<p> Vermont Bar Association Board of Managers Meeting September 22, 2011 Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee</p><p>Present: Will S. Baker (via phone), Amber L. Barber, Eileen M. Blackwood, James F. Carroll, Therese M. Corsones, Thomas S. Durkin, Jennifer R. Emens-Butler, Ross A. Feldmann, David R. Fenster, Michael E. Kennedy, Daniel H. Maguire, Daniel P. Richardson</p><p>Guests: David Clinton Carter</p><p>Staff: Mary Ashcroft, Lisa Maxfield, Bob Paolini, Kevin Ryan, Laura Welcome</p><p>1. Call to Order: President Teri Corsones called the meeting to order at 3:18 p.m.</p><p>2. Emerging Issues – </p><p>Amber Barber stated that she was approached by an attorney concerned with the number of pro se litigants in the court room. This attorney feels that pro se litigants are being so propped up by the courts that it’s making it harder to practice. This individual also stated the courts are not doing enough to make lives of the bar easier, specifically open communication with the courts. Teri noted that the goal is unification and if someone has a complaint, he or she should contact the Court Administrator. Tom Durkin agreed and stated that Bob Greemore would be very receptive to any complaints or suggestions. Bob Paolini suggested the possibility of putting on a CLE, as it can be difficult to handle cases involving pro se litigants. He also suggested a meeting with Amber Barber, Jim Carroll, Judge Davenport and Bob Greemore to discuss the issue while protecting the identity of the person who approached Amber. Eileen Blackwood reiterated the importance of Bench/Bar meetings. Amber suggested collecting anonymous comments to bring up during those meetings. Teri agreed, and suggested those comments be collected prior to the CLE Bob suggested, as well. Teri also stated that with restructuring there are bi-monthly clerk meetings where they must show community outreach and what they are doing to resolve any issues that come up.</p><p>Jennifer Emens-Butler noted that the rate of foreclosure has slowed down.</p><p>Will Baker stated that the Brattleboro location where the YLD mixer was planned was damaged during Tropical Storm Irene, and they are trying to find another venue. </p><p>3. Acceptance of Consent Agenda</p><p>A. Minutes – The minutes from the July 15, 2011 meeting were adopted.</p><p>B. Treasurer’s Report – Lisa Maxfield discussed the year end budget. Not all grant money has come in yet, so the income net will increase at that time. LRS and CLE both ended the year with higher incomes than anticipated.</p><p>C. Board Committee Reports</p><p> i. Operations – Nothing to report. ii. Membership – Amber stated they are still working on the survey of law offices, but Tropical Storm Irene has set the committee back a bit.</p><p> iii. Program and Planning – David Fenster mentioned the new website, which will not be ready to go live for a couple of weeks. They are planning a social media CLE including implications involved in legal practice. Jim Carroll stated that Mark Basingthwaithe, from ALPS, would be a good resource for this subject. David also noted Real Estate Law Day is in the works, and the online Journal flip book will be in place for the next edition. Kevin noted that the Intellectual Property Law seminar, originally scheduled for September 30th, has been postponed until the Spring. Real Estate Law Day will be November 15th at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. Ross Feldmann has done surveys on social media as well as the response to Tropical Storm Irene.</p><p> iv. Pro Bono – Mary Ashcroft stated the committee is scheduled to meet in October. She noted that as a result of the VBA’s request for volunteers to help with disaster relief, close to one hundred attorneys responded and Angele Court is organizing the effort to match up attorneys with victims of Tropical Storm Irene. The Rutland Pilot Project now has 326 clients and there has been a spike in need. Mary also noted that she is on the Access to Justice Coalition and that Bob Paolini is the new chair. She stated they have done some work studying where the gaps are, which are Lamoille and Addison counties. They will be meeting with those bars to discuss how to help those communities. Mary reported that there is a self-represented litigants task force and their focus is to have training for librarians on October 21st to assist in finding resources for pro se litigants. Amber Barber stated that she teaches a family law self-representation course and suggested combining them. Mary noted they have been doing training to begin a pilot project in Windham County. Windsor and Orange counties received a grant, but things are moving slower there. There is also a training program in the works by the VT Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence. Bennington County’s low bono project is up and running, but there have not been many cases so far.</p><p>D. President’s Report – Teri Corsones noted that in trying to encourage people to use attorneys instead of going pro se, they have decided to host community legal forums at the Rutland library. They have done Civil and Family, and next they will hold forums on criminal and probate. The panels are made up of judges and lawyers. Teri provided the handout to the Board. Dan Maguire asked Teri if she has shared this idea with other court clerks, which she stated she has. Teri also noted that Mary Ashcroft and Jay Kenlan have put together a Disaster Relief Manual and are hosting clinics on Saturdays to assist people affected by flooding. Teri provided an E-filing update, stating the main person for the vendor has tendered his resignation, which has pushed back the roll-out dates. Vermont will be the first state to have e-filing across the board, even with the deadline set- backs. She noted that the Rutland courthouse will have a computer available in their lobby for pro se litigants. This will help staff determine their needs. David Fenster asked if there is a standing e-filing committee, which there is and Teri noted that it will be in place for the foreseeable future.