Fall 2012 Loquitur—The Alumni Magazine for Vermont Law School

fall 2012

A Leader for Challenging Times: Meet Marc Mihaly

The new Center for Legal Services at 190 Chelsea Street opened in August, providing new, expanded space for the South Royalton Legal Clinic and Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, as well as Barrister’s Book Shop. See videos about the clinical programs at www.vermontlaw.edu/ENRLC and www.vermontlaw.edu/SRLC.

Contents

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Letter from Dean Marc Mihaly

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A Leader for Challenging Times: Meet Marc Mihaly

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Our new president and dean is no stranger to Vermont Law School, but what sort of leader will he be? Where is this entrepreneur and innovative problem solver likely to lead VLS and how?

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Reunion 2012

100% Vermont Law School— at a Distance

VLS has taken the lead nationally in distance learning among law schools. The first students are poised to graduate from the online MELP and LLM programs in December, realizing our mission to serve students around the globe.

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Adrienne Soler JD’87: Expanding the Reach of Vermont Law School

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Solomon and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: A Principled Stand

Since 1985 students, faculty, and alumni at Vermont Law School have worked to bring an end to the discrimination Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell promoted.

A year after the repeal of DADT, much has changed, and there is still work to be done.

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Lee Knight Caffery JD/MSEL’05: A Personal Fight for Second-Parent Adoption Rights

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Class Notes

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Inter Alia

News from the VLSAA, regional alumni groups, and your own classmates.

Q&A with VLSAA Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Wynona Ward JD’98

Discovery

The Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems draws national experts to the law school, Professor Mark Latham takes over as vice dean for academic affairs, Gabor Rona ’78 discusses human rights and counterterrorism, and VLS expands its program for those who want to obtain a JD in two years.

TopKat Photography

Laura DeCapua

Jack Sautter JD/MSEL’08/LLM’09: Service in the Combat Zone

Cover photo by Kathleen Dooher

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter from www.vermontlaw.edu

Loquitur Fall 2012 Volume 26, Number 1 President and Dean Marc Mihaly Executive Director of Institutional Advancement Matt Rizzo Editor Carol Westberg Production Editor Jennie Clarke Contributing Editors Kimberly Evans Patty McIlvaine Ashley Patton Contributing Writers John Cramer Regina Kuehnemund Meg Lundstrom Heather McCutchen Pamela J. Podger Special Thanks To Peter Glenshaw Molly R. Gray ’14 Joel Harrington ’01 Mary Lou Lorenz Ariel Wiegard Design and Art Direction Glenn Suokko, Inc. Printing Universal|Wilde 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 802-831-1312 Printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper © 2012 Vermont Law School

Letter from Dean Marc Mihaly

TopKat Photography

Dear Alumni and Friends, There’s a classic scene in Paper Chase when the professor says, “Look to your left.

Look to your right. One of you won’t be here next year.” I’ve actually said to rooms of students, “Look to your left. Look to your right. What you’re seeing are your professional friends for life.”

In most law schools, the alumni are interchangeable. Cornell, Chicago, you name it—their alumni include many interesting people, but they’re not distinguishable as a group. That is not true of Vermont Law School. As a group our alumni are special, and I think that’s why they care about each other and help each other out. It’s also why they care so much about their school.

When I came here eight years ago and met the faculty, I felt I had come home, on many levels—professionally, in the world of ideas, in the way they embrace change while valuing the past. Then when I started teaching, I felt I had gone to heaven: I was teaching the kind of young people I want to spend time with. They’re serious, they’re committed, they care about learning, they’re not in it just for the money. Then I found the great pleasure of traveling to different cities to spend time with alumni, who embody the promise of a VLS education in the world.

The people make it a joy for me to lead this institution. I love this school and believe that VLS will thrive in today’s challenging environment. Together we can create thoughtful, positive change through legal education.

I hope to see more of you more often.

Best regards,

Marc Mihaly President, Dean, and Professor of Law

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By M eg Lu n dstrom

A Leader for Challenging Times: Meet Marc Mihaly

Entrepreneur, Collaborator, Innovator

Today, Mihaly is the winner, so to speak, of a vigorous nationwide search for VLS’s third president and eighth dean—and the nimbleness he values might well be VLS’s ace in the hand.

With the legal profession undergoing what the ABA Journal calls “a major structural shift” fueled by technology and fastforwarded by the Great Recession, it is not surprising that many law schools in the U.S. are struggling (and sometimes failing), to find their footing amid sharply declining applications and a roiling job market.

“Vermont Law School is in a much better position than many law schools because it has a strong niche, and because 4 loquitur

many of the building blocks of change are already in place,” says Mihaly, citing the innovative experiential programs and clinics, master’s programs, and distance learning. Still, much remains to be explored—perhaps creating new non-JD programs for specific legal skills, merging classroom and experiential learning (“10 years from now in law schools, those two won’t exist as separate categories,” he predicts), and incubating new programs in the Environmental Law Center. That’s just for starters.

“I really like the process of thinking through what we don’t have and where we want to be and then going for it in as straight a line as possible,” he says. “Legal education is going to change so dramatically that anything we can do to explore alternative approaches will help us evolve toward a better business model so we can deliver an even more formidable and affordable education to our students.”

But don’t ask Mihaly for his overarching vision—yet. “I think it’s a mistake for someone to walk into an organization, even if you’ve been there, and announce a vision,” he says. “I have a lot of listening to do first. One thing I learned at the law firm is that as a leader, if you want to create change affirmatively, you can’t do it alone. You can’t even do it with permis-

“Vermont Law School is in a much better position than many law schools because it has a strong niche, and because many of the building blocks of change are already in place.”

—President and Dean Marc Mihaly

Kathleen Dooher

When Marc Mihaly told his law partner of 25 years he was leaving their very successful environmental practice in San Francisco to teach law in Vermont, Clem Shute recalls being “blown away.” Shute knew that Mihaly was getting restless, but “Marc used to say he would never go into academia,” Shute said.

But in 2004, Mihaly came to Vermont Law School for its students dedicated to changing the world, its faculty open to new ideas, and a culture based on trust and collaboration.

VLS has proved fertile ground for Mihaly’s entrepreneurial bent. Eight years later, the Institute for Energy and the Environment, an innovative distance learning program, the U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law, the Land Use Clinic, and a new Center for Agriculture and Food Systems all exist in no small measure because of Mihaly’s on-the-ground efforts. “I like smaller places rather than larger places because we can get things done,” he says.

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sion. You can do it only with other people who are working as hard as they possibly can to do it with you. The more difficult the change, the more urgently true that is.”

“I believe people should run with their strengths,” says Mihaly of his management style. “You need to emphasize your strengths, admit and understand your weaknesses, seek out others who have strengths where you are weak, and work in teams with them. That requires an environment in which people are free to accept and understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and in fact celebrate the kind of powerful teamwork that comes out of that.”

Mihaly’s grasp of the dynamics of institutional change, his collaborative leadership style, and his business acumen proved decisive in the dean selection process, trustees say. “Marc went through rounds of interviews with our search committee, faculty, and staff,” says trustee Richard Ayres, a Natural Resources Defense Council cofounder. “When the final three candidates made presentations to the board, there was unanimous feeling that Marc’s presentation was the most thoughtful and persuasive.”

Trustee Randy Hertz, vice dean of New York University Law School, says that, watching Mihaly’s dealings with the board as director of the Environmental Law Center, he’s been impressed by Mihaly’s “spectacular talent, incredible foresight, and wonderful judgment. I’ve been consistently struck by how

Professors Tseming Yang and Michael Dworkin with Mihaly at a U.S.– China Partnership for Environmental Law Workshop in Guangzhou, China, in 2008

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Mihaly visits a local farm during an Environmental Advisory Committee field trip in 2011.

“He has a great personality for this job. He’s got gravitas but in a warm package.”

— Richard Ayres, VLS Trustee

much he loves the law school. I see him accepting the deanship as a labor of love.”

Ayres says that Mihaly “listens a lot and almost always comes up with a way of thinking about something that’s a little different from what anyone else has.... He has a great personality for this job. He’s got gravitas but in a warm package.” Mihaly’s management of a ground-breaking yet profitable law firm also weighed in. Ayres said: “He’s had the hardnosed training of running a business, so he’s not going to be somebody who goes off a cliff because he’s too soft to make tough decisions. He’ll do what has to be done to keep the place viable.”

To remain viable, the school has to adapt to a changing world and protect the core of Vermont Law School’s commitment to its community of students, staff, alumni, and faculty.

As Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner David Mears JD/MSEL’91 said, “Dean Mihaly is a change agent—I saw that aspect of his leadership approach first-hand working with him when I taught in the environmental law program. At the same time, Dean Mihaly understands and is committed to preserving the core of what makes Vermont Law School special. As an alum, it is this fact, his commitment to protecting the quintessential VLS experience for new students even as he is launching new programs, that has me feeling enthusiastic.”

ulty. “Law schools that have a niche are going to thrive better than ones that don’t,” says Mihaly. But that doesn’t mean other VLS programs should get short shrift, he says: “We couldn’t run a good school in any specialized field if we didn’t have an excellent core JD program—that’s essential.” According to Mihaly, the already-strong experiential, international, general practice, sports law, and dispute resolution programs could also be top-ranked draws for students, given more support.

The Ideas That Drive History

Mihaly himself has taught mostly business-related courses at VLS, but the social justice issues close to the heart of many at VLS were what drew him into law in the first place. It began in childhood: he comes from a long line of Hungarian rabbis that, he says, “essentially goes back, as far as I can tell, to David.” His rabbi father, Eugene, after delving into existentialist philosophy, switched from Orthodox to Reform Judaism and eventually

”Dean Mihaly understands and is committed to preserving the core of what makes Vermont Law School special.“ — David Mears JD/MSEL’91, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation

TopKat Photography

Says Mihaly: “I came away from my law firm, Shute, Mihaly, & Weinberger, with an appreciation for the discipline of owning what you are financially, and making it work.

“The terrific advantage of VLS is that we are a standalone institution, which means we can move quickly to make things happen, something that larger institutions struggle with. The downside is that we don’t have a big float: we are what we bring in, no more and no less. That means we have to run a very tight ship.” That, he says, requires careful budgeting, apt technology, energetic fundraising, and entrepreneurial initiatives. During Mihaly’s tenure as head of the Environmental Law Center, by expanding its programs and vigorously raising funds, he increased its revenues by more than 50 percent while keeping administrative expenses constant.

A case in point: VLS’s Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE), resembles a small consulting firm merged with a postdoc research institute. Says Mihaly: “When I came here and looked around, it seemed to me we had a terrific opportunity to start an energy program. In two and a half years, we went from having that idea to building the best energy program of any law school in the United States. Essentially what I had to do was raise the issue with the faculty two to three times, kind of imagine a budget, walk into (Dean) Jeff Shields’ office and get permission to do it, and find and hire Michael Dworkin.

That’s all I had to do.

“Imagine if I tried to do that in a large, university-based law school. First the engineering school would have said, ‘No, it has to be here,’ and who knows how many other departments would do the same, then the president or provost would have said, ‘You guys have to put together a task force and think about this and work it out’—and we’d still be doing that five years later. I really like small, compact places filled with people who are grownups.” Today the 18 students in the IEE conduct complex research for universities, corporations, and government agencies, bringing in about $900,000 a year in contracts and grants. Known as “Energizers,” they overwhelmingly find the best jobs in the energy field after graduating.

In choosing a dean seen primarily as an environmentalist, the trustees played to the school’s strength. VLS’s consistent ranking as the nation’s #1 environmental law school by U.S.News & World Report attracts top-notch students and fac-

Mihaly meets with staff and students in his Debevoise Hall office.

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He went to Harvard with a vague idea of working in antipoverty programs, but his real learning took place during a summer in rural West Africa hammering nails on construction projects. (“I came away feeling that Africa and what we then called the undeveloped world was the world.”) Then, as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years in the slums of El Salvador, working to create low-income, sustainable housing, he discovered that he was good at collaborating with diverse kinds of people to make complex projects happen—the template for the rest of his career.

After that, nothing went quite as he had thought it would.

“I would have to say that almost everything really good that has happened to me in my life has happened by chance,” Mihaly says. “I’ve come to understand that you just have to put yourself out there, be open to life and what it hands you.”

He went to Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, “I have to confess, as a default,” he says, because his brother lived in Berkeley, and the El Salvador mayor he had admired was a lawyer. On a whim, he joined the fledgling Ecology Law Quarterly at Berkeley and eventually Marc Mihaly with his parents, Cecile and Eugene Mihaly, at Grand Teton National Park, circa 1950

“My parents taught me that ideas drive history, and it’s important to pay attention to them, and they taught me the need for social and racial justice.”

