Robert R. McKearin

Telephone: 802-859-7028

E-Mail: rmckearin@dinse.com

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Areas of Practice Concentration:

Employment Law and Litigation

Description of Practice:

Mr. McKearin is a firm director with more than 30 years of experience in litigation in state and federal courts of Vermont at both the trial and appellate level. His practice focuses on the litigation, defense and counseling of businesses in employment matters and construction litigation. He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Vermont and is on inactive member status with the State Bar of Texas. He is a member of the firm's general litigation practice and co-leader (with Amy McLaughlin) of the firm's Employment Practice Group.

Employment Practice

Mr. McKearin has substantial experience advising, counseling and defending management on employment matters. In addition to being Leader of the Employment Practice Group, he is an editor of the Vermont Employment Law Letter, and the firm's primary liaison with the Employers Counsel Network, a network of fifty law firms nationwide under the auspices of the newsletter publisher, specializing in employment matters. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section and the Employment Section of the International Association of Defense Counsel. Mr. McKearin frequently lectures on employment law issues for human resource and attorney groups

General Litigation

In addition to his employment practice, Mr. McKearin represents parties in construction disputes and represents insured and uninsured defendants in personal injury and other liability actions in Vermont state and federal courts.

ADR

Mr. McKearin is actively involved in alternate dispute resolution. He is a member of the panel of Early Neutral Evaluators organized by the Federal Court for the District of Vermont and is often selected to serve as an evaluator/mediator in that program. He also serves as a mediator and arbitrator in civil litigation in state courts.

Prior Experience:

Mr. McKearin joined the firm in 1978 following a judicial clerkship with the Honorable James S. Holden, Chief Federal District Judge for the District of Vermont (1977-1978). Prior to that service, he was Assistant Regional Counsel for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas, Texas (1974-1978).

Education:

  • Southern Methodist University School of Law (J.D. 1974)
  • Gettysburg College (A.B. 1970)

Professional Affiliation and Recognition:

  • State Bar of Texas (1974)
  • Vermont Bar Association (1978)
  • United States District Court for the District of Vermont (1978)
  • Second Circuit Court of Appeals, New York, (1987)
  • International Association of Defense Counsel (1987)
  • Employers Counsel Network
  • Who's Who Legal USA, Employment Law
  • Named to New England Super Lawyers (2007-2009)
  • Best Lawyers (2006-2011)
  • Chambers USA, Chambers & Partners (2003-2011)

Other Activities:

In addition to his work with Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, Mr. McKearin serves as a board member of the Burlington Business Association. He lives in Burlington with his wife, Mary. They have a daughter, Laura, a May 2007 graduate of the University of Vermont and a son, Chris, a May 2005 graduate of Whitman College.