</p><p>E. President Elect’s Report – Jim Carroll spoke about the Board Liaisons for the Sections and announced the new Board Committee assignments. Jim also talked about the coordination of disaster relief. Timing is important, as people are still in the mode of digging out and trying to figure out what they have or need. Once that stage passes, and in the months ahead, they will be dealing with foreclosure, mortgages, employment, etc. Jim suggested coming up with a disaster plan to have some continuity and perhaps form a committee. David Fenster asked Kevin Ryan the status of the wiki pages. Kevin stated they are ready as soon as the new website is up and running. Dave stated the wiki’s could be a great place for attorneys to share information regarding disaster assistance. Jim agreed, but reiterated the need to have a disaster plan in place that can be utilized at any other time. He stated that, as incoming president, he would like this to be the first order of business. He then asked the Operations and Program & Planning committees to focus on the organization of this plan. Mary Ashcroft mentioned the Rutland County Bar’s Disaster Assistance Clinic, and Ross Feldmann mentioned the YLD/ABA group has a working relationship with FEMA.</p><p>F. Executive Director’s Report – Bob Paolini stated that Governor Shumlin will not be speaking tomorrow at the Annual Meeting luncheon due to the impact of Tropical Storm Irene. Gov. Shumlin wrote a letter to be read at the meeting. Bob noted that Bob Greemore asked about how the lawyers are fairing & how the courts are handling things, as he’s heard that some of the courts have slid back into old habits, pre-restructuring, and he would like to hear about these issues. Bob noted he heard from an attorney from Windsor who is working with some Irene victims, who stated there are many issues involving land shifting and mortgages. Bob heard from a legislator who suggested bringing all those involved together for a conversation and asked if the VBA would be willing to hold a Summit. Bob is also hoping the legislators will hold Saturday morning pow wow’s. Bob informed the Board that the VBA Events Coordinator has left, and Laura Welcome has taken over that position. The VBA will be hiring someone to be trained to take over the Lawyer Referral Coordinator position. Bob stated that he spent 3 days last week in Windsor County interviewing applicants for Judicial Bureau Hearing Officer. He stated that it was an interesting experience, as there was a broad range of backgrounds represented. Regarding the Lamoille County Legal Clinic, they have been pre-screening names to make sure there are no conflicts; but there have been a couple of instances that have been an issue. Attorneys are shying away from taking part in pro-se clinics. There was extensive discussion on the subject of legal clinics vs. legal advice and conflict checks. G. Staff Reports – Kevin stated there was a concern about attendance at tomorrow’s Annual Meeting due to Tropical Storm Irene, however there are 305 people registered so far. He also noted that due to the large amount of materials, we used YouSendIt.com to distribute them to the attendees, as well as posting them on the website. Kevin also informed the Board that the VBA has an Annual Meeting twitter page and the tag is #VBA11. As David Fenster mentioned, the new website is almost ready and each section will have its own wiki page. The bi-monthly e-news will be changed to contain only news items for one publication, and will be used for CLE updates on the second. </p><p>H. Section Liaison Reports – None. </p><p>4. VBF Report – None.</p><p>5. Action</p><p>A. Enrollments - A motion was made to accept the following persons as members of the Vermont Bar Association: Attorney Members; Laura S. Beliveau, Julia S. Flores, Rosemary H. Gretkowski, Kaili Minda Kuiper, Damien J. Leonard, Katherine Dunscomb Lucier, Chandler W. Matson, Ian K. Naramore, Kirstin K. Schoonover, Vivian H. Turner; Associate Members; Alexis P. Sly. The motion passed unanimously.</p><p>6. Discussion – </p><p>A. Disaster Relief and Disaster Response Manual – See President’s Report above (3. D.)</p><p>B. Clerkship Proposal of the Roundtable – Dan Richardson state the Roundtable on the Profession met about the clerkship and came up with a draft, which was handed out. It is similar to a Bridge-The-Gap program, finalized with a mentoring program. They want to give 3 hours of CLE credit for doing a mentoring program, as the small size of the Vermont Bar is not a conducive to a mentoring program as other, larger, state bars. The draft was sent to the MCLE Board last week for approval. An ad-hoc committee on attorney oversight was formed. There was discussion about this issue and how the course requirements would be counted towards the necessary credits.</p><p>7. Unfinished Business – None.</p><p>8. New Business – Bob gave the Board a copy of a proposal for a Mindfulness Law Section from Patton Hyman. Jim Carroll suggested a list serve instead, and David Fenster noted the maintenance involved in the list serves by the VBA staff.</p><p>There being no further Old or New Business, it was moved, seconded, and passed that the meeting adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.</p><p>Respectfully submitted,</p><p>Laura Welcome Vermont Bar Association </p>