— President and Dean Marc Mihaly

became provost and dean of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. A revered Talmudic scholar, he ordained America’s first woman rabbi, championed the cause of gay and lesbian rabbis, and performed interfaith weddings. Marc’s mother, Cecile, whose Polish-born father had worked his way up from destitute immigrant to steel scion, narrowly escaped the Nazis in Holland. She was a tireless volunteer in Cincinnati for racial integration and antipoverty causes. “My parents taught me that ideas drive history, and it’s important to pay attention to them, and they taught me the need for social and racial justice,” says Mihaly.

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Mihaly in the Peace Corps in El Salvador in 1970

became its editor. After getting his JD, he opted for legal aid poverty-law work—only to be handed a major environmental case battling gentrification of a low-income neighborhood, a case that demonstrated to him how environmental and economic justice issues could mesh.

He moved to the environmental unit of the California Attorney General’s Office for three years, going after polluters and defending regulatory takings until a new attorney general was elected who was unsympathetic to his work. Leaving the California Attorney General’s Office was inevitable, but the idea of working at a private law firm was also the farthest thing from his mind, Mihaly recalls. “Then one day, I walked into a friend’s office and found myself asking, ‘If I had a law firm that did the work we’re doing here, who would be our clients?’

Now why did I say that? I have no idea, it just popped out of my mouth. My friend responded, ‘I don’t know, maybe community groups or cities with a strong environmental ethic?’”

Borrowing a cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains for a weekend, Mihaly and two other deputy attorneys general, Clem Shute and Mark Weinberger, strategized how to build something entirely new: a proenvironmental, progressive firm that did not rely on government or foundation grants or even contingent fees. Recalls Shute: “The first thing that happened when we got a phone number was that all the developers and people we had previously hassled at the AG’s Office called us and said, ‘Hey, will you represent us?’” The firm passed up the temptation, and soon environmental groups, cities, and community groups came through the door. That first year the three founders earned more than their salaries as deputy state AGs. Over time, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP expanded to 25 people, making it the nation’s largest public-interest environmental law firm in the private sector (a distinction it still holds).

As managing partner, Mihaly ran the business side of the firm and “created the culture in which people all got along. If anyone had an argument they would work it out very amicably,” says Shute. “That culture goes on to this day and people hardly ever leave.” (One hire, Chris Taylor, was a particularly strong attorney; she and Mihaly married in 1997.)

Shute teasingly called Mihaly “the shrink” for his ability to tell what other lawyers meant in negotiations as opposed to what they said, and for his capacity to listen to, console, and

The Mihaly family, left to right: Aaron, Elena, Abby, Chris, and Marc at Denali National Park in 2007

”Mihaly became known in West Coast legal circles as an innovative problem-solver.”

— Clem Shute, Cofounding Partner, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP

motivate their employees. He once overheard Mihaly counseling a promising young lawyer to pass up their firm’s offer of an associate position to pursue the riskier dream of teaching law, even offering academic contacts. “Marc was talking like a parent, whereas the selfish mercenary interest would have been to say, ‘Don’t do that, stay here,’” says Shute. “The person went on to become a very successful professor.”

Over time, Mihaly became known in West Coast legal circles as an innovative problem-solver. “He loves to walk into a situation that looks grim and help people think outside the box,” says Shute. In one pioneering case, he devised a scheme in which a huge land developer, after losing litigation, agreed to build away from pristine areas and to charge buyers of his upscale homes a fee that would be used by a citizens’ group trust to buy up those environmentally sensitive lands. Mihaly also represented the public interest in shepherding through complex, multiyear negotiations between private and government entities. He assisted San Francisco in permitting and fall 2012 9

contract negotiations that led to construction of the city’s new waterfront ballpark, home of the San Francisco Giants. Not that Mihaly was a big sports fan: “He used to pride himself on saying things like, ‘Did that guy strike out?’ during a football game,” chuckles Shute.

In 2003, against all odds, Mihaly won a case that stopped a huge power line that was to run through communities north of San Diego. But after that win “I was sitting looking at my phone and I realized it was going to ring again with someone else who wanted me to stop another power line, and I just didn’t want to do it,” he says.

The jam-packed Bay Area had also lost its charm for the

Mihalys, so they set out to find a new home. They checked out Maine, the Adirondacks, the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. “As we were driving into Montpelier, we looked at each other and said, ‘Could this be it?’” recalls Chris. Through a series of professional contacts, Mihaly garnered a one-year stint with VLS as Distinguished Environmental Scholar: “Distinguished in that context means old,” laughs Mihaly. They bought a house, Chris found a position in the Vermont Attorney General’s office enforcing the national tobacco settlement and pharmaceutical claims, and their daughter Abby started first grade within walking distance of their home. “It’s a move we’ve never regretted for an instant,” says Chris.

T h e I n s i d e Sto ry “I have to get used to talking about myself,” admitted Marc Mihaly in the opening minutes of his first interview as soon-tobe-dean. To give him some practice in that, we asked him the following weighty questions: Q. The outdoor activity you enjoy the most?

A. Sailing.

Q. The food you can’t believe you actually ate?

A. Sautéed chicken feet, including the toenails, in China— quite crispy and very good!

Q. Your favorite music?

A. Bach, followed closely by Mozart.

Q. Your most rewarding professional achievement?

A. Creating the Energy Institute with Michael Dworkin. Also, I created a new way of teaching Contracts. Some students told me it was the best educational experience they’d had in their lives, and it was certainly the best educational experience I’d ever had in my life!

Q. Your most rewarding personal achievement?

A. Being a partner in raising three great kids.

Q. What you do in a rare hour of free time?

A. Play classical guitar.

Q. What you’d like to say in one sentence to President Obama?

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A. “Have the courage to advocate for long-term thinking— the country’s whole planning horizon is too short.”

Q. The books that inspired you as a child?

A. The Black Stallion, about coming from behind, and Banner in the Sky, about a young man climbing the Matterhorn when no one else could do it.

Q. The author you’d most like to meet?

A. Patrick O’Brien. He wrote that whole series of historical novels including Master and Commander, as well as a biography of Picasso. Obviously an incredible mind.

Q. The movies you’ve seen the most times?

A. North by Northwest, followed by Casablanca, Sleepless in Seattle, and The Bodyguard.

Q. The advice you gave that you’re glad your child ignored?

A. “Be careful!”

Q. The foreign city you’d like to live in at some point?

A. San Sebastian, Spain.

Q. The architect whose work you most admire?

A. Frank Lloyd Wright. I admire people who are “out of their time.”

Q. The insignia on your most frequently worn baseball cap?

A. “Vermont.” I spent a year abroad and liked wearing it because people over there know about Vermont.

Incubator of Ideas

Mihaly started out teaching environmental law, and created a new course, Land Transactions, Finance, and Development.

To his surprise, he also loved teaching Contracts, even though he had almost flunked the course in law school. “I didn’t understand what it was about back then,” he admits. “I wasn’t inspired by either Harvard or Berkeley and never imagined myself as part of academia, but in fact I’m as happy as a clam.

I really have come to appreciate how you don’t know where things are going to lead you.”

What engaged him quickly was VLS’s openness to new ideas. “I’m fundamentally an entrepreneur. I love this process of listening to people—most of my ideas are not original, they come from other people—ferreting out what works, taking that to others, and making it happen. Probably because I love that process, I’m good at it.”

In short order, he was developing more new courses, new programs, and new outreach initiatives. In 2005, he was named acting associate dean of environmental programs and acting director of the Environmental Law Center; in 2007, he received the permanent appointments to those positions.

At the urging of Professor Martha Judy, he explored distance learning through online courses and recognized it was a “terrific opportunity” for VLS to distinguish itself. Unlike most law schools, VLS has master’s programs that allow it to experiment freely with distance learning without the limitations imposed by the American Bar Association on JD programs. With a small group of faculty and staff, Mihaly researched how it worked elsewhere, hashed through the pros and cons, hired consultants, developed an innovative approach, got the nod from the trustees, and ran a trial with two faculty members, one of whose teaching style—unscripted and brilliantly executed—“was so counterintuitive to the way online courses are usually taught that I figured if he liked it, it would work for us—and he did.” Now in its second year, the VLS distance learning (MELP and LLM) program has more than 100 students worldwide.

Working collaboratively takes more time than issuing fiats, of course. “Marc spends all day talking to people, seeming relaxed and easy-going, then he goes home and works into the

Mihaly commutes to campus in his plug-in Toyota Prius.

night,” says Dworkin. When he worked with Mihaly, assisting professors Linda Smiddy and Bruce Duthu, on a program grant application, “I was in Marc’s office with him past midnight probably four nights in a two-week period.” The outcome: a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Last year, the Mihalys took a sabbatical to Spain, where Marc taught at the University of Spain, Seville. While soaking up the culture and practicing classical guitar (Marc) and cello (Chris), the couple spent long hours discussing Marc’s bid for the dean’s job. “It was definitely a mutual decision, and it was a big decision,” says Chris. “We had an appreciation it would change our lives, and we weren’t sure how. But we both felt strongly that he’s particularly well suited to handle the challenges facing VLS and that it was the right thing to do.”

Back in Montpelier and readjusting to “the frantic pace compared with Spain,” Chris is, step by step, figuring out how best to play the role of the dean’s wife. “I want to make a contribution that makes sense to me and the school, where I can bring to bear some of my skills,” she says. In addition to Abby, now 13, the couple enjoys time with their two children from Marc’s first marriage—Aaron, a Tuck School of Business and Johns Hopkins graduate who is a McKinsey consultant in Brussels, and Elena, a third-year VLS student who lives considerably closer.

Mihaly works out at a gym now and then, but that’s not where he gets his seemingly boundless energy. “I just really enjoy the people I work with,” he says. “I love meeting with them and talking with them and listening to them. At the end of the day, I’m actually charged up.” • fall 2012 11

Reunion 2012 Photos by Laura DeCapua

On September 14–16, alumni from the classes of 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and more joined us on campus for Reunion Weekend 2012. Alumni traveled from as far away as Germany to participate in outdoor activities like fly-fishing, a hike up Kent’s Ledge, and the annual 100-mile bike ride; learn about today’s VLS at the new Center for Legal Services open house and State of VLS panel; and mingle with classmates, friends, and faculty at the wine and cheese reception, Reunion barbecue, Vermont microbrew tasting, and class gatherings at local restaurants and bars.

In addition, Wynona Ward ’98, founder of Have Justice-Will Travel, received the second annual VLSAA Distinguished Alumni Award. Read more about Wynona and her outstanding work on page 40.

The entire VLS campus looks forward to celebrating with alumni and their families at Reunion Weekend 2013. If your class year ends in ’3 or ’8, save the date now: September 27–29, 2013.

Members of the Leaders’ Circle and the Reunion Committees listen to remarks by Dean Mihaly at the Leaders’ Circle Harvest Breakfast.

Rachel Cotrino ’07 at the Vermont Microbrew Tasting

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Rick Johnson ’97, Joe Cook ’97, and Dean Marc Mihaly chat at the Leaders’ Circle Harvest Breakfast on Saturday morning.

Members of the Class of ’92 relax on the Yates porch during the Vermont Microbrew Tasting. Left to right: Leslie Fourton, Wyndy Rausenberger, Margaret Olnek, Mary Fletcher, David “Zoom” Newhouse, Ian Stone, Margaret Waldock, and Marianne Donahue Perchlik.

Former Dean Max Kempner and VLS Trustee Fran Yates discuss the importance of teaching values to our students.

VLSAA Distinguished Alumni Award presenter Dave Carpenter ’97 catches up with former classmates at the Reunion Barbecue.

Thailia Elcock-Bowen ’92 (shown with her daughter, A’dreana) won the “early bird award” for being the first person to register for Reunion 2012.

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“Our unique mission should not be limited to those who are able to relocate. Ours is a global mission, and this lets us reach amazing students globally.”

Photo of student by Kathleen Dooher

—Professor Sean Nolon

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100% Vermont Law School— at a Distance In the fall of 2010, VLS professors Gil Kujovich and Oliver Goodenough attended a discussion on the future of legal education. When distance learning was mentioned, Kujovich turned to his colleague and said: “Vermont Law School should take the lead.” A fast 18 months later, Rebecca Purdom ’96, director of distance learning and assistant dean of environmental programs, has made great strides toward that goal. So far, two of Vermont Law School’s popular master’s programs have been made available completely online to over 100 students.

