Vermont Bar Association
Board of Managers Meeting
March 19, 2015

Hilton Burlington

Present: Gavin Boyles, David C. Carter, Jennifer Emens-Butler, David Fenster, Gary L. Franklin, Michael Kennedy, Andrew D. Mikell, Elizabeth Novotny, Grace Pazdan, Daniel Richardson, Edward J. “Ted” Tyler, III, Thomas S. Valente, Matthew F. Valerio

Staff: Mary Ashcroft, Lisa Maxfield, Bob Paolini, Kevin Ryan, Laura Welcome

  1. Call to Order: President Dan Richardsoncalled the meeting to order at 1:18 pm.

2. Acceptance of Consent Agenda

  1. Minutes – A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to accept the minutes of the February 13, 2015Board meeting.
  2. Treasurer’s Report – Lisa Maxfield reported that there are 278 Mid-Year Meeting registrants, however this number reflects all exhibitors, sponsors, staff, and speakers, bringing our attendance to a lower than normal number. Lisa also informed the Board that our annual Bridge the Gap program, usually held in conjunction with the March Mid-Year Meeting, will be partnered with the Solo & Small Firm Conference in May. Lisa noted the expense line for Sections & Divisions is higher due to paying for Josh Simonds to attend the Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers conference.
    Lisa stated that the proposal from a vendor regarding our server upgrade had just been received this morning and, therefore, she and Bob have not had an opportunity to review it. Lisa stated that she and Bob will update the Board by the next meeting.
  3. Board Committee Reports
  4. Operations – Nothing to report.
  5. Membership –Mike Kennedy reported that no other committee members called in to the scheduled phone conference. Dan Richardson asked who from that committee would be addressing the Emeritus issue at tomorrow’s Business Meeting. Jennifer Emens-Butler volunteered.
  6. Program and Planning –Nothing to report.
  7. Pro Bono –Nothing from the committee to report, however Mike Kennedy noted that the Chittenden Civil Division has implemented a pro bono legal clinic.
  8. Mid-Size Case Committee – see report under Action item 4b.
  9. President’s Report –Dan Richardson stated that he has stepped in at the legislature during Bob’s absence. Dan reminded the Board that he and Bob have been meeting regularly with Pat Gabel and Chief Justice Reiber regarding judiciary budget issues. Some ideas the court is looking into are: 1) raising licensing fees; 2) video arraignments; 3) changing postage for certain services; and 4) changing venue. Chief Justice Reiber asked Dan to bring all issues with the draft bill for the 4th idea of the venue work shift, to the legislature. Dan made the suggestion that they develop a Summer Study Committee to Mary Hooper and is hoping to have a conversation with her about it soon. Matt Valerio stated that he made the suggestion that the COLA increase be reduced.
    Gary Franklin asked what the VBA Board’s purpose in involvement in this process is. Dan Richardson stated that we are trying to keep communications open and hopefully give workable suggestions, because anything that impacts the judiciary, will directly impact lawyers and their clients. Discussion on the objective of the idea of the Summer Study Committee, as well as the judicial budgetary issues, ensued.
    Dan Richardson stated that he was recently asked to testify, however he was not well received. Dan subsequently spoke with Willem Jewett regarding his testimony and it was determined that hostility toward him was likely because Dan did not come to them with ideas or suggestions for budget cuts. The Board engaged in a long conversation about the working relationship with the Supreme Court on legislative and budget issues. The Board and members of the judiciary will be meeting on April 10th.
    Bob noted that the Judicial Nominating Board will be meeting in early June to begin interviews for the four open judicial positions.
  10. President Elect’s Report – Jennifer Emens-Butler reported that the Bankruptcy court had asked her about use of Vermont Interactive TV. The court relies on it but the Legislature is looking at de-funding the service. Gary noted that the state courts don’t have the equipment to use interactive TV.
    Jennifer questioned whether progress had been made on archiving the list-serves to make them searchable. She volunteered to assist on this project.
  11. Executive Director’s Report –Bob Paolini announced that all of the judges up for retention had been retained.
    Bob also noted that Legal Aid is facing a $47,000 budget cut from the Legislature.
    Bob announced that Erica Lewis, one of the new lawyers in the VBA/VLS Incubator Project, had died in Florida.
    Bob reported that the House had passed the Uniform Transfer to Minor Act, and that the limited liability bill had passed the House as well. Dave Fenster did not think the notary bill had made crossover. There is consensus that some updating is needed for notaries public.
  12. Staff Reports –Mary Ashcroft reported that she had submitted grant applications for IOLTA grants for the county low bono projects. More grant applications will be submitted to other organizations as well..
  13. VBF Report – Nothing to report.
  14. ATJ Coalition Report – The Access to Justice Campaign has raised $103,000 to date; donors will be acknowledged tomorrow with a continuous slide projection of names. Katelyn Atwood, our current Poverty Law fellow, will speak at tomorrow’s Business Meeting.

