been on reaching junior scholars who are the most open to new ideas and have the longest careers ahead of them,” says Yang. “Hopefully by giving them opportunities to grow, they will become the next generation of leaders.”

Vermont Law School — your legacy Join fellow alumni and friends in planning for the future of Vermont Law School.

To learn about joining the Douglas Meredith Society, go to www.vermontlaw.edu/why_give.htm or call Dorothy Heinrichs, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at 802-831-1267 or dheinrichs@vermontlaw.edu.

Class Notes Alumni News 1976 Jay Scherline tells us, “It’s truly a small world. My son Justin Scherline graduated from University of Hartford in January 2008 and landed a job with an international relocation company in New York City. In April 2008 I went to NYC with my wife to help my son move to his new apartment. We went out for lunch on 17th and Broadway, and as I was walking down the street with my wife, my son Justin, and his girlfriend, someone yelled out ‘Jay!’ It was Pat Egan. You never know when a VLS alum is going to show up unexpectedly. It was a great mini-reunion, and it’s always a pleasure to see a classmate.”

1977 Though Joseph Mirrione has been an attorney for over three decades, he considers 2008 to be a banner year. Joe served as the president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association this year, a title he proudly accepted at their 2007 annual meeting in Westbrook, Connecticut. The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to promoting a more just society by upholding individual rights within the civil justice system. As president Joe provided leadership and direction and, together with the Board of Governors, continued the CTLA’s tradition of providing Connecticut lawyers with the latest civil law information and correcting potentially harmful misinformation. Joe is certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He was listed in Connecticut Magazine as a medical malpractice Super Lawyer in 2006 and 2007. Joe’s passionate nature and desire to give back have motivated him to become involved with the future generation of trial 38 loquitur

lawyers at the University of Connecticut School of Law. He teaches an Intensive Trial Advocacy course, which culminates in an entry into the American Association for Justice annual trial advocacy competition. He enjoys participating in training and mentoring the talented students at the law school and sees it as an important part of his calling. Joe was recently awarded a plaque recognizing his dedicated service to the University of Connecticut Law School for his contributions over the past decade.

Joe’s practice in New Haven specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice. His focus on the human aspect of law has helped countless people preserve their dignity and obtain the justice they deserve. In addition, his wit and down to earth outlook make him a popular speaker at seminars across the state. Joe lives in Guilford, Connecticut, with the loves of his life—his wife, Cynthia, and children, Anastacia and Joseph.

Joe attended the recent VLS Reunion Weekend and commented, “I wanted to extend my deep appreciation for all the work the law school did in bringing about this class reunion. It was an outstanding event requiring enormous planning. While I only had time to participate in the fly-fishing expedition (deep appreciation for paying for this adventure), my friends and I were deeply moved by the commitment of the law school to honor its heritage. While the whole weekend was great, the hour after dinner where there were spontaneous stories about the first three years will stay with me forever. Think about it—we were one day away from being closed down and look where at the law school is now!”

1978 Gary Guy was a Maryland delegate to the 2008 GOP National Convention.

1979 Deborah Bucknam reports to her classmates: I have volunteered to be class secretary, and decided to start with my news in the hope that you all will be inspired to let the class of ’79 know how you have been doing. I have been practicing law in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, for 22 years. We now have four attorneys and support a staff of eight. One associate, Aaron Melville, is a 2005 VLS grad. I still love what I do, and am having a lot of fun—it’s hard to get burned out in the Northeast Kingdom.

My family is also doing well. Charlie is now retired from banking and is leading a leisurely life (for him), including working for the law firm part-time, doing financial analysis and other assignments for clients. It’s great fun to have him in the office. Daughter Jen graduated from Boston University Law School in 2000, was an associate at Hale & Dorr in Boston for a few years, and then began in 2004 to work for the law firm, as she had started a family and needed flexibility. She and her husband now have four children under the age of five. She had identical twin daughters in 2006, who by chance have a small part in a Hollywood movie, The Women, which will be out in September 2009. They play the baby. Daughter Serena graduated magna cum laude from Boston University Law School in 1999 when she was already a mother of two. (She had to postpone taking a final exam until one year after she went into labor.) Serena worked for a year at a Concord, New Hampshire, law firm, but then she decided to be a full-time mom. On August 1, 2008, she gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl. That makes five children for her and her husband; four girls and a boy—and nine grandchildren for us! If you have news, please email dbucknam@vtlegalhelp.com.

A Message from the VLSAA President I am pleased to introduce myself as the new Vermont Law School Alumni Association (VLSAA) president. I took the helm in March 2008 from Alexa Cole ’98, after she relocated to Hawaii to pursue her National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration career. Alexa’s good leadership set a high bar for the incoming president; her tenure leaves the alumni association with the gift of positive momentum as we move forward.

I am very happy to introduce our eight recently elected board members: Richelle M. Blanc JD/MSEL ’88, Janet E. Arnold JD/MSEL ’91, Marilyn J. Bartlett ’91, Alexa A. Cole ’98, Jason Hutt ’98, Heather Spurlock Kennealy JD/MSEL ’02, Catherine R. Rebholz ’06, Fidel R. Rul III JD/MSEL ’06, and Allison W. Smith MSEL ’07 in the new MSEL representative position.