This December the first distance learning (DL) students in the Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) and the LLM in Environmental Law will complete their courses of study. While online class size is strictly controlled, enrollment is expected to increase rapidly, especially in the MELP. Purdom is thrilled with the programs’ success. “These are VLS students. They have earned the same degrees as their oncampus counterparts. And the way they have done it is going to be an integral part of legal education in the future. I am so proud that our law school has taken the necessary steps to help shape the way distance learning can benefit these students and their communities. The way distance learning evolves matters, and Vermont Law School has demonstrated that high quality, highly interactive online education is not only possible, but presents extraordinary opportunities.”

Distance learning is not new, not even to the legal community. Nelson Mandela was perhaps the world’s most famous correspondence student, earning a law degree from the University of London’s External Programme while he was in the Cape Town Jail. But that was old-style correspondence education, with lessons and assignments mailed back and forth. What is happening today at VLS is almost unrecognizable from that model.

Professor Laurie Beyranevand ’03 has been pleased with the way state of the art technology has transformed the distance classroom at VLS. “We have complete interaction. The way our online courses have been designed, there is no way for a student to sit silently in the back row of the virtual classroom.

Everyone participates. Every single one of them has an ongoing conversation with me, and I am absolutely accessible to them.

That’s the nature of our asynchronous classes.”

“Asynchronous” is a word you hear batted about quite a bit when talking to the faculty about why distance learning at VLS is exemplary. “In the development of Internet classes, there has been a tendency to put a camera in the back of the classroom and require distance students to tune in and watch lectures live online, synchronously,” explains Professor Sean Nolon. “What we are doing is much more dynamic.”

The VLS program operates in a flexible structure. The fall 2012 15

Purdom Takes the Lead in the ABA Working Group Rebecca Purdom was attending the final session of Harvard Law School’s Program on the Legal Profession conference series on the Future of Legal Education with fellow VLS Professor Oliver Goodenough last January when Purdom expressed VLS’s commitment to creating a distance learning curriculum. Interested attendees were invited to meet for coffee the next morning.

“I was taking my time, getting coffee in the hall,” Purdom remembers, “Suddenly Oliver came out and said, ‘Rebecca, everyone is waiting for you to come speak to the group.’ There were dozens of people gathered, and I found myself leading the discussion. Law schools from all over the U.S., and around the world, were hungry to talk about distance learning.”

Today Purdom is the chair of the Working Group for Distance Learning in Legal Education, an informal gathering of law schools working to develop and promote best practices for online legal education. Through the efforts of Purdom and her cohorts, the working group

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has supported proposed changes to ABA distance learning policy. They have created a white paper guide for law schools creating distance learning programs. The working group has written a model law school distance learning policy.

With Purdom as chair, Vermont Law School’s pas-

“Distance education is a part of the future of law

sion for quality instruction has helped shape the national

schools, just as it is part of the future of all higher

conversation. “Distance education is a part of the future

education.”

of law schools, just as it is part of the future of all higher

—Rebecca Purdom ’96, Director of

education. But it can be done badly. If law schools

Distance Learning

develop bad distance programs, that will hurt everyone—particularly the people and causes our graduates serve. As is always true with Vermont Law School, the way we do things matters.” VLS is setting a very high standard. Other schools are watching us.

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“This course made me, as a distance learning student, feel like I was equally important to VLS as a student attending classes on campus.”

—Ali Landis, LLM candidate

“The Natural Resources Law course has really broadened my horizons with respect to what Environmental Law includes and made me think about another area I could move into.”

—Sarah Makin MELP candidate

maximum 15 students in each DL class typically begin each module by diving into readings and sources that are announced at the beginning of the week. “I do occasionally post videos of presentations I have given in the past,” Professor Nolon explains, “but these are not typically lecture classes.” Students are required to post responses to their research and then comment on each other’s responses. The result is a lively online debate. “At this point each week,” Professor Nolon notes, “I actually have a very firm sense of where every student is in their understanding of the material. I am able to post feedback and additional assignments to address the areas where I see that they are needed most. The asynchronicity changes the way I teach because I have time to assess the state of the class.”

Professor Beyranevand agrees that the flexibility of the asynchronous class is an asset. “It doesn’t matter to me when the readings are done or whether the insights are posted at 2:00 in the morning,” Beyranevand says. For each class, DL students put in approximately 20 hours of work per week, and professors are able to track their progress very clearly.

There has been some pushback from some alumni who question the validity of equating the online degree with the one they moved to South Royalton to earn. Professor Nolon has a passionate response: “The education VLS has to offer is important. Our unique mission should not be limited to those who are able to relocate. Ours is a global mission, and this lets us reach amazing students globally.”

Purdom agrees. She emphasizes that VLS has made a deep commitment to making distance learning part of its mission.

“Those who ask if it is as good as the on-campus experience are asking the wrong questions,” she says. “Ask instead if we are meeting our goal of providing our incredibly high-quality curriculum and faculty to a wider range of qualified students.

Ask if we are shaping the standards of what will be the future of higher education. The answers are emphatically yes.”

According to Purdom, most distance learning students are looking for a career change. They are an average of 10 years older than their campus counterparts. “They are professionals, they are parents, they have many responsibilities, but they are looking to hone their environmental expertise and advance their careers.” Purdom further envisions a day in the not so distant future when there will be fluidity between online and on-campus students: “Already some of our distance learning students have made the trek to take one or two classes on campus, to complement their online studies. They might not be able to be in South Royalton for their whole degree, but blending on-campus and online coursework worked beautifully for them.”

The VLS faculty voted enthusiastically to support distance learning because they believe it is the right thing to do. Says Professor Patrick Parenteau, “The distance learning program is the most exciting development at Vermont Law School since the launching of the popular Summer Session back in 1979.”

Like the Summer Session, the distance program is focused on providing the same quality education. It has not been designed to be a cash cow (although it will begin to show a profit much faster than anyone anticipated) but to deliver the same VLS courses with current faculty. Since the program was launched, 18 fully online courses have been created. This is 100 percent Vermont Law School.

Of an on-campus gathering of DL students last July, says Purdom, “It was a wonderful event and reinforced that these are VLS students through and through. Without exception, they told me that having been to our campus they plan to return. I hope that many of them will attend the graduation ceremony this spring. We’re looking forward to celebrating them like we celebrate all VLS grads. They’ll just have to come from a little farther away to put on that cap and gown.” •

fall 2012 17

A lu m ni Pro fil e

When Vermont Law School embarked on distance learning, Adrienne Soler saw an opportunity to use her legal, risk assessment, and teaching experiences to assist her alma mater.

Soler, who became the associate director of the Distance Learning Program in March, helps administer online classes, does academic advising for online students, conducts faculty and student course evaluations, and performs myriad other tasks. She reports directly to Rebecca Purdom, assistant dean of the Environmental Law Center and director of the Distance Learning Program.

“Honestly, coming here was an opportunity to accept a new challenge, especially knowing the ABA is likely to change the rules and allow distance learning for JD students. I think the other part is the opportunity to work with Rebecca, who I feel is a pioneer in this world. She’s helping redefine distance learning in higher education.”

Soler said her niche is finding creative ways of understanding and managing risk, given her background as a litigation attorney and insurance executive, including time at Dartmouth College in risk management, and Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. as the vice president for International Operations.

“I’m helping the law school find creative ways to expand distance learning in higher education and in legal education,” Soler said. “It feels really good to be affiliated with a school that offers these forward-looking solutions for our students.”

For the past five years, Soler was the director of the Franklin Pierce University’s Lebanon, New Hampshire campus, where she taught both online and classroom business classes for graduate and undergraduate programs. She holds an MBA and BS from Rutgers.

She’s helping VLS deliver its suite of classes for the online Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) and the postJD LLM in Environmental Law. She also works with faculty to make a strong online class even better by suggesting more

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TopKat Photography

Adrienne Soler JD 1987 Expanding the Reach of Vermont Law School

“I’m helping the law school find creative ways to expand distance learning in higher education and in legal education.” interactive tools such as a narrated PowerPoint or a podcast or a group project at certain junctures in the seven-week classes.

“Students want and need the flexibility that an online class offers,” she said. “Because our online classes are so highly interactive, we have multiple discussions going on each week among faculty and students as well as students to students, and you really need to be engaged at all times. Here there is no room to sit in the back of a classroom and be quiet. You’re front and center at all times.”

“We’re finding new and innovative ways of integrating the reach of distance learning and offering our great resources at VLS to folks who normally wouldn’t be able to come here,” she said. “The feedback I’ve gotten from students has been that we’ve exceeded all expectations.”

Discovery

in a keynote address via live video feed in the Chase Community Center.

Merrigan congratulated VLS and Dean Mihaly for creating the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. “It’s the kind of group that’s needed to dig into

TopKat Photography

Vermont Law School’s inaugural Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems on September 28 brought together national experts and leaders in the field to address the major legal and policy issues related to agriculture and food systems.

The conference included welcoming remarks by VLS Dean Marc Mihaly and a keynote address by Kathleen Merrigan, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department’s chief policy manager of efforts to promote local and regional food systems.

Merrigan said that public interest in farming and food will continue to grow as Americans confront the challenge of feeding themselves without polluting their air, waters and landscape. “Ag is back,” Merrigan told about 250 students, faculty, visiting scholars, farmers, food producers, regulators, federal and state government officials, nonprofit advocates, and others

Kate MacLean

Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems

VLS Professor John Echeverria; Chris Adamo ’04 of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee; Helen Dombalis of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; and Bill Eubanks LLM ’08 of Meyer, Glitzenstein & Crystal discuss “The Future of Federal Farm Policy.”

these critical food issues,” she said, adding that VLS students should anticipate growth in the number of law and policy jobs in agriculture as the nation’s food production system tries to adapt to climate change, to sustain small- and medium-size farmers, to reduce farm pollution runoff, and to provide access to healthy food for all Americans.

Organized by the Vermont Law Review with support from the Environmental Law Center and other student groups, the conference included six panels: the Future of Federal Farm Policy; Sustainable Animal Agriculture; Public Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms; Vermont Agriculture: Creating a Prototype for the Nation; Public Health Issues Related to Food Production and Consumption; and Agriculture and Water Quality.

The conference featured speakers with diverse backgrounds, specialties, professions and points of view on issues concerning food and public health, sustainable animal agriculture, public regulation of genetically modified organisms, agriculture and water quality, localizing food, and the future of agriculture production nationally and in Vermont. Among the

fall 2012 19

Discovery

New Directions in the Dean’s Office Vermont Law School’s new Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Mark Latham has been working to strengthen VLS’s curriculum and ensure that VLS passes muster in the American Bar Association reaccreditation process.

“I’ve been working very closely with the faculty and Dean Mihaly,” said Latham.

“Any changes we make must be done collaboratively and thoughtfully with the faculty, alumni, students, and other stakeholders at VLS.” VLS is a national leader in experiential learning through its live-client clinics, full- and part-time externships, and General Practice Program, Latham said.

But he wants the faculty to discuss doing even more to prepare students for a difficult legal job market. Possibilities include making clinic participation mandatory; creating a transactional clinic to give students experience representing businesses,

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nonprofit groups, and other organizations; and bringing more experiential components into the classroom through simulations and drafting exercises.

“Law schools have been criticized for decades for providing the theological underpinnings of the law but not enough nuts-and-bolts skills for the practice of law,” he said. “Those criticisms have taken on a new urgency in recent years with the decrease in legal jobs and changes in the way law is practiced.”

VLS started a self-study a year ago in preparation for the ABA’s review and site visit in February 2013. Aiding Latham in the effort are professors Kinvin Wroth, formerly president and dean at VLS, and Stephanie Willbanks, former vice dean for academic affairs. Both have experience in the ABA accreditation process.

Latham, a former partner and chair of the environmental practice group at Gardner, Carton, and Douglas, joined the VLS faculty in 2005. He specializes in a wide range of environmental issues that arise in corporate and commercial

real estate transactions and brownfields redevelopment. In his 15 years of private practice, he served as defense counsel for businesses, municipalities, and individuals in state, federal, civil, and administrative enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other federal laws.

Vice Dean Latham succeeds Professor Gil Kujovich, who served in the position from 2009 to 2012.

“Is There Still a War on Terror?”

Asks Gabor Rona ’78

Rose McNulty Murphy

speakers were David Mears JD/MSL’91, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the former director of VLS’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic.

