Spring is Fleeting!

Hope may spring eternal but Spring, against hope, is ephemeral.  Perhaps if you consolidate our several bursts of false Spring this year, poking out here and there between snow storms, it will equate to one full Spring.  Today, it feels like summer.  So maybe last week WAS Spring?  No, Spring will return on Friday, but perhaps Sunday we will bounce right into full summer?

Spring is touted as a great opportunity for renewal, but how can we rejuvenate in one week?  Well, hope against hope that it lasts forever, all we can do is get cracking! Whatever Spring means to you: mud, flowers, asparagus, rain, peepers, warmth, tree buds, golf, planting, pedicures, baseball, lambs, trout-lilies, storms, weeding, floods, robins, leeks, alfresco dining, trillium, first mow, calves, black flies, soccer, morels, cleaning, daffodils, tennis, hiking, fiddleheads, moving, lacrosse, ramps, dieting, one bug-free week or attorney license renewal, enjoy all of its gifts and quirks because Spring is fleeting!

Hubbard Park is looking quite Spring-like here in Montpelier.  It has finally sprung, so do get out and enjoy the weather of late.  Attorney well-being starts with taking some time for yourself to recharge, so why wait?  Enjoy the local pictures, below.

But don’t forget, if you are up for license renewal this year, May and June will be gone in a flash.  Be an early bird (or at least not a CLE-Makeup-Plan-bird) and free up your Summer! We’ve made things easy for you by offering some great programming.  Coming up we have oodles of CLE offerings, including the May 16^th Tech Show, June 12^th Environmental Law Day, June 20^th Procrastinator’s Day and the June 26^th Probate Law Update.  Foreclosure mediators will have their own update training as well.  

Check out our events calendar on our website at www.vtbar.org.  If you are renewing and you don’t know which VBA programs you’ve attended, give us a call!  We are here to help you.

Hope to see you at a VBA CLE program or out and about this Spring!

Quiz for the Day

Name three technological landmark events linked to May 16^th

One: on May 16, 1862, Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir built the first automobile.  Lenoir was a Belgian engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. His first automobile was capable of 3 kilometers per hour and looked something like this:

Two: on May 16, 1960 Theodore Maiman built the first working laser. His “optical maser” won the race to transform the microwave laser concept into something producing light at shorter wavelengths, shunning the gases and movie projector lamps previously used for pulses of light in his model.  His humble device changed the world, as we take for granted the everyday use of lasers in checkout scanners, welding, eye surgery, dentistry, telecommunications, medicine and more.

Three: on May 16, 2018, the VBA will convene its Tech Show in South Burlington, bringing more technological advances into everyday living and working! 

Blockchain, just like the automobile in 1862, only seems like a futuristic concept.  It’s already in the South Burlington land records!  What about data breaches? They don’t just happen to credit reporting agencies. Got litigation? Will you be prepared for e-discovery and all the data preservation requirements?  Think a law firm like Amazon, LLP is the stuff of fiction, perhaps a comedy or horror flick?  Think again.  Consumers are driving the bus, even in law, and law firms need to learn how to be responsive, available, efficient and seamless to stay ahead.

Register HERE for the VBA Tech Show and learn about law practice management options, cloud computing, billing, Office IT, cybersecurity, bitcoins and blockchain, e-discovery, data breaches, consulting, social media and hot trends.  Spend quality time with our sponsors to get personalized recommendations and enjoy our full day of CLE’s with breakfast, lunch, snacks AND a reception, all before the reporting deadline, and all in one tech-filled day!

ABA Day in Washington

L to R Vermont in DC: President Dan Maguire, Representative Peter Welch, ABA Board member Fritz Langrock, VBA ED Teri Corsones and President-Elect Gary Franklin

President Dan Maguire, President-Elect Gary Franklin, Executive Director, Teri Corsones and ABA Board of Governors member, Fritz Langrock all traveled to Washington, DC this week for the American Bar Association's annual "lobby day." During the trip, they will attend meetings with each of our three Congressmen and/or their staff as part of a nationwide lobbying effort of attorneys.

As always, the focal part of the ask is to insure that Congress continues to fund the Legal Services Corporation to provide civil legal aid to low-income constituents.  While the main goal is to insure that the funding is not cut or eliminated as threatened, our state delegation will also be asking Congress to restore funding to the inflation-adjusted Fiscal Year 2010 level of $483 million (from last year's $385 million). This year's  efforts also include requesting preservation of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) to help those who choose to go into the field of public service.  This program lowers the primary barrier --student loan debt--that is keeping new graduates from pursuing public service careers.

Between and during meetings, they managed to get a few pictures in...

Legislators Coffee 2018

The VBA was once again happy to host a legislators coffee in the Statehouse cafeteria last week.  Hosting included coffee, donuts, pocket constitutions and of course, the undoubtedly world-famous (or at least Vermont-famous) apple bread pudding made by our Executive Director Teri Corsones.  Six trays of the apple-rich treat were happily and gratefully devoured by legislators, pages, officers, VBA members and passersby at the nearly 2-hour event.

Heavily immersed in gun legislation, legislators from the House and Senate alike were excited to receive pocket constitutions from the VBA, some requesting that the Second Amendment be flagged with a post-it!  Attached to each constitution were cards with information about our Lawyer Referral Service, modest means program and VT Free Legal Answers, helping fulfill our mission of bridging the access to justice gap.  We also reminded legislators that our VBA members stand ready to volunteer to speak to schools or civic groups about the constitution on request.

VBA Government Relations guru, Bob Paolini, and Teri Corsones utilized the time to speak to legislators about the status of pending legislation that the VBA is following, like parentage, probate, leaselands, notaries, and more.  The session has been busy on all fronts, and the VBA continues to serve as our members' voice in the legislature.  Remember, Bob and Teri post to the VBA Connect online communities when any new issues arise, or if they require testimony from our members.  They are always available to hear your concerns regarding any pending legislation.

Please enjoy the pictures and all the smiles from the event, below; sorry, the apple bread pudding is ALL GONE!