Young Lawyers Mid-Winter Thaw

Upcoming Teleseminars

Mary Ashcroft has joined the Vermont Bar Association staff on a part-time basis as the new Pro Bono Coordinator. A former legislative liaison for Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Ashcroft has maintained a solo practice in Rutland for many years and comes to her new position with a wealth of experience in the Vermont legal system. Ashcroft will be organizing two major pro bono efforts - a pilot project in Rutland County and a statewide project -- both funded by a grant from the Vermont Bar Foundation. The Rutland project seeks to provide reduced-fee legal services to those in need in five targeted services. On a statewide basis, Ashcroft will be cataloging what pro bono services currently exist with the aim of developing a system to track pro bono services statewide. From there the plan is to find the holes and fill them. For more information about these pro bono projects, and to volunteer your help, contact Mary at 802.223.2020 or user@example.com.

Make plans now to attend the VBA Mid-Year Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington, March 27-28, 2008. On March 27 we will present our annual Bridge the Gap program for new lawyers and conclude the day with an ethics seminar (topics to be determined). On Friday, March 28, we will offer a full-day of CLE programming on a wide range of subjects. More information about the program will soon be available on our website, www.vtbar.org, and in future issues of the eNews.

Check out the second installment of VBA Law Practice Management Coordinator Jim Knapp's ongoing series of short practice management tips, published on the VBA website as Jim Knapp's Multiverse Musings. This tip is titled "Can You Get It Back If You Lose It?" It can be found in the BarNews section of the VBA home page, or by clicking below. . And look for Jim's new regular column in the Vermont Bar Journal, starting with the forthcoming winter issue. Under Jim's leadership, the Law Practice Management Program provides a wide range of information and consultation services. If you have any questions regarding the management of your practice - on issues ranging from organization to finance, from technology to marketing - contact Jim at 802.223.2020 or user@example.com.

Jim Knapp's Multiverse Musings

Volunteers are needed for the VBA Center for Public Education?s ?Lawyers in the Classroom? Program. VBA members are invited to go back to school and present law-related topics to students at all levels. We will connect you with a school in your community?or anywhere in the state you?d like to speak. Take advantage of this great opportunity to benefit Vermont students and improve the image of the legal profession. For more information call the VBA at 802.223.2020 or e-mail Laura Welcome at user@example.com Sign up today!!

Through the VBA's Professional Resources Program, we offer a greatly expanded array of professional services to members. A major part of that program is a new lawyers? assistance program, developed through a contract with Invest EAP, a leading Vermont consultant in the field of employee assistance. The lawyers? assistance program offers a significant benefit to VBA members and their families, providing an important resource to address emotional and mental health issues, substance abuse, gambling problems, family and parenting questions, and similar personal problems that can be deleterious and disruptive to a member's practice and state of mind. Invest EAP provides confidential, face-to-face and telephonic assessments and short-term counseling to VBA members and their families, as well as assistance to management at firms dealing with employee problems and a referral network for addressing long-term problems. The short-term features of this program come at no cost to VBA members (and their families). To contact Invest EAP, click below. Contact information is also available on your VBA membership card. A low-cost option is available to VBA member firms if they want to offer the program to their non-lawyer staff. Please contact Bob Paolini at the VBA, 802.223.2020, if you wish to enroll your staff.

Invest EAP

The 2008 VBA Diretory will arrive in your offices soon! All VBA members will receive a complimentary copy of the Directory. Additional copies can be purchased using the following Order Form.

2008 VBA Directory Order Form

If you are struggling with an issue of ethics or professional conduct - yours or that of another attorney - you can call Bar Counsel Wendy Collins. She will discuss your concerns with you; she can give you or refer you to needed materials, resources, assistance, or information. These conversations are confidential per policy of the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board. Nothing in these conversations can be released to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. The best way to reach Wendy is by telephoning either 802.828.3204 or 802.859.3000.

As part of its expanded package of services to members, the VBA operates a mentorship program that will match lawyers seeking advice with experienced lawyers with advice to offer. We need volunteers to serve as mentors. If you are interested, please click below to access the mentor application. The application can be filled out and either mailed or faxed to the VBA. In addition, full details and application forms for the mentor program are available on the VBA website. Attorneys involved with the Vermont Bar Association Mentoring Program would be provided insurance coverage through the VBA malpractice policy. We appreciate your willingness to serve the legal community.

Mentoring Program