The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, launched in 2011 at Vermont Law School, operates under the leadership of America’s top-ranked environmental law program and nationally recognized faculty with deep expertise in America’s agriculture and food systems. The center is training the next generation of legal advocates in the field, adding resources to the communities and organizations working to address the complexities posed by local, sustainable, community-based agriculture. VLS is uniquely poised to take on this challenge given that Vermont’s smalland mid-scale farms are among national leaders in the effort to implement a sustainable system.

Vice Dean Mark Latham

Gabor Rona ’78 took a short break from his role as the international legal director of Human Rights First to return to VLS on September 13 and address an engaged room of students, faculty, staff, and members of the public on what he sees as, “the most challenging legal topics of our time: human rights and counterterrorism.”

At the invitation of the VLS International Law Society (ILS), Rona delivered a speech on “Is There Still a War on Terror? The Intersections of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Fight Against Terrorism.” He urged attendees to consider whether we have abandoned the legal contours of the war on terror as set out by the Bush administration for “practices that are consistent with our international legal obligations.”

From targeted killings to U.S. detention policy, Rona outlined areas where the U.S. continues to fall short in applying the appropriate legal frameworks. On the use of drones, the problem lies, he explained, “in taking traditional concepts of targetability applicable in traditional wars between states, where ‘membership’ in the armed forces is clear, and to today’s nontraditional conflicts where the distinctions between civilian and fighter are less clear.”

On U.S. detention policy, he reminded the audience of the continued challenges

Discovery

Join

Vermont Law Review’s online community!

VermontVacation.com/Dennis & Ellen Curran

If you missed this October’s Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems, visit our website this spring, when we'll publish the articles and speeches from the event.

www.facebook.com/VermontLawReview

TopKat Photography

http://lawreview.vermontlaw.edu

Gabor Rona ’78 spoke at VLS in September.

faced by detainees in U.S. custody both at Guantanamo and in Afghanistan. Rona remarked, “In Bagram [Afghanistan], where there is no habeas, I witnessed what passes for due process. Detainees have no counsel, do not see the evidence, cannot realistically call witnesses, and their fate is decided by the same authorities responsible for their capture and detention.”

“Some states bristle at the idea of treating terrorism as war rather than crime,” he said. “They dispute the broad claims of the U.S. that it can apply the less protective framework of the Law of Armed Conflict to its battle against terrorism, rather than the more protective framework of Human Rights Law. I have a pretty simple idea

of who’s right. I think you can have wars against proper nouns, but not common nouns. Germany and Japan can surrender and promise not to do it again. Terrorism cannot. So you can’t have a war against terrorism, but you can have a war in which terrorism is a feature.”

Rona urged aspiring law students to consider the entirety of U.S. counterterrorism policy and the rise of the place of the individual as a subject and object of public international law. During his visit, he also met with students to provide career advice, encouraging them to remain engaged in current events, consider humanitarian aid work or other pathways to international legal professions, take time to learn which lawyers or organizations are doing what, and approach opportunities with the utmost enthusiasm.

Today, as a leading international lawyer, Rona advises Human Rights First on questions of international law, coordinates international human rights litigation, and represents the organization with governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, the media, and the public on matters of international human rights and international humanitarian law. Rona was previously a Legal Advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.

V LS in the News • CNN International and Reuters, whose story was picked up by media worldwide, spoke with Professor Michael McCann on August 24 about the United States Anti-Doping Agency's decision to strip cyclist Lance Armstrong of his record seven Tour de France victories.

• The Associated Press, whose story was carried by news outlets nationwide, spoke to Professor Michael Dworkin on August 21 and 23 about confusion over Marcellus Shale production data that Chesapeake Energy Corp. said it submitted to a natural gas database in Pennsylvania.

• Vermont Public Radio spoke to incoming Dean Marc Mihaly on July 31 about the challenges and opportunities facing VLS and other law schools.

• The New York Times, CNN, Syracuse Post-Standard, Los Angeles Times, Inside Higher Ed, Missoulian, and other media talked to Professor Michael McCann on July 23 about the NCAA sanctions against Penn State for its cover up of child sexual abuse.

• NPR talked to Professor Cheryl Hanna on June 26 about privacy concerns over license plate readers used by police.

• Reuters, whose story was run by CNBC, MSN Money, Japan Today and other media, and The Wall Street Journal, spoke with Adjunct Professor Peter Bradford on May 21 about the resignation of Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

• The Associated Press, whose story ran in the Huffington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, Guardian, Yahoo! New Zealand, and hundreds of other media outlets, talked to Professor Pat Parenteau on May 17 about a disputed proposal to build two wind turbines just inside the U.S. border with Canada.

fall 2012 21

Discovery

Fall 2012 Entering Classes Juris Doctor (JD) Class Size 171 JD/Master’s 13% Gender 52% male /48% female Students of Color 14.5% Average Age 25 Scholarship Assistance 62% States and Territories 40 Undergraduate Institutions 130

In October VLS launched a new website designed for prospective students using mobile phones and tablets. Check it out today.

Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) Class Size 40 Gender 35% male /65% female Students of Color 7.5% Average Age 26 Scholarship Assistance 72.5% States and Territories 24 Undergraduate Institutions 33

LLM Degrees LLM in Environmental Law 5 LLM in American Legal Studies 8 (including 7 exchange students from France) Gender LLM-EL: 50% male/50% female; LLM-ALS: 54% male/46% female Students of Color 38% Average Age 27 Scholarship Assistance 67% (does not apply to exchange) Countries Represented Spain, New Zealand, China, USA (France, including exchange) Data as of October 18, 2012

A Path to a JD in Two Years Vermont Law School’s new Accelerated JD (AJD) offers an opportunity for outstanding students to earn their law degree in two years and save an entire year’s tuition and living expenses. The AJD program is one of the most innovative actions that VLS is taking in response to concerns about the cost of legal education. It substantially reduces the cost of obtaining a law degree and allows graduates to enter the workforce a year earlier.

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The pilot program of our Accelerated JD will enable qualified students to begin in May 2013, take classes in the summers of 2013 and 2014, and graduate in May 2015, saving living expenses from summer 2015 through spring 2016. Unlike accelerated programs at many schools, our AJD students will still have the opportunity to specialize in their field of choice.

“This is not a shortcut to a JD but an opportunity for motivated candidates to

get the full law school experience in two calendar years,” said Deputy Vice Dean for Accademic Affairs Clara Gimenez.

AJD students will have the ability to participate in the Vermont Law Review and the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, as well as hands-on experiential opportunities in the field they choose.

To learn more, visit www.vermontlaw. edu/AJD.

Professor Gardina Calls for Marriage Equality tional appear to be gains for the gay and lesbian community,” Gardina wrote.

“But neither the president nor the courts stated that gays and lesbians have a fundamental right to marry—something that the U.S. Supreme Court says exists for heterosexual couples. Rather, both cited a state’s power to regulate domestic relations within its borders. That’s a problem. Once marriage equality is put to a vote—as it was recently in North Carolina and will be again in Washington, Minnesota, and Maryland—the churches become lobbyist and the Bible becomes the foundation for oppression.”

Bacosa Photography

This summer The Huffington Post carried two op-eds by Professor Jackie Gardina, the first on June 22, headlined “Marriage Equality, State Power and the Bible” and the second on July 9 entitled “License to Marry.” Professor Gardina challenges opponents of marriage equality who argue that marriage is the foundation of human society and allowing same-sex couples to wed would cause that foundation to crumble.

“President Obama’s recent statement that he supports marriage equality along with the federal appeals court's recent decisions that Prop 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act are unconstitu-

Professor Jackie Gardina

For the full text of both commentaries, go to www.huffingtonpost.com/jackiegardina/license-to-marry_b_1659799. html and www.huffingtonpost.com/ jackie-gardina/marriage-equality-catho lic-church_b_1615618.html.

The Leaders’ Circle was established in 2006 to recognize individuals and organizations whose notable commitment to Vermont Law School

VLS Professor James Gustave Speth’s latest book, America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy, published by Yale University Press, charts a course for changing our economic and political system. In this third volume in his series American Crisis, he argues forcefully for change and finds reason for optimism. To read an excerpt and see a video, go to http://americathe possiblethebook.com.

guarantees consistent, unrestricted support for the school’s core programs and initiatives. These leaders of our philanthropic community provide crucial funds to the school year after year. In 2011–12, Leaders’ Circle members donated nearly 70 percent of our unrestricted support.

For more information, contact Ariel Wiegard, Assistant Director of Leadership Giving, at awiegard@vermontlaw.edu or 802-831-1041, or visit www.vermontlaw.edu/giving.

fall 2012 23

A lu m ni Pro fil e

In Afghanistan, it was Jack Sautter’s job as his infantry battalion’s staff judge advocate to make legal calls on whether Predator drones honing in on a suspected enemy combatant were a legal target to take out. “It was my job to make sure the rules of engagement that protect civilians were followed. I advised our commanding officer on how to maximize the outcomes in our combat operations without violating international law.

In some cases it meant making real time legal calls that could immediately result in life or death.”

Vermont Law School had prepared him for those tough calls, he says: “Vermont Law has its eyes on the prize: it sees the big picture instead of going for short-term gain. As long as you have that long view, whether it’s on an environmental issue or fighting an insurgency, your will is not going to bend so easily.”

He arrived at VLS in 2005 already a Marine officer, relishing “the physical and mental challenge, the patriotism—it’s just fun.” He chose VLS for its public-service ethos and strong values: “For example, its stand on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was saying, ‘You can’t buy us,’ and you’ve got to respect that about an institution.” Both VLS and the Marines, he says, “share the philosophy of ‘service to others above all else.’ And at their most basic level, both are dedicated to protecting America.”

A teenage Future Farmer of America in Nebraska and New York University political science major, Jack did an investment bank stint and earned a PhD in political science before law school. At VLS, he was an initial “Energizer” in the Institute for Energy and the Environment, publishing two dozen academic papers and earning an LLM while acting as an IEE Global Energy Fellow.

Since going on active duty in 2009, his responsibilities have run the gamut from battlefield legal calls to prosecuting accused rapists and drug dealers in Okinawa to doing environmental surveys on 38 bases being closed in Afghanistan to applying international treaties regarding airfield damage. “So

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Mark Washburn

Jack Sautter JD/MSEL 2008, LLM 2009 Service in the Combat Zone

“[Vermont Law School’s] stand on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was saying, ‘You can’t buy us,’ and you’ve got to respect that about an institution.” much of what we do in the military is dependent on interpreting statutes, regulations, orders, or policy directives. My background in environmental law, which is mostly administrative law in one form or another, has actually lent itself to helping me offer what I think were quality assessments to commanders,” he says.

He’s now in Okinawa with the First Marine Aircraft Wing while tackling a new assignment: father. Jack and his wife, Antonia, welcomed a daughter, Katherine, in September.

He enthusiastically champions JAG to VLSers: “They throw you in the deep end of the pool, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn skills and develop trust in yourself.”

Solomon and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: A Principled Stand

Professor Jackie Gardina at a Lift the Ban rally in Washington, D.C. in 2009

The official repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) gave Vermont Law School great cause for celebration. With military recruiters once again welcomed on campus, VLS students— whatever their sexual orientation—can now easily apply for valued positions in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG).

For the first time in 12 years, VLS programs are eligible to receive funding from every federal agency, bar none. And the school has survived a long and courageous stand that buttressed its identity as an institution of principle and played a significant role in bringing down Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

“For an independent law school that is heavily dependent on funding such as grants, every reduction in those opportunities is obviously burdensome, but I felt it was a sacrifice well worth the goal of nondiscrimination we were serving,” says Professor Kinvin Wroth. As dean from 1996–2004, Wroth rallied VLS around the equal access policy that resulted in the school’s military recruiting ban. The negative effects were largely offset, he says, by the national respect the school received for its

Vermont Law School Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Timeline 1942

1985

1990

After centuries of unwritten discrimination, the U.S. officially bans homosexuals from the Armed Forces.

Vermont Law School refuses to allow military recruiters on campus because they cannot affirm that they do not discriminate based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation.

The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) adopts a requirement that member schools deny campus access to recruiters who discriminate on sexual orientation.

fall 2012 25

“I felt it was a sacrifice well worth the goal of nondiscrimination we were serving.”

– Professor Kinvin Wroth

solitary “David vs. Goliath” stand, for the impetus that stand provided among the VLS community to work successfully for DADT repeal, and for the sense of community it engendered within VLS. Less than a month after DADT’s formal and final repeal on September 20, 2011, a U.S. Army recruiter arrived on campus, followed within weeks by recruiters from the Marines, Air Force, and Navy. “I don’t think VLS could have provided them a more welcoming reception,” says Joel Harrington ’01, VLS director of government relations and, coincidentally, a JAG law clerk at NATO in Germany in 2000. “Students and faculty were very pleased to see the recruiters back on campus, and the feedback we got from the recruiters was exemplary.”