Our returning members are: Edna Y. Baugh ’83, Colleen H. Connor ’85, Emily Epperson ’01, John W. Kessler ’88, David K. Mears ’91, Karis L. North ’95, Mark Sciarrotta ’96, Carolina T. Curbelo ’05, and Clancy I. DeSmet ’06.

I have full confidence that this talented and energetic group will continue the tradition of zealously and thoughtfully representing VLS alumni interests at the school and beyond. I encourage all members of the VLS alumni community to use your board members as resources for any VLS-related issues.

Each year, the board tackles a variety of important issues.

I want to highlight a few from this past year.

The board’s fund-raising committee continued to make impressive strides at increasing scholarship funds and raising class participation rates. The Kent’s Ledge Challenge in particular was a fun and creative way to motivate alums to donate to a great cause.

The VLSAA board actively participated in the recent faculty hiring campaign by helping to screen and interview candidates. We also engaged with the trustees to consider the reappointment of President and Dean Geoffrey Shields. Our decision to support Dean Shields’ reappointment was grounded in his leadership in critical areas, including development of the external, public face of the law school and expansion of the school’s fund-raising capacity. We look forward to continued partnership with Dean Shields and his leadership team in his upcoming term.

Finally, at commencement this year I had the distinct

Send us your notes at alumni@vermontlaw.edu

and memorable honor of presenting the Alumni Association Award to Alison Share ’08. The VLSAA created the award to recognize outstanding student contributions, and we bestow it annually on the member of the graduating class whose thoughtful interest and energy has enriched the law school community in a special, recognizable way. Alison’s leadership academically, on the Vermont Law Review, and in many campus activities, including the Alliance, made her nomination stand out in a most impresssive field of candidates.

I would like to invite you to participate in the association and reengage with the school. There are a number of ways to give back. You can join one of our regional alumni groups (Boston, D.C., New York, and New Jersey), or contact me to learn how to start a regional group in your area. Many alums come back to the school to serve as moot court judges, attend conferences, or just roam the halls and visit their former professors. You could engage with your VLS classmates and friends by becoming a class agent or class secretary. Finally, please consider participating in the Annual Fund. The support the law school receives from our alumni helps expand opportunities for current students at VLS and enhances the school’s programs and infrastructure.

I invite and encourage you contact me with concerns or ideas. I promise to bring your thoughts to your alumni board for discussion.

S. Mark Sciarrotta ’96 VLSAA President msciarrotta@velco.com

fall 2008 39

Class Notes

1980 Joel R. Burcat, a partner and cochair of the Environmental Department in Saul Ewing LLP’s Harrisburg office, has coedited the fifth edition of Pennsylvania Environmental Law and Practice, a comprehensive and detailed compilation of all aspects of Pennsylvania environmental law, including recent legislative and statutory developments. Burcat focuses his legal practice in environmental litigation, counseling, and transactional work.

A former assistant attorney general and assistant counsel with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, Burcat has received numerous awards, including the 2007 Distinguished Service Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section. He is also listed in Chambers USA as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Environmental Law and is listed as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.

Betsey Neslin reports that there is another lawyer in her family. Her daughter, Jenny Bartlett Neslin, was sworn into the New York Bar in June 2008, and is a corporate lawyer in New York City.

1981 Gary Medvigy’s oldest daughter, Elyse, was nominated by President Bush and Congresswoman Woolsey for a United States Military Academy appointment.

Elyse completed her first year and is enjoying a few weeks off this summer before returning to West Point. Gary is still in the U.S. Army Reserves and is assigned as the deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army’s Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They have 10,000 soldiers in commands in over 27 40 loquitur

states, so he travels their command frequently. His command is extremely busy with the war. They always have nearly half of their command in the war pipeline at any given time, either in the theater of operations, redeploying, or preparing to deploy. Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Gary to the California Superior Court in June 2007. He is presently assigned to the Criminal Department in Sonoma County, California.

1983 The Girl Scout Council of Greater Essex and Hudson Counties has bestowed a Distinguished Service Award on Edna Baugh at its 16th Annual Women of Distinction Gala. Baugh has the honor of serving as the council’s first African American board president. She joined six women, all former council board presidents, in receiving her award. Professionally, Edna currently wears two hats. As managing member at Stephens & Baugh LLC, in Maplewood, New Jersey, she is responsible for all administrative aspects of the business. Her practice areas are real estate property tax appeals and transactional real estate. As the assistant director for clinic administration for Rutgers School of Law in Newark, she supports the director and deputy director in the overall management of the administrative functions of the law school’s clinics.

The Hon. Daniel F. Caruso of the Fairfield Probate District was reelected first vice president–judge of the Connecticut Probate Assembly at the assembly’s annual meeting, which was held in Hartford on April 29. Daniel previously held office as the assembly’s second vice president–judge and as its recording secretary.

