BP: And a year or two after that, may- be just the next year, you got involved in another uniform bill, didn’t you? The one called the UCCJEA. AB: The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdic- tion and Enforcement Act.
BP: Thank you. It’s a mouthful. AB: That bill had come up in the legis-
lature a couple years before and for what- ever reason it was put aside. Vermont was one of the last two states in the country to pass this legislation. It’s very difficult when you are looking at actions between states, where a child has parents in two states, to not have some type of uniform law. This was an area in which Vermont was behind the times, and we were wanting to become current with the help of VBA Family Law Section and Judge Amy Davenport. We all worked together to craft the changes that needed to be made to bring it into con- formance with Vermont’s own statutes, and once it was in the legislature, we worked with Sen. Peg Flory to get it passed.
BP: Have you had an occasion to use ei- ther of those two statutes in your practice? AB: Yes, I have used them fairly regu-
larly. It is interesting because both pieces have made the practice less confusing. In military cases, where a military parent is
deploying, the new law decreases conflict between parents, because the law is very clear about what will happen in those situ- ations. With regard to the UCCJEA, it clar- ifies which state will have jurisdiction and how the courts are supposed to react to those situations. Both of these laws help to clarify expectations, decrease litigation, and increase opportunities for resolution.
BP: Let’s talk, if you will, a little bit about
relationships with the judiciary. Where do you think the bench-bar relationship is now? You can talk Chittenden county or statewide. How are we managing? AB: Since I have been on the board, I have seen the relationship develop signifi- cantly. Over the last three or four years our relationship has gotten better, and better, and better! I feel like we are really having very good and honest bench-bar discus- sions. We have an opportunity to commu- nicate our thoughts and concerns pretty openly with the administration and with the judges, and I feel that is mutual. We have had open discussions about what we— both members of the bar and the judicia- ry—can do to better the practice, and bet- ter the court system, in Vermont. I think it’s nice to see that relationship develop, be- cause we are all users of the court system; the judges are making decisions but we are
all part of the same group. And I think we ought to be working in tandem to better our court system, and that’s what we’re do- ing. It has been immensely valuable to have a member of the judiciary, Hon. Thomas Durkin, on our board as well. I also feel that Chief Justice Paul Reiber has worked hard to improve bench-bar relations.
BP: What do you think are the challenges that now face the practitioner in Vermont, from the perspective of a firm of this size, or for the sole proprietor or the small two- to-three-person law firm. Things are hap- pening quickly these days, and some of our members have concerns that things may be passing them by. AB: I believe the practice of law, as we know it, is going to be changing signifi- cantly over the next number of years, and perhaps we don’t know exactly what that change will look like yet. But given what we have seen in the global markets, what we have seen in the U.S., and what we have seen in Vermont, I feel like there are chang- es coming in each area in different ways. I do believe that change is coming and is happening and has to happen. Actually, this is one of the areas that I plan to ex- plore this year. I would like to appoint a task force to look at how the practice of law may be evolving in Vermont for firms
www.vtbar.org
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2012
7
President’s Column
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