The recruiters’ visits formally initiated the process of removing VLS from the federal government’s Excluded Parties List. The procedure required certifications from all branches of the Armed Forces that they had received equal access to VLS students while recruiting, a legal review, a signature from the Under Secretary of Defense, and final removal from the government’s Excluded Parties List database. “Usually this

process can take upward of a year, but we stayed on top of it and were on the phone weekly with the Pentagon because we had pending contracts with the federal government that were at stake,” says Harrington. In less than five months, on February 6, 2012, VLS was removed from the list. Soon after, the Institute for Energy and the Environment was awarded an $80,000 contract from Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory, and VLS entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Defense that provides tuition assistance for military personnel who want to take on-campus or distance learning courses at VLS. Since 1985, when the antidiscrimination policy was adopted by the VLS faculty and endorsed by the board of trustees, military recruiters have been barred from campus, except for a two-year hiatus in 1998–1999 when Congress amped up the so-called Solomon Amendment of 1996 to deny access to federal student loans and grants for students at schools that barred military recruiters. In 1990, the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) had caught up with VLS, requiring law schools to have nondiscrimination policies that included sexual orientation (see timeline), but the AALS caved and VLS became virtually “the last man standing” after 2001 when Congress put more teeth into the Solomon Amendment and forbade any part of a university from receiving certain federal funds if any one part denied access to military recruiters.

Out of 185 ABA-accredited law schools in 2001, most attached to research universities highly dependent on federal

1993

1996

1998

In a compromise, President Bill Clinton relaxes the ban to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: military personnel cannot be asked about sexual orientation and can be discharged only if their same-sex orientation becomes known. Although outlawing “witch hunts,” DADT forbids openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military.

Congress adopts the Solomon Amendment to withhold federal money from eight agencies from law schools and universities that don’t allow military recruiters on campus.

AALS lifts its requirement and VLS briefly allows recruiters back on campus because federal student loans and grants are deemed included; in 1999, when Congress removes those, the ban is reinstated. Thereafter, VLS declines to seek funding from the eight agencies subject to the Solomon Amendment.

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funds, only one other ultimately refused to end its ban—William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota, which doesn’t seek federal money. The slow federal bureaucratic process meant that VLS was not actually placed on the federal list of excluded schools until 2004, but, to remain consistent with its principles, the law school did not seek federal funds from barred agencies after student aid was removed from the Solomon bar in 1999.

The price to VLS has been significant: it lost the ability to apply for $300,000 to $500,000 a year in grants, appropriations, and contracts from the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

(VLS could, and did, accept significant grants from other departments, totaling about $12 million in the last five years.)

This year VLS will be applying for about $500,000 in funds from Defense and Education and other previously barred agencies, says Matt Rizzo, executive director of institutional advancement.

VLS administrators tried to soften the recruiting effect on students, who ended up facing only minor inconvenience: they had to interview for JAG internships and jobs wherever else the recruiters would come, whether, at first, across the street from campus in a bank office, or later in New Hampshire or Boston.

Each year JAG has hired one to three VLS students as summer interns and enlisted one to three grads, numbers in line with other law schools.

A strong majority of faculty and students—“80 percent as a conservative estimate and probably much higher,” says

“Every year we had to educate a new set of students about the position, and every year they grappled with the really hard question of when is it too costly to maintain a principle and stand up for what you believe?”

—Professor Jackie Gardina

Wroth—supported the policy to support the integrity and social justice it demonstrated and to back the gay and lesbian members of the VLS community. “The kind of students who come here readily grasped the rationale for what we were doing,” says Wroth. “And the board of trustees, which is part of our community in ways you won’t find in larger, older institutions, went along with the policy, though it was never unanimous.”

A consistent minority of VLSers has opposed the policy for the costs it entailed in an institution with high tuition and a small $11 million endowment. In a 2005 op-ed, one alum criticized it as “social activism” that would skew future enrollment ideologically and deprive students of job opportunities. He said it was “disingenuous” for the school to seek money from alums while forsaking some federal funds.

The policy had several unanticipated outcomes, externally and internally. News about the school’s stand appeared in such national media as The New York Times, the Associated Press,

2001

2004

2006

Congress amends the Solomon Amendment to deny federal funding from the eight agencies to an entire university if even one part of it bars military recruiting. All law schools except VLS and William Mitchell allow recruiters back on campus.

VLS is officially put on the list of schools excluded from funding from the eight agencies.

In a case brought by VLS and other law schools, the Supreme Court unanimously upholds the Solomon Amendment as constitutional.

fall 2012 27

and NPR. VLS faculty, students, staff, and trustees, with the strong support of Dean Jeff Shields, Wroth’s successor, became “astronomically” more active in seeking repeal of DADT than other law schools, says Professor Jackie Gardina, herself a national leader on the issue: “It was a collective effort because the whole school was affected; it wasn’t just a cause for LGBT students and faculty as it was at other law schools.” The debate itself was important, she says: “Every year we had to educate a new set of students about the position, and every year they grappled with the really hard question of when is it too costly to maintain a principle and stand up for what you believe?”

Gardina, currently copresident of the Society of American Law Teachers, worked for repeal by lecturing and writing extensively, speaking at rallies and conferences nationwide, working with Congress, and serving on the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network board. With Dustin Brucher JD’10, she wrote a policy paper to President Barack Obama after the election suggesting administrative ways to soften the impact of DADT and begin the transition to full repeal. In February 2010, Defense Secretary Robert Gates introduced new regulations to implement the law “more humanely” that closely tracked those recommendations, sometimes using the same language.

Gardina and VLS Professor Greg Johnson, another leading LGBT activist, led delegations of 20 to 40 students a year to Washington to lobby Congress, with faculty donating money

for travel and alums offering beds in their homes. “The school’s principled stance on recruiting made me so proud of this institution,” says Johnson. “It walks the talk.”

Atlanta lawyer Alex Manning JD’06 seconds that. Six years ago, at a DADT colloquium on campus, she found herself, for the first time in her life, telling the story of how she had been “outed” and kicked out of the army almost two decades earlier after being spotted at a lesbian bar. “[The reason for the discharge] was a deep, dark secret that not even my own family members or partner knew,” she says. “You’re standing there, pouring your heart out, ‘Look, I am so ashamed—this is what happened, please do this for me, do it for everyone else’—and you look up and see tears in people’s eyes. Then they were standing and clapping. The professor who was grilling me that morning walked up and hugged me. There was so much love and support in that room. Everyone in that school is family.”

The issue itself is far from resolved, says Gardina: in the absence of a law explicitly forbidding sexual-orientation discrimination, a new president could reverse DADT; same-sex couples do not get the same housing and other benefits as heterosexual couples; and transgender military are still considered “medically unfit.” But for now, in terms of VLS Career Services, says Wroth, “JAG has really good jobs to offer our graduates, and it’s good for JAG to have the perspective our graduates bring to the practice of law.” •

2010

2011

2012

December: Congress approves and President Barack Obama signs into law the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, allowing gay and lesbian service members to openly acknowledge their sexual orientation.

September 20: Repeal of DADT takes effect.

February 6: VLS is removed from the federal “Excluded Parties List” and is again eligible for grants from all federal agencies.

28 loquitur

October 16: Army recruiters return to VLS, followed within weeks by other branches of the military.

A lu m ni Pro fil e

Lee Knight Caffery JD/MSEL 2005 A Personal Fight for Second-Parent Adoption Rights Lee Knight Caffery calls her work and her firm “fantastic.”

She’s an environmental litigation and compliance attorney with Strauch, Fitzgerald & Green, a small firm cofounded by fellow VLS alum Stan Green ’98 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Lee and her family live 80 miles away in Charlotte, and she has the flexibility to telecommute from her home office above the garage to be near their two preschool children, Miller and Margot, and their au pair, Jorge.

Lee’s situation isn’t as family-friendly as it might sound, which is why she and her partner, Dana Draa, have joined five other same-sex couples on whose behalf the American Civil Liberties Union is suing their state. At stake is second-parent adoption: North Carolina considers Lee, the children’s biological mother, the sole legal parent, although Lee and Dana planned their children together and share parenting responsibilities.

“Dana is no less Miller and Margot’s mother except in the eyes of the law,” Lee asserts. North Carolina prohibits an unmarried person—gay or straight—from filing an adoption petition with another person, and the state’s recent constitutional amendment disallows same-sex marriage. Lee specifies that this case is not about marriage equality, however.

“It’s not about us; it’s about wanting to protect our children. If I’m out of town and one of our children gets hurt, will Dana be allowed to make whatever decisions are needed?”

Lee has prepared legal documents to cover wide-ranging contingencies—she and Draa carry them everywhere—but worrisome unknowns remain.

While Lee’s mother is very supportive and wouldn’t challenge the couple’s wishes, should something happen to both Lee and her mother, Miller and Margot’s legal next of kin would be Lee’s father, whom she hasn’t seen in 20 years. “I don’t know how he would feel about having a gay daughter, let alone about raising small children.” The children are also ineligible for Dana’s Social Security or veterans’ benefits (she’s

Lee Knight Caffery ’05 (center) and partner, Dana Draa (back), with their children, Miller and Margot

“It’s not about us; it’s about wanting to protect our children.” a U.S. Navy veteran of Desert Storm and served in the Naval Reserves and the National Guard).

Joining the suit meant exposing themselves to media scrutiny and public comment, not all of it charitable. But they’re willing to take the risk and go through the lengthy process on behalf of those who are more vulnerable, says Lee, the only attorney among the ACLU plaintiffs. “Many people aren’t as confident about who they are, don’t have supportive families, or aren’t comfortable with the legal system.” And her colleagues at work? “I told them before the case was filed, and they all said, ‘You go get ’em!’”

fall 2012 29

Class Notes Notes from the Vermont Law School Alumni Association Dear Alumni and Friends,

Laura DeCapua

Fall always seems like the time of renewal and new beginnings, even if you are no longer tied to an academic calendar. That feeling is particularly strong for me after meeting many of the new first-years at 1L orientation in August and with a new dean at the helm of VLS. The fall is also the beginning of the year for the VLSAA, and we welcome several new board members: Maria Gomez ’05, S. Alex Manning ’06, and Pamela Pescosolido ’90, as well as new board members for our regional alumni groups. As you all know, the Board of Directors of the Vermont Law School Alumni Association are the alumni who represent each of you and who coordinate and organize the VLSAA. The VLSAA represents all VLS alumni, regardless of class year, degree, or location. In addition to the at-large directors, the board has a member from each recognized regional alumni group, currently found in D.C., Boston, New Jersey, New York City, Delaware Valley/Philadelphia, and the Albany area.

This year, the VLSAA is working closely with Career Services and the Office for Institutional Advancement to help establish and support a mentoring program for new alumni. We are still looking for more experienced alumni to participate in this program— if you would like to be a mentor to a new alum, please contact me at knorth@mhtl.com.

Another priority for the VLSAA this year is completing the ongoing work on the new VLS alumni website, vlsConnect. We hope to have

Members of the Class of 1977 at their 35th Reunion this up and running by the end of the year, so that it will be simpler for alumni to find each other to communicate, connect, refer, mentor, advise, and socialize. Look for more information soon.

As always, we want to hear from you, our constituents, about issues that matter to you, your interests, and your concerns. Please feel free to contact me or any of the VLSAA board members. We welcome and encourage your input and feedback!

Sincerely, Karis L. North ’95, President Vermont Law School Alumni Association knorth@mhtl.com www.vermontlaw.edu/VLSAABoard

Josh Larkin

News from D.C. Regional Alumni Group

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DCVLSAA alumni are an active bunch. We have Happy Hour gatherings throughout the year and recently concluded our summer “brown bag” lunch series for VLS students working in D.C. for the summer. The lunches were hosted by alumni in a variety of organizations, private and public. The highlight of our year so far was the annual Rooftop Reception hosted by VLS Trustee Glenn Berger at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP. At the reception, we embarked on our second annual “speed mentoring” program, which seems to have been a success. We also had the opportunity to meet a group of Chinese judges at a reception hosted by VLS. The judges were concluding their tour of the trio of legal power-

houses in the U.S.: South Royalton, Vermont; New York City; and Washington, D.C. This fall we hope to present our annual Achievement Award to a very special person, to be announced shortly! If the DCVLSAA can be of assistance in any way, please email dcvlsaa@ gmail.com or DCVLSAA President Jes Olson at olson.jes@gmail.com. You can also visit us online at our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.