He has served as Fairfield’s probate judge since 1995. All of the state’s 117 probate

judges are members of the Connecticut Probate Assembly, which seeks to improve the administration of justice and achieve uniformity in the practice and procedures of the probate courts. Daniel is an active member of the Probate Assembly, serving as a member of the Executive Committee, which directs the Assembly’s work, and the Legislative Committee. As first vice president, he also serves on the Judicial Education Standards Committee. In addition, Daniel is a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Estates and Probates Section.

Martha Lyons sent the following note to her classmates: Those of us attending the reunion this spring had a grand time reminiscing and talking about the rest of you, who for some reason or another just didn’t come! With excuses of fishing trips and kids’ graduations and proms aside…it was nice to sit and catch up and somehow 25 years faded away in an instant. SoRo has changed as has the VLS campus. If

Class Notes

Carolyn Tonelli ’83

Toward Self-Sufficiency in Ecuador environment and strained personal histories meant that trust came hard. “These 15 women had never worked collaboratively, they had no skills, and they lived together 24 hours a day,” Tonelli notes. Her cash bought washers and dryers (rare in Ecuador), funded repairs, paid the women’s salaries, and started a small loan fund for “alumnae.” Still, there were disputes that weekly meetings with staff couldn’t quite dampen. “Two-thirds of the way in, I was so discouraged at the women’s squabbling.

But the director told me, ‘You have no idea of the before and after. These women had no prospects, and now each one knows what she plans to do when she leaves here.’” Those prospects included opening bakeries, beauty salons, and other small businesses.

Tonelli describes her year there as “emotionally excruciating,” given her language limitations and the newness of everything.

Her grown daughter’s reaction while visit-

ing changed from “You are so out of your mind,” to “This is really good for you— you can’t be the authority on anything!”

Tonelli wasn’t involved in legal work but was grateful for her legal experience: “It gives you a breadth of confidence. I could understand legal systems and could learn the mechanisms quickly, even with the language limitations.” She adds, “Because I was a lawyer, I had credibility (unfortunately or fortunately). And I certainly graduated from VLS with the sensibility that there was nothing I couldn’t do.”

That sensibility was contagious: The San Cristóbal women have built their loan fund from $5,000 to $8,000. The laundry business continues and has made its first loan to a woman leaving the shelter and starting a business. Tonelli will return every year, she says. She loves the people, their lively indigenous/Latin culture, the work, and, she adds, “It transformed me personally.”

Bob Eddy

When Carolyn Tonelli retired last year, she headed south. Instead of plans for R&R, she packed inspiration from a Bangladeshi economist, $12,000 she’d raised from friends, her fledgling Spanish, and a desire to help Ecuadorian women build financial self-sufficiency. Tonelli’s Randolph, Vermont, church has contacts in the Andean village of San Cristóbal, so it was there and in nearby Cuenca, Ecuador’s third-largest city, that she began her next phase of life.

Years of activity in Randolph’s local economic development, and her study of 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate Mohammed Yunus’s micro-credit system, convinced Tonelli that local projects could combat poverty: “San Cristóbal already had a development mentality,” she says, crediting her church’s colleagues there. “They just needed the capital.”

Taking her direction from the local women’s decisions about their needs, Tonelli helped establish a village microcredit bank and a commercial laundry at a Cuenca shelter for battered women and their children. With many men working in the U.S. or elsewhere, “All along, the women made the decisions,” Tonelli recalls, “which was absolutely essential to their success. My goal was that by the time I left, they wouldn’t need me.”

Tonelli divided her funds between the two projects, which were vastly different. “Ecuador had a good history of community banks. In the village, everyone knew each other and could make personal guarantees for the loans.” The rural women used the money to buy and raise chickens and guinea pigs to sell and to set up sewing businesses to make the traditional embroidered skirts the women wear. None of that social capital existed at Casa Maria, however, where the urban

Carolyn Tonelli ’83 (second from left) with the Astudillo family from Cuenca, Ecuador, and pastors of the Bethany Church in Randolph, Vermont

Send us your notes at alumni@vermontlaw.edu

fall 2008 41

Class Notes

you haven’t been back lately, I encourage a trip and a look around. It is not the school we knew, and yet it still is. Maureen Martin and her husband, Tim, kindly opened their home to all of us after a full day of events on Saturday. The rain held off until dinner and didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. I admit that I haven’t been back as often as I wanted, nor have I made all the calls or written the letters I often opine about making. Life often gets in our way, despite the best of intentions. As impossible as it seems, I hope that the class of 1983 can plan to make the trek back to SoRo for the 30th! So let’s start planning ahead. I stopped to visit Joan and Bob Harris, who didn’t make it up to the reunion this time, amazed at how close they really were, given all the times I travel to Massachusetts and Rhode Island. I got the chance to call some of you before the reunion and hope to continue to reach out to those I have not yet gotten to. Our class gift fund remains open for contributions.

Our class has amazing strengths and hidden qualities. Ed Mattes expects to make another climb this winter and I look forward to reading about his adventures.