3.Commission on Future of Legal Services – This item was passed over. There will be a plenary session at tomorrow’s Mid-Year Meeting.

4.Action

A. Enrollments – A motion was made to accept the following persons as members of the Vermont Bar Association: Attorney Members: Kathryn Durdy, Peter Dysart;Associate Members:Henry M. Beck Jr., Esq., Erik S. Braghirol, Corrine R. Brochu, Melissa A. Cavaliere, Esq., David S. Clancy, Esq., Quinn P. Colgan, Esq., Juliet Dowling, Esq., Peter Goldstone, Esq., Stewart Guss, Esq., Jennifer Logan Hamm, Timothy P. Keller, Esq., W. David Koeninger, Esq., Viktoriya Kovalenko, Esq., Elizabeth Lacombe, Esq., Samantha V. Lednicky, Stephen Pagnotta, Esq., Tony Perriello, Esq., Sean M. Reid, Esq., James M. Rubin, Esq., Daniel R. Sharpe, Esq., Lauren Thomas, Esq., David A. Trottier, Esq., Nancy Val Preda, Esq., Adam C. Varley, Esq., J. Todd White, Esq.The motion passed unanimously.

B. Adopt Mid-Size Case recommendation–Gary Franklin reported that the Supreme Court had sent comments it had received on the proposed rule back to the VBA’s committee for review. Some comments were positive, many were negative, and some were constructive. Gary compiled a summary of the comments, which he sent to the Board and his committee. On a conference call with his committee, including Judges Teachout and Toor, the group did a section by section review of the proposed rule. They made a few minor changes, including taking out the ability of the court to designate a case as mid-sized on its own initiative. That one change satisfied about 70% of the comments. Other changes were minor but effective. There was unanimous agreement among the committee to advance the amended rule.David Carter moved to adopt the proposed rule revisions, seconded by Gavin Boyles. The Board unanimously voted to adopt and send the amended proposed rule to the Civil Rules Committee. The Board thanked Gary for his work on this Mid-Sized Case rule.

5.Discussion

  1. Uniform Bar Exam Report – Gavin Boyles noted that he had sent to the Board information about the UBE compiled by Francesca Bove, Eric Goldwarg and himself. They polled the Young Lawyers Division and received 130 responses out of 450 members. Gavin noted that about 60% supported the proposal for Vermont to adopt the UBE. Fifteen states have adopted the UBE, but it has only been around for about 3.5 years so there is not much history to examine. A caveat would be to ask states already participating for comments on the questions raised. In general, the survey evoked positive and neutral comments, with no real negative responses.
    The Board thanked Gavin and his group for doing the report, and some discussion of the UBE ensued including the present clerkship requirement and the need for understanding of Vermont law.
    Dan Richardson asked the YLD to discuss the report tomorrow at its meeting, and give interested attorneys two weeks to respond. The VBA will table the matter until its next meeting.

6.New Business – None.
7.Old Business – None.

There being no further Old or New Business, it was moved, seconded, and passed that the meeting adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Welcome & Mary Ashcroft
Vermont Bar Association