1977

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Charles “Chuck” J. DiMare is the recipient of the prestigious Elizabeth Berg Streeter Community Service Award, presented at the 35th annual National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) Conference in Burlington, Vermont, in August. The award recognizes excellence in service to the legal community, social justice, and equality. Chuck has been the director of the UMass Student Legal Services Office since 1980 after starting there as a staff attorney in 1979. Chuck says, “I’m honored and particularly thankful to my present staff at the Student Legal Services Office as well as all the exceptional staff members who have assisted me over the years.” He serves on several University and state-wide policy committees, most recently including election to the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, teaching courses in higher education law. Last May he was invited to lecture at Beihang University School of Law in Beijing, China where he gave presentations

1978

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Please email alumni@vermontlaw.edu if you are interested in serving as class secretary.

Gerald D. Siegel has been named to the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers for 2012 in the field of Plaintiff's Personal Injury. He practices with his son, David A. Siegel, Roger Williams Law School, 2008. They recently settled a personal injury case for a client who suffered a fractured leg and traumatic brain injury for $1,500,000.

Laura DeCapua

Class Notes

on Student Legal Services and providing legal assistance to those in need at the University.

D. James O’Neil III of LaGrangeville, New York, died on February 28, 2012, at Westchester Medical Center. Born in Hudson, New York in 1951, he was employed by the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office from 1977 until 1989, where he handled thousands of misdemeanor and felony cases. In 1981, Jim married Kristen Webber. In 2002, he became a partner at O’Neil & Burke, LLP, specializing in criminal, family and real estate law. He was a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Dutchess County Bar Association, and was an avid golfer.

Frederick (Fred) Wilhelms III, age 62, died peacefully April 24, 2012 at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, after a yearlong fight with pancreatic cancer. Fred was a music business attorney and longtime recording artists’ rights advocate. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he graduated from Lafayette College before becoming a member of the Vermont Law School inaugural class and earning his JD in 1977. Two of the many tributes online can be found at: http://hollerif.blogspot. com/2012/04/fred-wilhelms.html and www. dickwaterman.com/2012/to-lose-a-very-goodman-when-few-that-good-even-exist/.

Members of the Class of 1982 at their 30th Reunion

1980

Scott Cameron jscameron@zclpc.com Brian Dempsey, 55, of Castleton, Vermont, passed away on Friday, March 23, 2012, following a lengthy illness. He was surrounded by family and friends. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Brian graduated from the Scranton Preparatory School, and Stetson University, before graduating from Vermont Law School.

After practicing law for five years in Pennsylvania, Brian moved back to Vermont where he continued to practice for two more decades.

He also taught business law at both Castleton State College and the College of St. Joseph. He coached Catholic Youth Organization basketball for many years, leading his team to win the Vermont state championship in 1989. Brian loved history, trivia, comedy and antique cars.

He appreciated all types of music, had a passion for the outdoors which he shared during hikes and camping trips with his children and the loyal dogs he had throughout his lifetime.

He will be greatly missed and remembered for his quick wit, sense of humor, storytelling, and raucous laugh.

1981

1979

Tim McGrath timothy.mcgrath@va.gov

Jack Sahl recently published the textbook Evidence Problems and Materials, and the accompanying Teacher’s Manual (Lexis 4th ed. 2012) (with Steven I. Friedland).

Gary Medvigy says, “I am still sitting in a felony criminal trial department as a California superior court judge. It has been five years as a judge since retiring as a deputy district attorney in Sonoma County, California. My oldest daughter just graduated from the United States

Deborah Bucknam dbucknam@vtlegalhelp.com

Military Academy at West Point. I gave her the oath of office as a second lieutenant. She may be assigned to Korea after attending her officer basic, but that has not been decided yet. I just relinquished my reserve command, the 351st Civil Affairs Command, which focuses on stability operations and reconstruction of civil institutions, in May. I have subsequently been assigned to 8th Army, Korea, as the deputy commanding general and promoted to Major General. It is a long commute between Santa Rosa, California and Seoul, Korea! I want to see more news from the class of 1981.”

1982

Larr Kelly photolarr@tidalwave.net

1983

Martha Lyons malyonsesq@hotmail.com

1984

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Please email alumni@vermontlaw.edu if you are interested in serving as class secretary.

Connie Johnson Hambley writes, “I thought you might be interested in seeing a VLS alumnus at the Great Wall of China . . . and, yes, that is a VLS hat proudly displayed! I am currently a biotech recruiter and have many clients in China. While visiting some client facilities in Beijing, I took some time out for a little sight-seeing. My travels included Tiananmen Square, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.

I continue my freelance writing assignments and have been a featured columnist in Busi-

fall 2012 31

nessWeek and an invited contributor to Nature Biotechnology, writing about the China/U.S. talent trends. This has been a good year so far: a trip to China, two (of three) children off to college and now a book! I’m very pleased to announce the publication of my first novel, The Charity! Of course it’s a legal thriller! Of course it’s based in New England! http://amzn. com/0615695256” Andrew M. Morse was recently appointed president and managing partner of Snow Christensen & Martineau, a 55-lawyer firm in Salt Lake City, Utah. His trial practice focuses on civil rights and medical malpractice defense.

Mark Thayer is pleased to announce that his son Adam has joined his law firm as an associate.

1985

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Please email alumni@vermontlaw.edu if you are interested in serving as class secretary.

1986

alumni@vermontlaw.edu On July 1, 2012, Chris Lund opened a new partnership (Mullaney & Lund) with Thomas J. Mullaney.

1987

Mark Ouellette mouellette01@gmail.com On October 22, 2011, Ken Bryk was married to attorney Glenn Leong at a ceremony in Albany, New York. The New York reception

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Laura DeCapua

Class Notes

Connie Johnson Hambley ’84 at the Great Wall of China

Members of the Class of 1987 at their 25th Reunion was held at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia, New York. The Florida reception was held in Orlando, Florida. Ken and Glenn are both attorneys in Orlando, Florida. Ken works for The Florida Bar as a bar counsel. Glenn has a private practice concentrating in Family Law and Criminal Law. Miriam Gordon and family are enjoying their new rooftop solar system, which is working well despite the San Francisco fog. The solar system was made possible through a lease program with Sungevity, enabling them to put solar panels on their roof without any investment. Miriam is the California Director for Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund.

Althea Przybylo Kroger, 65, passed away at Vermont Respite House in Burlington, Vermont, on August 30, 2012, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Althea was born in Chicago, Illinois, and earned a BA in psychology from St. Louis University, a certificate in Polish language and culture from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, an MA in political science from the University of Vermont, a master’s in public administration from Harvard University, and a certificate in teaching English as a Second Language from the International House in Krakow, Poland, in addition to her JD from Vermont Law School.

Althea was active in local politics in the Village of Essex Junction, then was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives for four terms.

She took a temporary leave from politics to earn her JD. Following law school, she served two terms in the Vermont Senate and then was a Family Court judge and Chittenden County administrator. When diagnosed with colon cancer in 1996, Althea resigned from her posi-

tion and moved to Poland to begin a new life as an educator. She fell in love with Poland and with teaching and taught at several language schools in Poland. In 2004, she established her own school, the Althea Institute, to teach English and leadership skills to business managers and civic leaders. Althea was passionate about teaching and spent her life helping others. She will be dearly missed by all with whom she came into contact.

Adrienne Soler has joined Vermont Law School as the associate director of Distance Learning. Adrienne and her husband, Pete, enjoyed seeing everyone at our 25th VLS reunion this fall.

Robert Lindsay Varner, 85, died peacefully May 8, 2012, at The Edgewood Centre, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with family at his side. Robert was born in Fayette, Missouri, graduated from Fayette High School, and attended Central Methodist College before his enlistment in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the final months of World War II. He earned a journalism degree from University of Missouri in 1949 and returned to military service in the Air Force during the Korean War. Covering news and play-by-play sports, he worked for several radio stations. He pursued a career in public relations, working first in St. Louis for Southwestern Bell, and later for AT&T and Western Electric in New York. Robert married Dorothy McCutcheon in 1950. Together they raised four children and made a home in Short Hills, New Jersey, until Dorothy’s death in 1984. Upon retiring, Robert completed a law degree at Vermont Law School, and practiced law in legal aid in New Jersey.

In 1991, he married Dr. Helene Kafka. Robert

1988

alumni@vermontlaw.edu

1989

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Robert Karl, Kelly Boden JD/MSEL ’00, and David Galgay ’87 were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2013.

Peter Van Tuyn JD/MSEL (a VLS adjunct professor as well as an alum) wrote a chapter for a book focused on climate change and indigenous peoples of America’s Arctic. The

Laura DeCapua

Class Notes

was active throughout his life in community causes, especially those supporting equality, democratic ideals, and poverty alleviation. He valued small-town newspapers, public education, and debate, and frequently volunteered for political candidates, lending his editorial skills to a number of campaigns. He was a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, and despite living with Parkinson’s, was until his death a keeper of statistics, standings, and all things baseball.

Mike Williams recently completed 25 years of service with the Division of Criminal Justice in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He is deputy chief of the Appellate Bureau and the Division’s training coordinator, and litigates in the New Jersey state courts and all federal courts. Mike is married to Lauren Larrain Williams and they have two children: Jared, a 2d Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and 2011 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, and Caitlin, a sophomore business major at the University of Maryland.

Members of the Class of 1992 at their 20th Reunion

book, edited by Randall Abate, is titled Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples and the Search for Legal Remedies and will be published in early 2013. Peter is also drafting a chapter for a book on Peak Oil, with his chapter focused on why the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is neither an appropriate nor meaningful place to be drilling for oil.

1990

Mario Gallucci Mario@hnglaw.com Christian DiRusso has married the beautiful Brandi Nicole, who recently passed the North Carolina Bar. Ben Dominguez JD/MSEL has opened a branch office in Holland where he has been spending time between there and his Houston Office.

Michael Fedun writes, “My law partner, William Singer, and I are drawing close to our 20th anniversary year practicing law together in my hometown of Montgomery Township, New Jersey. My wife Jeanne and I recently sent my oldest, Martin, off to Fordham University. I had contact with classmate Geraldina Pucillo, who is doing well and practicing in New York City.”

Mario Gallucci was recognized by The Italian Tribune as being “the Best of the Best,” among most distinguished Americans of Italian descent.

1991 Robert Karl ’89

Peg Stolfa Margaret.stolfa@gmail.com

Joshua Secunda MSL is now the innovations coordinator with EPA-New England’s Office of Assistance & Pollution Prevention (A&P2).

Prior to joining A&P2, he was a senior enforcement counsel with EPA, a senior consultant to the Consensus Building Institute, and an adjunct professor with the New England School of Law. He and his wife live in Concord, Massachusetts with their 11- year-old son, Christopher.

1992

Margaret Olnek mlo@olneklaw.com Fred Zeytoonjian writes, “Since graduation 20 years ago, I’ve been living in D.C. with my wife Karen and, more recently, with our two kids, Forester (10) and Anton (7). I participate in an annual 12-person running relay with fellow alum Joanne Jordan ’90. This year we’ll be running 200 miles from the Virginia/North Carolina boarder through a couple of hills to Asheville, North Carolina. During the power outages this summer, classmate Mary Fletcher graciously lent her spare bedrooms to us for a couple of nights to keep us cool while our power was out. In February, I started a new job with Apple Inc. managing state and local government affairs east of the Mississippi River.”

1993

Lainey Schwartz geowoman3@aol.com Alan Strasser is doing a detail at DOE’s Chief Counsel’s Office supporting the Energy

fall 2012 33

1994

Laura DeCapua

Class Notes

Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs.

Beyond his legal duties, he was asked to put back on his ADR hat. Specifically, Alan was appointed by DOE as the convener on a negotiated rulemaking regarding the commercial enforcement program for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries. For more information see: www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/reg_neg_on_ ac_confidentiality.pdf. He reports, “I hope to make it for the fall 2013 to beat the students in Ultimate and am recruiting former Ultimate Justice members.” Alan can be reached at aws11@comcast.net.

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Members of the Class of 1997 and their children at their 15th Reunion Joel T. Faxon was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), in the spring of 2012. Joel is managing partner of Stratton Faxon Trial Lawyers, and handles catastrophic personal injury and mass tort cases across the country out of offices in New Haven, Connecticut.