Bev Griffin Dunne chronicles her son’s fight with cancer daily at CaringBridge.

(Brian has successfully finished radiation and looks forward to attending Norwich 42 loquitur

University on a deferred admission.) Stu Hersh caught the first and perhaps only fish of the day out on the river. Some of us are retired and others are grandparents, if you can believe it! Whatever your endeavors and adventures, please keep us posted!

On a side note, I have had the pleasure of working with a 2007 VLS grad, Hanne Walker, who was our legal fellow for the past year. Hanne has filled me in on modern life in SoRo, and has heard some tales of olde. It is worth getting to know the new VLS.

1986

1984

Glenn Clouser has recently left private practice and has become General Counsel for DCO Energy and Joseph Jingoli & Son Inc., in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Jack Vultaggio reports that he has just joined a great company called K2 Partnering Solutions Inc. as U.S. legal counsel.

K2 is a small, multinational corporation with offices in London, Stuttgart, Geneva, Providence, and San Francisco. They are a temporary and permanent placement firm specializing in computer programming consultants, such as SAP- and Oraclebased enterprise solution gurus. As U.S. legal counsel, he manages all U.S. legal and compliance needs for the U.S. market.

His daughter Christina (Crissy) is entering her first year at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, “The Business School of Fashion,” in Manhattan. He says, “Trust me—Manhattan is definitely her element, and you don’t know how hard that is for a true blue Boston boy to say!” His son Jack, an avid lacrosse player, is entering his first year of high school in their home town of Mansfield, Massachusetts, and has just returned from a 22-day trip to England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland as a Student Ambassador for the President Eisenhower People to People Group.

Ron Gunzburger’s spouse, Dana, attended and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2007, earning the culinary degree for cuisine. Ron definitely took advantage of the opportunity, taking six trips to France during the year—includ-

Mike Newell’s recently published book, No Bottom: In Conversation with Barry Lopez (April 2008), is available through Amazon.com and indie bookstores, including the Tattered Cover in Denver and Shakespeare and Co. in Paris, France. Until retirement a few years ago, Mike worked as an educator for at-risk populations. For over a decade, he also served as a commissioner on the New York State Otsego County Conditional Release Commission, a county level parole board. “The MSL program was an invaluable finishing school for me in respect to critical thinking, relentless researching, and persuasive writing,” claims Mike.

1985 Frank Twohill was recently reelected for his eighth two-year term to the Representative Town Meeting in Branford, Connecticut. Frank was elected by his caucus to be their minority leader. The Representative Town Meeting passes all ordinances and approves an $85 million annual budget. Frank continues his solo practice in juvenile, probate, criminal, and child support work. Frank also writes two Internet news, views, and gossip columns, one for the town of Branford and one for the College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine).

After more than 20 years in Vermont and 10 years as Vermont’s Workers’ Compensation Hearing Officer, Peg Mangan moved south. Peg is now living in Washington, D.C., where she is an administrative law judge with the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings.

1987

Class Notes

David Cole ’86

An Advocate for Human Rights David Cole has had 19 years of experience arguing both plaintiffs’ and defendants’ cases before the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights. In January 2008, he took on a new role, when New Hampshire Governor John Lynch appointed Cole to a five-year term as a commissioner. The Hanover-based business and personal injury attorney also practices in Vermont, where VLS classmate and Assistant Attorney General Martha Csala ’86 is responsible for human rights cases.

Some things don’t change—quickly, anyway—and Cole finds that sexual discrimination cases still dominate the human rights caseload in this region. “That’s what people are so much more aware of now,” Cole says. “Previously, even if something was legally actionable it wasn’t practically actionable. But with Vinson v.

Meritor Savings Bank in 1986 and Anita Hill’s testimony in 1991, people began to realize, ‘That isn’t acceptable—and I have recourse.’” Heightened awareness of discrimination isn’t limited to victims, Cole says. “As people get more cognizant, the perpetrators hide their tracks better.”

So far, Cole’s work on the commission has involved investigative efforts. “There’s a widespread misconception about the number of cases that go before the commission,” he says. “The previous executive director, Katharine Daly, emphasized mediation during her long tenure—before mediation was so popular. In both New Hampshire and Vermont, the multistep process by which a claim is filed asks the parties if they’ll agree to mediation. If both are initially willing to mediate, I’d say 70 percent of cases are settled in the beginning. Only if one party refuses to mediate, or mediation fails, does it go to the investigative track.” Even if the case proceeds, Cole says, parties are notified in advance

ing a week in Cannes, a week in Antibes, the Tour de France bike race finish in Paris, the weekly Sunday massive group rollerblade trips around the city, marching in leftist street demonstrations during the national strike, hanging out in Le Marais, eating lots of great food, and living in the second arrondissement and visiting every arrondissement in Paris—plus a family vacation to the Middle East over Christmas 2007. Visit Ron on Facebook.com to see the photos. And, yes, Ron is still living and practicing law in South Florida and publishing his website.

1988

of the ruling and asked if they will agree to mediate. “Mediation gives them one more chance to deal with their own case before anything’s written.”

