by Bob Paolini, Esq.
Interview with VBA President Jim Carroll
Bob Paolini: Today is Tuesday, August 16th, and I am sitting at Jim Carroll’s house in Jerusalem, Vermont, and we are going to have a brief conversation for the fall is- sue of the Journal to introduce our new president to our readers. I do this each year just to inform our members who is taking over leadership of the association. Good morning, Jim. Jim Carroll: Good morning.
BP: Tell us a little bit about your practice.
You are in a four-person firm in Middlebury, correct? JC: That’s right. It’s English, Carroll & Boe, in Middlebury, Vermont. There are four attorneys, and I have two partners, Dick English and Kathy Boe. It’s a general small town practice. I tend to do the litiga- tion, and my two partners tend to do the more transactional type of work.
BP: I associate you with municipal law practice, is that right? JC: Yes. I am not really sure how that
started out, but about 90% of my practice is municipal oriented. Most of my clients are municipalities, or agents/officials who work for towns. I do a lot of defense liti- gation on behalf of municipalities, as well as enforcement work and the general cor- porate work that needs to be done. I also do a great deal of work with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and its inter- municipal fund.
BP: So let’s go backwards. When did you get admitted here? JC: I was admitted in 1985. I went to the
Vermont Law School, graduated 1984, and spent a year clerking at the Chittenden Su- perior Court. I clerked for many superior court judges who tended to rotate through Chittenden quite frequently. I had a great experience and really enjoyed working there. Then, almost immediately after that, I went to work in Middlebury, for Bill Meub and Tad Powers, which quickly evolved into Kelley, Meub, Powers and English.
BP: In Middlebury? JC: Yes, in Middlebury.
BP: And Bill Meub is now, of course, a Rutland lawyer? JC: Yes, that’s right. Bill is actually the one who initially hired me to work for that firm.
www.vtbar.org
BP: So that was 1985-1986? JC: 1985. It was a year or two before I became a partner in that firm with Bill, Tad, Dick English, and Tom Layden. Over time, we had two offices in Middlebury and in Rutland. At some point, those offices di- verged. I set up practice with Tad Pow- ers and Dick English in Middlebury. Later, Sue Ritter came along and the four of us worked together for many years. Sue now works for Middlebury College. And then Kathy Boe, who always lived in Middle- bury and was looking to have a Middlebury practice joined up. I am extremely fortu- nate to have Dick and Kathy as partners. They have supported my involvement with the VBA Board of Managers over the years.
BP: Yes, what made you get involved? JC: Um … good question. I was presi- dent of the Addison Bar Association for four, maybe five years, and enjoyed that experience. I think Peter Hall was the presi- dent of the Vermont Bar Association at the time.
BP: Wow, now you are going back to
1996. Peter became president in the fall of 1995, and was president through 1996. That is when I started, in February 1996. JC: So, ancient history, Bob.
BP: It is, it is, fifteen years ago. JC: So, it was about that time that I was
the president of the Addison Bar Associa- tion, and a few interesting things were hap- pening in the Addison bar. Peter, as I re- call, had a real push to reactivate the local bar associations. The Addison Bar Associa- tion had a very active period. Part of that involved the construction of the new court- house and getting it named the Mahady Courthouse. The Addison bar was very in- volved in getting that done and commis- sioning a portrait of Judge Mahady, and getting it hung in the courthouse, so there was that project going on. There was also evaluation of judges. We began the pro- cess of doing a questionnaire, as the ro- tations came through, trying to provide feedback, real time feedback, if you will, to judges who were sitting in Addison, so we were very active in getting that done. We had a pro bono clinic going at the court- house, where, on Friday afternoons I think it was, we had a publicized clinic for peo- ple to come ask questions or to get some basic legal advice. So, there were quite a
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2011
few things going on at the Addison bar and that all interested me, very much. Then, several—five, six, or seven years later, I got a call from the then president of the VBA, saying they were looking for nominations and was I interested. And, after giving it some thought, I said “Yeah, I am interest- ed, because the larger issues of our profes- sion have always been a concern of mine.” So I threw my hat in the ring. If memory serves me, the first time I ran for the Board of the Vermont Bar Association, the vote was a dead tie. I think I tied with another candidate. I think it was Ed Adrian.
BP: You’re right. JC: I tied, and I think in fact, you, Bob, thought it was fairly unusual, and perhaps unique in the history of the Vermont Bar Association.
BP: I had not seen it before, and I don’t know anything in the history that said that had ever happened before. And as I recall, the meeting had adjourned, right? And we couldn’t do a revote until the fall, until Sep- tember. JC: That’s right. Ed, I think, was on the
Board through the Young Lawyers Division, or he had already been on the Board. Any- way, I think we had a revote and I was lucky enough to be elected. It has been a great experience to sit on the Board and grapple with issues that are important to the pro- fession. I learn something every day. I have learned a lot from both the previous presi- dents and from the people on the Board. It is a continuous learning process.
BP: Until Dave Fenster moved from Ben- nington to Addison County, I don’t think there was a representative from Addison County.
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