Karl Karg was promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins LLP. He resides in the Chicago office and is a member of the firm’s Environment, Land and Resources Department. He represents targets of U.S. Department of Justice/EPA/Citizen Group enforcement actions and lawsuits under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, CERCLA, RCRA, and other environmental laws.

As of mid-September 2012, Joe Minadeo JD ’94/MSEL ’95 took a new role with the Dow AgroSciences Commercial/Regulatory team in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he provides legal counsel, leadership, and support to the Crop Protection and Seeds, Traits & Oils commercial platforms. Joe was previously

John Hamer ’94 and Anne-Marie Storey ’95 with daughter, Zoey

34 loquitur

senior counsel in the U.S. Manufacturing Legal Group for The Dow Chemical Company in Plaquemine, Louisiana.

1995

Karen Moore kj.moore@judicial.state.co.us Following assignments in Abu Dhabi and Scotland, Roger Belman JD/MSL and Sabrina Fernandez are currently living in Stavanger, Norway, with their two daughters.

Suzanne Hebeler writes, “I gave birth to my first child, Bartholomew, on November 15, 2011. He weighed 8 lb., 15 oz., and was 21 in. long. I am loving motherhood and am finally settling in and finding that elusive balance between the demands of my amazing son and the demands of my solo real estate law practice in South Burlington, Vermont.”

Anne-Marie Storey and John Hamer JD/ MSL ’94 are pleased to announce the adoption

Suzanne Hebeler ’95 with her son, Bartholomew

of their daughter Zoey (Class of ’38?) in July.

They live in Winterport, Maine, with their Saint Bernard, Maddy.

Heather (Carll) Toulmin MSEL recently opened Season’s Promise in Lyme, New Hampshire, providing child-family and adult counseling services. Heather and her husband Steve stay busy with two boys and serving on the Conservation Commission. They can be reached at heathertoulmin@gmail.com.

1996

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Judith George JD/MSEL writes, “On February 25, 2012, Nicholas and I welcomed our third child, William Sebastian George. His sisters, Caroline (age 8) and Catherine (age 5), are delighted to have a baby brother.”

Caryn E. Waxman, an attorney at the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC and cochair of the DRM Family Law Group, was selected from a “very competitive pool of applicants” for membership in the Excellence in Executive Leadership Class of 2012. The four-month program is presented by the Champlain College Center for Professional and Executive Development and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Teleos Leadership Institute. A fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Waxman frequently presents continuing legal education seminars on matrimonial and family law matters. She has been appointed to serve as a member of and to chair a hearing panel of the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board from July 2012 through June 2014.

Cheryl Deshaies cdeshaies@deshaieslaw.com

1998

alumni@vermontlaw.edu

1999

Joy Kanwar-Nori joy.kanwar@brooklaw.edu Erin Barnes-Weaver JD/MSEL says, “My team that addressed a hotline complaint on the use of dispersants in the Gulf oil spill— part of the EPA Office of Inspector General’s larger Deep Water Horizon team—recently received the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Alexander Hamilton Award. The Alexander Hamilton Award is the highest award bestowed by the Inspector General community, and highlights achievements in improving the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of Executive Branch agency operations. The award citation reads: ‘In recognition of significant contributions to improving the protection of the environment from oil spills of unprecedented magnitude and the government’s ability to meet its legal obligations and effectively manage and pay for associated costs.’ This year, I am also co-PTO president at my kids’ elementary school (where my daughter is in fourth grade and my son in first grade).”

Charles Conroy says, “I recently moved back home to New York City, living on the Upper East Side and working at a nonprofit called the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. I’m an immigration lawyer, representing detained immigrants facing deportation.

Prior to moving back, I worked for five and a half years at another nonprofit in Florida, also as an immigration attorney working with refugees. If anybody wants to get in touch, they

Lisa Phipps MSEL’99 and Roby Lane at their wedding on August 4, 2012

can drop me a line at conroyatlaw@yahoo. com.”

Lisa Phipps MSEL and Roby Lane were married on August 4, 2012. Fellow “Missiles” Michelle Markesteyn, Jesse Ratcliffe, and Jacquie Stevens were able to make the trek to the Oregon Coast on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. They were surrounded by family and friends and couldn't have asked for a better way to start this new journey. Lisa is currently the executive director of the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, a National Estuary Project, and is running for Tillamook County commissioner.

2000

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Ken Dobson JD/MSEL maintains a busy environmental and business litigation practice with the Chenoweth Law Group, PC, in Portland, Oregon. Ken is well known in the Pacific Northwest for his work in toxic tort and damp building litigation and has represented hundreds of homeowners, tenants, employees, and other occupants of water damaged buildings in claims arising from mold and degraded indoor air quality. He also obtained one of the first appellate decisions in the country allowing expert evidence in a tort action of the controversial diagnosis “chemical sensitivity.” When not representing clients, Ken and several other attorneys in his firm also maintain an active rock and roll band.

Kurt Kissling JD/MSEL and his wife, Cara, welcomed their second son, Erik, on September 8, 2011. Along with big brother, Alex, the Kisslings live in Royal Oak, Michigan, just north of Detroit.

Kurt is of counsel with Pepper Hamilton LLP, where he practices environmental law, focusing his practice on air and waste issues.

Kurt’s firm biography is available online at w w w.pepperlaw.com/LegalStaff_Preview. aspx?LegalStaffKey=235.

Becca O’Connor and her husband, Gabe O’Connor, welcomed twin daughters, Elyse Cate and Charley Grace, on July 28, 2012. All are healthy and happy.

Brice Simon, a partner in Breton & Simon, PLC, along with Associate Christopher A. Davis ’12, has opened a satellite office in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The firm will now be able to more conveniently meet with clients, and provide increased criminal defense, family law, and civil litigation services in Caledonia and Essex Counties.

Class Notes

1997

Twins Elyse Cate and Charley Grace, daughters of Becca ’00 and Gabe O’Connor

2001

alumni@vermontlaw.edu Melissa Derwart married Paul Papasavvas on October 29, 2011, in Baltimore, Maryland, under Vermont-like, snowy skies. Guests stayed warm during the reception dancing to the 18-piece big band all through the night.

Fellow VLSers Tiffany (Smith) and Matt Mortier MSEL ’00, Christopher Reeves JD/MSEL, Jason Larocco JD/MSEL, and Pam Hans, Margaret (Hopkins) Everson, and Kathleen Trinward JD/MSEL ’07 all helped Melissa and Paul have an incredible celebration. The happy couple then jetted off to Hawaii for a wonderful two-week honeymoon.

Melissa Derwart ’01 and Paul Papasavvas at their wedding on October 29, 2011

2002

Paige Bush-Scruggs paigescruggs@comcast.net Lorie Abolafia-Cartwright reports she is still working as a general civil practitioner for the oldest continuously operating law firm in

fall 2012 35

Laura DeCapua

Class Notes

Greg Gotwald and his wife Lindsay welcomed their first child, Samantha Marie Gotwald, to the world on April 12, 2012.

Chris Hall is an attorney with Babst Calland, PC, in their Pittsburgh office, focusing on oil and gas law with specific focus on the development of the Marcellus and Utica shale.

Chris is also a member of the planning committee for the annual Pittsburgh Muscle Team event benefitting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Chris and his wife, Jenny, are proud to support their son, Reid, as a regional goodwill ambassador to the MDA.

Members of the Class of 2002 at their 10th Reunion Brattleboro, Fitts, Olson & Giddings, PLC. And she is excited to announce she has added mediation to her practice of law.

Erin Flynn Dunnuck JD/MSEL and her husband, Todd, live in Asheville, North Carolina, with their son, Flynn (4), and daughter, Hannah (1). Erin recently started her own law firm: www.dunnucklawfirm.com.

Erin Flynn Dunnuck ’02 and family

2003

Shannon Bañaga vlsmaher@yahoo.com Scott D. Clausen and his wife Katherine celebrated the birth of their first child, Wyatt Henry Clausen, on March 30, 2012. Everyone is doing great.

Monica Collins MSEL, a litigation paralegal at Vermont law firm Langrock Sperry

36 loquitur

& Wool, LLP, was selected for the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute (VLI). A competitive program, the VLI recruits professionals from throughout the state with goal of “stimulating citizen enthusiasm for and participation in public service. The Institute gives participants the information, tools and inspiration to make greater contributions to their organizations, to their communities and to Vermont.” Monica is participating in eight intensive sessions from September through May. She assists attorneys with plaintiff representation in complex case litigation in the areas of environmental harms, wrongful death, propane-related incidents, and catastrophic personal injury. In addition to her work at Langrock Sperry & Wool, Monica is a member of the coordinating committee of Migrant Justice, an organization advocating for the rights of Vermont migrant farm workers, and is active in civic affairs in her hometown of Hancock, Vermont.

Brian Joffe JD/MSEL and Diana Dascalu-Joffe JD/MSEL welcomed a second child, a daughter, Emily Sofia Joffe, to their family on October 8, 2011. Big brother Noah Joffe (4 years old), Emily, Brian, and Diana are happily residing in Arlington, Virginia.

Brian was recently promoted to branch chief of the Pesticides, Tanks Enforcement Division at EPA. Diana was also recently promoted to senior general counsel for her regional nonprofit climate change organization, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

2005

Meg Munsey and Kelly Singer vermontlaw2005@gmail.com S. Alexandra (Alex) Manning ’06 and Cynthia (Cindy) Carson Hodge were selected as 2012 Georgia Rising Star Super Lawyers. Alex Manning was recognized as a Rising Star for Family Law, and Cindy Hodge was recognized as a Rising Star for Real Estate Law. Alex practices with the law firm of Ditchen & Associates in Woodstock, Georgia, where she focuses on family law and criminal defense litigation.

Cindy practices with the law firm of Lueder, Larkin & Hunter, LLC, in Alpharetta, Georgia, where she focuses on general real estate and construction litigation, as well as community association law.

Steve Kelton has been promoted to chief of the Office of Enforcement and Environmental Justice, District Department of the Environment.

2004

Spencer Hanes spencer.hanes@duke-energy.com

Amy Manzelli ’05

2006

Ashley Cottingham ashleybrey@gmail.com Ebony Riggins erriggins@gmail.com Jessica Brandt MSEL was recently hired at Intercity Transit in Olympia, Washington, as their environmental and sustainability coordinator after spending almost five years at the Washington State Department of Ecology as a brownfields program planner. Benjamin Rau JD/MSEL’07 works at the Washington State Department of Ecology as a senior policy analyst in the Water Quality Program. Jessica and Ben just bought their first house, located in Olympia.

Carolyn Buckingham and Mike Biderman are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, Eleanor Elizabeth Biderman. Ellie was born on August 5, 2012, weighed 7 lb., 7 oz., and was 20.5 in. long. She is named after two of her late great grandmothers.

Tracy Coppola JD/MSEL recently started a new job as a campaigns officer in the D.C. office of the International Fund of Animal Welfare (IFAW), where she is now leading the organization’s U.S. big cats campaign, among other wildlife policy initiatives. Feel free to send her a note at tcoppola@ifaw.org to discuss further.

Christopher Curtis is a lawyer for Vermont Legal Aid, which brought a class-action suit against the city of Barre, Vermont, after the city disconnected a tenant’s water over the landlord’s past-due water bill. In July, U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ruled that Barre’s five-year-old water shut-off policy was unconstitutional because it doesn’t give rent-

ers an opportunity to appeal a shut-off notice.

Read more about the case at http://7d.blogs. com/blurt/2012/07/judge-rules-barres-watershut-off-policy-unconstitutional.html.

Jason Salmi Klotz worked for the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco after graduation. He assisted the commission on GHG and wholesale market issues. He then moved to Portland, Oregon, where he leveraged $10M of Bonneville Power Administration funds to create the largest Smart Grid project in the country, spanning five states, 10,000 customers, and 100MW of generation with $200M in ARRA funds.

Jason is now regulatory lead for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and a unique Pacific Northwest third-party market transformation energy efficiency provider. Jason and his wife miss Vermont and VLS. “Congrats to Dean Mihaly!”

John Lamson and Katherine (Burton) Lamson ’07 were married on July 17, 2010, and live in North Bennington, Vermont. John and Kate are now trying to keep up with their daughter, Penelope Batchelder Lamson (born 10/12/11), who is trying to run before she walks!

John was recently honored by the Vermont Bar Association with the Pro Bono Service Award for his work with Have Justice-Will Travel, a nonprofit founded by Wynona Ward ’98, which provides legal assistance to domestic violence survivors. The summer edition of the VBA journal featured an article on John: http://content.yudu.com/A1y3qo/Summer/ resources/34.htm. Kate worked for the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s office until Penelope’s birth.