Before being named to the commission, Cole spent many years as one of those mediators, serving on New Hampshire’s volunteer mediation panel. He’s also in his seventh year on New Hampshire’s professional conduct committee and sees all these activities in a similar light. “There are great intangible benefits to participating,” he says. “It sounds hokey—in law school we used to make fun of people who said, ‘I love the law,’ but I really do. It’s a great profession. If you believe the law serves our society, you want to see constant improvement in the delivery of justice, because it so deeply affects people’s lives.”

Send us your notes at alumni@vermontlaw.edu

Bill van Zyverden and three others have purchased 193 acres of forest land in Port Henry, New York (just across Lake Champlain from Addison, Vermont), with the vision of creating an eco-friendly retreat center showcasing self-sustaining methods of building and resource management. For now, it’s a great place to hike (or snowshoe or cross-country ski), with several waterfalls and amazing vistas. Pictures and more information at www.terramountain. org. Anyone interested in joining the project, helping in any way, or just taking a hike is welcome.

1989 The firm of Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP is deep in Vermont Law School talent and connections—two of the seven attorneys on its environmental team and one of the two law clerks are VLS alumni, and the newest attorney studied under new VLS professor Jason Czarnezki while Jason was at Marquette University Law School.

Gonzales Saggio & Harlan LLP, with nine offices in eight states, is the country’s second largest minority-owned law firm.

Ned Witte is chair of the environmental practice. Ned is a past board member of the VLS Alumni Association and currently fall 2008 43

Class Notes

serves on the VLS Dean’s Leadership Committee. Ben Grawe ’00 is a partner of GSH’s Milwaukee environmental practice, commuting from his home in Middleton, Wisconsin. Binta Boly LLM’08—a native of Burkina Fasoand a Fulbright Scholar— is a law clerk in the GSH environmental practice through 2008.

Randy Abate is a visiting associate professor at Florida State University College of Law for the 2008–09 academic year, where he will teach Torts and Constitutional Law II in the fall and Constitutional Law I and International Environmental Law in the spring. Randy has been assistant professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville since 2006, where he founded and coordinates the school’s environmental law certificate, environmental law externship, and environmental law moot court programs. The second edition of his book, Directory of Environmental Law Education Programs at American Law Schools, was published by Carolina Academic Press earlier this year.

1990 Ruth (Moors) D’Eredita ’90 and Anthony D’Eredita ’89 have relocated from Tampa to Nashville this year to be closer to Anthony’s firm, Southwind Health Partners.

Their daughter, Juliana, is 12, son Anthony William is 9, and Matthew is 6. Last spring, while in Washington D.C., they

Members of the D’Eredita family on Mount Mansfield 44 loquitur

Kim Montroll ’89 and Anthony D’Eredita ’89 with the D’Eredita children, Juliana, Anthony William, and Matthew in D.C. in March 2008 had dinner with Kim Montroll ’89, who is “just so fantastic to be with.” This summer, before picking up Juliana at camp in Vermont, they climbed with the boys to the top of Mount Mansfield.

1991 Hans Huessy became a shareholder at Kenlan, Schwiebert, Facey & Goss PC in January of 2008. He has been with the firm since 2002 and is part of its commercial litigation, land use, and utility law practice groups. His primary practice is in

Several alumni attended a reading in New York City this past April by Madeleine Kunin from her book, Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead. Pictured are Ingrid Busson ’99, Joy Kanwar ’99, Madeleine Kunin, John Hennessey, Fred Zeytoonjian ’92, and Carole Wacey ’92.

the area of construction law, and he has extensive experience arbitrating complex construction actions. He is the former inhouse counsel for the Home Service Store Inc., a national contractor referral service, and continues to represent them. Prior to working for the Home Service Store, Hans served as senior corporate counsel for Central Vermont Public Service Corporation. He is a Vermont native and currently resides in Wallingford, Vermont, with his wife, Lori, and two children.

1994 Colleen Deegan is pleased to share the news of the birth of her daughter, Lucia Frances Deegan. She was born on March 17, 2008. Lucy is happy, healthy, and finally sleeping through the night. Mom is happy, healthy, and also sleeping through the night.

1995 Kurt Schaefer has left the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and is a partner at Lathrop & Gage LC. He is also currently running for state senate. Kurt, Stacia, Max (9), Wolf (7), and Lena (3) live in Columbia, Missouri. They took a family trip to Vermont in June, their first visit back in 13 years. They floated the White River and report that campus was even nicer than in 1995!

Deirdre Alton, her mom, and three children (Tara, Colin, and Maeve) have finally made the big move from Louisiana back to New England. Deirdre has opened a solo practice in Springfield, Massachusetts, specializing in real estate, tax, and estate planning. No more hurricanes!

Orestes Anastasia sends the following note to his classmates from the City of Angels (Thailand): Greetings! Amazing how the time has passed. After 10 years in D.C. supporting international development and environmental work—particularly climate

Class Notes

Michelle Delemarre ’91

From Intern to Mentor For Michelle Delemarre, the best thing about her 1990 internship at the Department of Justice (DOJ) was “seeing lawyers do their work. You study cases and you read about the law in school, but as an intern you experience the actual analysis that trial lawyers go through.” Today, as a trial attorney for DOJ and a mentor in the Vermont Law School’s Semester in Practice (SiP) program, Delemarre provides students with the same practical, eyeopening experience that helped focus her own legal career 18 years ago.

Interning at DOJ, “I found torts and litigation very interesting,” Delemarre says. Her office specializes in Aviation and Admiralty litigation and works for a range of clients including the Navy, Maritime Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Aviation Administration, National Park Service, and Department of Commerce. Cases involve the carriage of goods as governed by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, personal injury, searchand-rescue, and damage to public structures and natural resources.

Delemarre cites a recent case from Puerto Rico as particularly challenging: A container ship ran aground, and the operators sued the government because a navigation buoy wasn’t in place. “But the U.S. had warned mariners that the buoy wasn’t there,” Delemarre says, “and case law had established that warning was all the government was required to do legally.” In winning “a long, hard-fought battle against a very vigorous opponent, we achieved a result that will benefit the U.S. for years to come.” The case gave rise to a published opinion, setting a valuable precedent while saving the taxpayers’ money.

Admiralty cases pertain not just to the ocean but to all navigable waterways, including rivers and lakes. “I keep

hoping a case will come along involving Lake Champlain, so I can go back to Vermont on business,” Delemarre says with a laugh. “But so far the closest I’ve gotten is Boston.”

Delemarre is married to fellow VLS graduate Ron Vavruska ’91, who also practices law in Washington, D.C. Her father, John Delemarre, directed the VLS physical plant for almost 30 years, retiring in 2007. He had a special interest in making the campus greener through initiatives such as replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents and heating the library with biodiesel.

So far, Delemarre has mentored three VLS interns. “I tell them, ‘You’ll learn skills here that you can put to use wherever you end up working. We don’t focus exclusively on boats and planes—we’re trial lawyers, and what we do is applicable to every trial lawyer.’”

Send us your notes at alumni@vermontlaw.edu

change–related—with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of Energy, EPA, and states of California and Maryland, in 2004 I took a job with USAID in Bangkok, Thailand.

It’s been a fantastic experience. I started off managing USAID’s environment programs in Thailand, and then the 2004 tsunami struck. Since early 2005 I have been managing the U.S. government’s regional program to support development of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, involving a wide range of initiatives from establishing deep-ocean buoys systems and disaster warning operations centers to coastal village training programs. More recently, I’ve been starting to get back to my climate change focus by heading up a new Asia regional program to promote clean energy technologies, practices, and financing in six countries, including China and India. Hope this can make a dent in the overwhelming global challenges ahead, particularly in Asia. Most importantly, in 2001 I got married to an incredible woman, Kate, who later gave up her job at OMB to move here and start a doula and massage therapy practice. We just had a beautiful baby girl, Rita, this August.

1998 Alex Polonsky was elected to the partnership at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP in July 2008, and continues to practice nuclear energy law and environmental law in Morgan Lewis’ Washington, D.C., office.

Alex coauthored a nuclear law primer entitled Fundamentals of Nuclear Regulation in the United States, which was published in October 2007 and is available online through Public Utilities Reports (www. pur.com). Alex is also teaching a “Nuclear 101”-style course for Electric Utility Consultants Inc. and looks forward to teaching a nuclear law course at VLS one of these days. Alex lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife, Amy, and children Moshe, Maddie, Taylor, and Benjamin. fall 2008 45

Class Notes

1999 Pamela Logsdon married Matthew C. Sibley at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin, Pennsylvania, on December 20, 2007, the 50th wedding anniversary of Pam’s parents. Pam is a solo practitioner, focusing primarily on family law cases and court-appointed criminal defense.

Matt works for OMG Americas, a chemical production company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. They can be contacted at: Matthew C. and Pamela R. L. Sibley, 1237 Buffalo Street, Apartment 2, Franklin, PA 16323. Email: Pamlog@netzero.net David W. Sligh just started a new job as Upper James Riverkeeper and will be based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He will be working to protect and restore the James River and its tributaries throughout the western part of Virginia.

2000 Lynn DelVecchio and husband, Joe, have relocated from Georgia to Massachusetts.

Their daughters turned four and two in August, and they are thrilled to be back in New England. They are enjoying antiquing trips to furnish their Victorian farmhouse—their little piece of Vermont outside Boston. Lynn is still working for the federal government (CMS) and Joe is a veterinarian and loving it. They would be happy to hear from VLSers in the area: Lynn.DelVecchio@cms.hhs.gov.