Jennifer Turnbull-Houde, counsel at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, recently explored her more creative side by coauthoring a travel book with her husband,

Kate (Burton) Lamson ’07 with daughter, Penelope Batchelder Lamson, by the White River in South Royalton

Matthew Houde. The book, called Two Weeks in Costa Rica, is a travelogue, which shares the authors’ love of Costa Rica. More information is available on the website www.twoweeksincostarica.com.

Dennis H. Myrick, 54, passed away on September 3, 2012. Dennis courageously battled the debilitating disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He graduated from Danville High School, earned a business degree from Lyndon State College, and his master’s degree and JD from Vermont Law School. As a business consultant, Dennis worked with local businesses and companies and was an adjunct professor at Lyndon State College and Community College of Vermont.

Dennis was passionate about serving his community and sat on a variety of local boards.

He was an avid runner and completed seven marathons and countless other races. He also enjoyed painting, sailing, and traveling. Ashley Carson Cottingham, Lynn Hodgens, and Stacy Brooks put together a fund-raising drive to help with Dennis’ expenses. Many members of the Class of 2006 donated to this effort, as well as participated in a birthday card campaign for Dennis.

2007

Greg Dorrington gregdorrington@gmail.com Liz Lucente liz.lucente@gmail.com Caleb Holmes JD/MSEL, an associate at the Philadelphia office of the Miami law firm Greenberg Traurig, married Allison Suflas in August, 2012.

David McCullough says, “After over three years as an associate in the environmental practice group of Dewey & LeBoeuf's Washington, D.C. office, in December 2010 I left to join Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, also here in Washington. At Sutherland, I primarily provide advice on EPA’s regulation of gasoline, diesel, and renewable fuels. In more important news, Melissa and I are happy to report the birth of our first daughter. Abigail Frances McCullough was born on February 20, 2012, and everyone is happy and healthy.”

In January, 2012, Jenny McIvor was named director of environmental programs, compliance, and permitting for MidAmerican Energy Company. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, MidAmerican Energy is Iowa’s largest energy company, providing service to customers in Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota and

fall 2012 37

Class Notes

Amy Manzelli JD/MSEL celebrates the new name of her firm: BCM Environmental & Land Law, PLLC. The firm, which she owns with Jed Z. Callen, previously had been known as Baldwin & Callen, PLLC. In addition to the new name, Amy is very excited to welcome to the firm in October another member of the class of ’05. Amy has been having tons of fun while achieving great results for clients. Earlier this year, Amy got back the volunteer job for a conservation commissioner who the town fathers had ousted unconstitutionally. Later, she also got attorneys’ fees. Personally, Amy remains in Pembroke, New Hampshire, with her husband of 13 years, Chad, their almost three-year-old son, Henry, and their two boxers, Cobi and Sally.

Class Notes

ney for Combined Task Force Fury, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division.

CPT Riley is looking forward to returning home this fall to his wife, Sam Medlock, and two precious cats, Dexter and Seamus.

Jack Sautter JD/MSEL’08/LLM’09 is now working as the deputy staff judge advocate for the 1st Marine Air Wing in Okinawa, Japan. He and wife, Antonia, welcomed their first child, Katherine, on September 4, 2012.

She weighed 8 lb., 10 oz.

Laura DeCapua

2009

Members of the Class of 2007 at their 5th Reunion Nebraska. Jenny has been with MidAmerican Energy since 2008.

Eliza Meeker reports, “This April I was sworn in to the Paris Bar, and in August I had my first hearing before a French judge (at the Palais de Justice, Ile de la Cité). The hearing went well, and my client was pleased with the result. Thank you to VLS, to excellent professors, and especially to Professor Linda Smiddy for creating the Dual Degree program with the Université de Cergy-Pontoise.”

William S. Eubanks II LLM recently prevailed in long-running federal litigation con-

cerning protection of Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve from the destructive impacts of off-road vehicle use. He also spoke on the topic of federal food policy at the Vermont Law School Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems in September, as he nears completion of a textbook on that subject which he coauthored and coedited with Professors Mary Jane Angelo and Jason Czarnezki. He is teaching a course this fall at American University’s Washington College of Law. Eubanks is an attorney at the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.

CPT Timothy Riley is currently deployed to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. CPT Riley, a Florida Army National Guard JAG and associate environmental attorney at Hopping Green & Sams, PA, has been mobilized as the operational and administrative law attor-

Bill Eubanks LLM’08 presented at the Conference on Agriculture and Food Systems in September.

CPT Timothy Riley ’08 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

2008

Samantha Santiago santiago.samantha@gmail.com Jamie Williams willjamie@gmail.com

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John Miller johndmillerjr@gmail.com Allison Cook JD/MELP recently accepted a position as a Foundation Relations Specialist at the Student Conservation Association’s Washington, D.C. office. She is writing grants, working with foundation officers and performing other fundraising duties. She and her partner, Joshua Cox JD/MELP ’10, have relocated to Manassas, Virginia, and are excited to reconnect with other VLS alumni in the D.C. area.

Christine Hill ’09 Christine Hill says, “After a few years working in Appalachia on mountaintop removal coal mining, I moved back home to dive deeper into my policy skills and be back with my family. About a year ago, I began working with the Sierra Club as the conservation and policy associate with the Maryland Chapter and the Beyond Coal Campaign. Here, I have been working on clean energy solutions, like offshore wind through the Maryland Legislature. When I am not in Annapolis working on clean energy policy solutions, I am working with our organizers in Prince George’s County on effective grassroots strategies within communities of color. A few months ago, I received a call from Essence Magazine that they would like to spotlight me in their August issue. I am featured in the culture section of the magazine in an article entitled, ‘The Next List, Meet

Joey Solomon ’10, Derek Hasek ’10, and Patrick Munson ’10 at Derek’s wedding in Minnesota tools, Jillian Riley JD/MELP and Louisa decorated porta potties, Andrew Schwartz dominated the dance floor, Scott Souers did the splits, and Haley Williamson shook her head in shame. Congratulations to all!

2011

Amanda George amandadgeorge@yahoo.com Sarah McGuire smcguire@vermontlaw.edu

MELP ’12 ran into each other at Pepperdine’s Judicial Clerkship Institute, held on a rare cloudy weekend in May in Malibu, California.

Alan Panebaker died on September 19, 2012, in a tragic kayaking accident in New Hampshire. Professor Patrick Parenteau wrote, “Alan was an outstanding student and a vibrant member of the VLS community. He served on the editorial board of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, was a member of the Pace Environmental Moot Court Team and worked on a number of major cases in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic. Ever upbeat, Alan had an agile mind, boundless energy, and a huge heart. He not only loved running wild rivers, he was passionate about saving them. Following graduation Alan did a stint with VTDigger.org, keeping the public informed about the workings of the Vermont Legislature and providing keen insights on complex issues from the Vermont Yankee preemption case to the GMO labeling bill. Chasing big rapids was Alan’s passion and he was thrilled at being hired as Northeast Stewardship Director for American Whitewater. He was looking forward to living his dream of combining work and play in the cause of environmental protection. In addition to his family in Colorado and his partner, Magdalena Dale, Alan leaves behind a host of friends and colleagues on campus. He will be sorely missed.”

2010

Amanda George-Wheaton and David Wheaton JD/MELP were married on May 12, 2012, in Thurmont, Maryland. The bride and groom were thrilled to have so many VLS friends in attendance!

Jennifer Leinbach and Holli Brown JD/

A report from the Far North! Patrick Munson JD/MELP and Louisa Yanes JD/MELP are about to begin their third winter in Alaska, and expect to see quite a few more. They recently moved into their first house. Patrick is working for a small firm in Anchorage, primarily representing small towns and cities throughout Alaska, while Louisa is the head of the Energy Program at the Alaska Center for the Environment, the State’s largest umbrella environmental group. They have too many animals, too much gear, and are unbelievably content. A highlight of the summer was a brief trip to Minnesota to help celebrate the marriage of Derek Hasek JD/MELP and Katie Tjornhom, during which Bobby Betts and Joey Solomon JD/MELP played with power

VLS alumni attended the George-Wheaton wedding in Maryland. Top Row Left to Right: James Downing ’11, Alice Baker ’11, James Olaleye ’13, John Atwood (Partner), Jack Peters ’11, Joyce Peters (Partner), Kat O’Neill ’11, Jeremy O’Neill (Partner), Riaz Mohammed ’11, Sunil Satnarain ’11.

Bottom Row Left to Right: Molly Watson ’11, Katelyn Bush ’11, Laurie Stern ’11, Megan Fowler Myers ’11, Amanda George-Wheaton ’11, David Wheaton ’11, Alison Floyd ’11, Keisha Sedlacek ’11

2012

alumni@vermontlaw.edu

Cara Cookson caracookson@yahoo.com Laurie Wheelock lauriewheelock@gmail.com

fall 2012 39

Class Notes

25 Young Sisters Who Are Handling Their Business and Making Us Proud.’ This article features up-and-coming African American women leaders in various arenas. In this same article, they also feature Beyonce’s sister, Solange Knowles, Race Car Driver Tia Norfleet, Golfer Mariah Stackhouse, and others. The skills I have gained through organizing and policy couldn’t have happened without many of you! So, thank you!” To see more on Christine, visit http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2012/07/maryland-sierra-club-organizergarners-kudos-in-essence-magazine.html.

Ashley Ivanov has just published an environmental fiction novel, From Pristine to Earth. The book is about the importance of having a safe, clean, and healthy environment, focusing on consumer product safety.

The main character, Marlo, is an inquisitive boy, who is from a unique and beautiful place called Pristine. Marlo is sent by his sixth-grade teacher on an assignment to observe the environment on Earth, where he discovers many startling things in the country of Urban. One of the startling events occurs at the Chemical and Plastic Plant, which appears like a gigantic plastic bottle. The story is tailored for middleschool students and young adults but is also made interesting for an older audience. Join Marlo as he ventures away from his home to learn about a new environment. The book is available on Amazon. Your comments are appreciated.

Inter Alia A Conversation with VLSAA Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Wynona Ward JD’98

Wynona Ward ’98, recipient of the VLSAA Distinguished Alumni Award 2012, has helped thousands of women find their way back and escape from the cycle of abuse. A nontraditional student, she entered VLS at age 44, driven by her desire for social justice. She founded Have Justice-Will Travel (HJWT) the year she graduated. The nonprofit organization provides legal aid to the many women and families in need each year in Vermont. www.havejusticewilltravel.org What inspired you to create Have Justice-Will Travel?

“As a VLS Schweitzer Fellow at the Vermont Superior Court, Windsor Family Division, I watched women trying to defend themselves against their batterers. They were facing experienced lawyers because their batterers controlled the family money. One day the clerk shook his head as another woman left the court alone. ‘They file,’ he said, ‘but they don’t come back.’

40 loquitur

Laura DeCapua

Wynona Ward ’98, talks at the Awards Ceremony during Reunion Weekend about her work with Have Justice-Will Travel.

“I knew, from my mother’s experience, that they needed a way back.”

How does Have Justice-Will Travel provide that?

“We provide legal services for as many women as we can. But it’s important that we do more than meet a woman at the courthouse. We drive her there and back if she needs us to. We support her throughout the process in every way we can until we see her back on her feet.”

How did VLS support you and help prepare you for your work today?

“Vermont Law was the perfect open door for me. Not just in the way they train lawyers and embrace social responsibility. Not just in the way they welcome people walking a different path. The VLS commitment to hands-on experience made all the difference to me.

“The real-world work I was able to do as a student prepared me for what I

do today. I’m not just a lawyer. I write grants and seek donations, manage three legal aid offices, and promote our cause.”

Do you have any advice to offer to current students at VLS about preparing themselves for their careers after law school?

“Practicing law is more than what you can learn in a book. And it’s more than you can do in a courtroom. Take advantage of all the opportunities VLS gives you to be hands on. As a student I was committed to the cause at the South Royalton Legal Clinic. Later, when I founded Have Justice, I patterned my organization and our Legal Empowerment Assistance Program the same way.

“VLS understands the importance of a real world education. Because that’s where the problems are. That’s where the people are who need help.”

Welcome Class of 2012 The Vermont Law School Alumni Association (VLSAA) welcomes you to a group of over 5,000 VLS alumni—in all 50 states and in 22 countries around the world. For information about the VLSAA, visit www.vermontlaw.edu/alumni.

John Douglas/Flying Squirrel Graphics

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Installation in the Chase portico by Elizabeth Billings. Top Kat Photography