Kathleen (Kate) Irene Myers ’00 and Timothy (Tim) Cooley Olson ’02 were married on May 17, 2008, in Rhinebeck, New York. The reception was held on the banks of the Hudson River and the couple was very happy to celebrate with several VLS alumni. Tim and Kate reside in Washington, D.C., where Kate was formerly on the VLS Area Alumni Association Board of Governors, a position that Tim currently holds. Tim works for the Energy and Environment Program at the Aspen Institute, and Kate is a land use, 46 loquitur

bridge financing to the 1700 local land trusts around the country to help them complete their own projects. He sees Abby Armstrong ’84 (director of VLS’s Office of Career Services) quite a bit. In fact, at this year’s National Land Conservation Rally, they cotaught a day-long seminar titled “Leadership Skills for Young Conservation Professionals.”

Kate Myers ’00 and Tim Olson ’02 celebrate their wedding with Anita Canovas ’94, Kevin Forjette ’95, Bill Goldman ’00, Kurt Kissling ’00, Mike Mills ’00, Erin Curran ’00, and Thomas (Roddy) Hughes ’03. zoning, and historic preservation attorney for Greenstein, DeLorme & Luchs PC.

2001 Julie Tower (now Tower-Pierce) has written the book Staying at Home, Staying in the Law: A Guide to Remaining Active in the Legal Profession While Pursuing Your Dreams (American Bar Association, July 2008), www.stayinginthelaw.com.

Abe Navarro is pleased to announce that Indiana’s governor, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., has recently appointed him as judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Indiana. He took office July 1, 2008. He says, “without a doubt, the Vermont Law School played an integral part in my career development and a key role in fulfilling this dream.”

2002 Reggie Hall is working for The Conservation Fund in its Arlington, Virginia, headquarters. He is a real estate associate doing land conservation deals from New England out to the Midwest and down to the Mid-Atlantic. He also manages the Land Trust Loan Program, which provides

2003 Daniel Mator has been appointed Borough Manager of Oakmont, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Sadie, are proud to announce the birth of their first child, Ethan Daniel, on July 24, 2008.

Ian Bartrum started as the Irving Ribicoff Fellow in Law at Yale Law School in August. He is teaching a constitutional law seminar and continues to research and write a book on how the Constitution is taught in American high schools.

Laurie Beyranevand returned to VLS last year as an assistant professor in the Legal Writing Program. She specializes in teaching legal research and writing to students in the Master of Environmental Law and Policy program.

2004 Jessica Durkis-Stokes and her husband, Tim, welcomed a son, Thaddeus Waldon Stokes, on February 13, 2008. Thaddeus joins older brother Harold Valor Stokes, who was born on May 6, 2005.

Dustin Taylor and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their daughter, Katherine Hope Taylor, to the world on December 14, 2007.

Ashley McMahan is working at the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. She was selected to be in the South Carolina Young Lawyers Division’s inaugural class of the Leadership Academy.

McMahan also rewrote the South Carolina Post-Conviction Relief Manual, which will

Class Notes

be out late September through the South Carolina Bar. Caroline Fisher has been acting as general counsel and healthcare policy advisor to Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Massachusetts) and has recently been keeping busy with the new boutique real estate brokerage firm that she has opened up with her wife, Erin Russ Fisher. Foundation Realty Group LLC is located in the South End of Boston and offers a fullservice real estate brokerage catering to both buyers and sellers, and is unique in that it provides each client with the opportunity to become more engaged in their respective community through Foundation Realty Group’s Community Enhancement Program. Through this program a minimum of five percent of Foundation Realty Group’s annual revenue will be donated back to local not-for-profit community organizations of their clients’ choosing.

With the intersection of the Community Enhancement Program and the real estate, they felt that “Foundation” was a great choice for the name, and their motto, “creating a new culture of giving,” sums up their mission. Caroline says, “Giving back to the community is something that is deeply ingrained into the mindset of the VLS community, and it’s a great feeling to be able to carry this approach outside of the legal arena and into other people’s

lives as well.” www.frgboston.com or caroline@frgboston.com Spencer Hanes is at the midpoint for receiving his MBA. He spent the summer working for Duke Energy in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an analyst in the Strategy and Planning Group, and on compliance with the newly passed North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, among other projects.

2005 Kate (Eddy) married Bill Hofmann in October 2005 in Manchester, Vermont.

Gabrielle Gautieri and Maria Gomez attended. Kate gave birth to Henry Owen on April 30, 2008, and everyone is doing great! Kate is working at a private firm in Glens Falls, New York, and is living in Bolton Landing, near Lake George. Feel free to drop a line to katem.eddy@gmail. com.

In April, Amy Manzelli accepted an appointment for a one-year term as the vice-chair of Leadership Greater Concord, a program that works to foster civic awareness in the up and coming leaders of the Concord, New Hampshire, area. Amy graduated from the program in 2007 and worked to overhaul the program’s Environment Day in 2008. In May, Amy received the 2008 Distinguished Alumna Award from the UNH Natural Resources Department. She was recognized for her contributions in environmental advocacy since graduating from UNH in 1998 with her BA in Spanish and BS in Environmental Conservation. In June, the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Section on Environmental and Natural Resources Law elected Amy to a one-year term as its cochair. This 100+ member section meets monthly and focuses on the effects, effectiveness, and scientific validity of state and federal environmental laws. Amy represents private clients in environmental business and litigation matters at Sulloway

Send us your notes at alumni@vermontlaw.edu

& Hollis in Concord, New Hampshire.

Amy also writes and lectures on a variety of environmental topics. www.sulloway. com/news_info_source.asp Steve Kelton and his wife, Emily, are living in Washington, D.C. Steve is an environmental attorney with Holland & Knight. On weekends he dons a tool belt as he renovates their Columbia Heights row house. Follow their progress at http:// stevekelton.wordpress.com.

Sidney Hamilton joined the firm of Kenlan, Schwiebert, Facey & Goss PC in March 2007. His practice includes elder law, estate planning, and probate litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Sidney worked in government relations positions for two trade organizations in Alexandria, Virginia, was a healthcare compliance intern for Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont, and a law clerk for Vermont Legal Aid’s Medicare Advocacy Project in Springfield. Sidney lives with his wife, Stephanie, in Brandon, Vermont. shamilton@kenlanlaw.com

2006 On June 14, 2008, John (JB) Weir and Erika Smart were married at the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden, Vermont.

Many of the attendees were VLS grads.

Ashley Carson recently accepted the Interim Executive Director position at OWL—The Voice of Midlife and Older Women in Arlington, Virginia. OWL was founded in 1980 and is the only national grassroots organization dedicated entirely to addressing the concerns of midlife and older women.

Janice and Gregory Boulbol were blessed with a beautiful baby girl on April 2, 2008. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces…with a full head of hair! Sadie Katherine Boulbol had a beautiful water birth, and thinks she is still swimming.

Jennifer Hill married VLS exchange student from Italy, Daniele Albertini, in Kua Bay, Hawaii, on February 16, 2008. fall 2008 47

Class Notes

Calling All MSELs: New Name, New Opportunity for Involvement

Alumni gather for the Weir-Smart wedding: (front) Erika Smart ’06, Carolyn Buckingham ’06, Stephanie Press ’08, and Erika’s sister Angela Smart; (back) Will Senning ’06, JB Weir ’06, Jason Beecher ’06, David Rugh ’04, and Eli Crittenden ’06.

Sadie Katherine Boulbol

2007 Adam Lee completed his clerkship with the Maine Superior Court, and he has accepted a position at the Auburn, Maine law firm of Skelton, Taintor and Abbott.

Jessica (Biamonte) Olson is happy to announce that on June 7, 2008, she was married to Jodin Olson in Vienna, Virginia.

Greg Dorrington recently concluded a one-year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Sharon L. Gleason of the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage, Alaska. He has accepted an associate attorney position with Jermain, Dunnagan and Owens, the largest law firm in Alaska, where he will concentrate his practice on civil litigation.

48 loquitur

The Master of Studies in Environmental Law is just unusual enough, both within and beyond the legal community, that few people recognize the degree by name. This summer, the school renamed the MSEL degree the Master of Environmental Law and Policy to more accurately reflect the course of study. A small but devoted group of MSEL alumni, the Environmental Law Center, and Office for Institutional Advancement (OIA) are working together to further strengthen the master’s degree program and to encourage ongoing engagement of MSEL alumni with the school.

MSEL alumni know we occupy a unique niche at the school. We matriculate with first-year law students and graduate with third years. Generally, we are at the school for only one year instead of three, or we meet the degree requirements over a series of summer programs. As a group, we don’t have the kind of extended shared VLS experience that the traditional JD candidates do. We all feel shaped by our experience at VLS but may not know how to participate fully in the alumni community.

In the spring of 2008 a group of MSEL alumni formed a discussion committee with the long-term goal of raising the profile of the master’s program and promoting enhanced career information and networking. The VLS Alumni Association (VLSAA) voted at the March 2008 meeting to amend bylaws to create a seat for an MSEL graduate, an initiative suggested to the VLSAA board by Christina Cope Anderson ’02. In July, a call for nominations went out by email, and elections were held through the month of August. The newly elected representative is Allison Smith ’07. The MSEL alumni committee will continue to be a resource for Allison as well as for the MSEL community as a whole.

Since 1980, Vermont Law School has graduated 634 MSELs who did not enter the JD program. As a first step in organizing as an alumni body, the MSEL committee has been brainstorming solutions for filling gaps in information on all MSEL alumni; we are currently missing email addresses for 30 percent of our alumni group. Ongoing outreach to MSEL alumni and increased communications among us can only strengthen the program and its reputation in the public and private sectors. In September, the ELC sent a survey to all MSEL graduates regarding the master’s program curriculum. Please take a few moments to fill out the survey at http://tinyurl.com/08MSELsurvey, and include your email contact information.

The committee is recruiting active members. The more alumni who participate in the committee, the greater voice we can have in VLS affairs and the broader base of support we can offer. If you would like more information about the MSEL committee, please contact Allison Smith at 816-679-3072 or Susan Davidson at 802-831-1315 or sdavidson@vermontlaw.edu.

Matthew D. Taylor ’93 Stephanie Kiefer ’95 Opposite: John Sherman

www.vermontlaw.edu

 Chelsea Street, PO Box , South Royalton, VT 