Litigation
Best Lawyers Recognizes Twelve Dinse Attorneys
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew announces that twelve of its attorneys were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the The Best Lawyers in America® 2015 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.) in eighteen different practice areas. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
The practice areas and the attorney(s) listed in each area are as follows:
Commercial Litigation: Ritchie E. Berger, Karen McAndrew
Corporate Compliance: David Gurtman
Corporate Governance Law: Brian Murphy
Corporate Law: Jeffrey J. McMahan, Brian R. Murphy
Employment Law – Management: Amy M. McLaughlin, Jeffrey J. Nolan
Immigration Law: Leigh Polk Cole
Litigation – Construction: Karen McAndrew
Litigation – Intellectual Property: Shapleigh Smith, Jr.
Litigation – Labor & Employment: Amy M. McLaughlin
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants: Ritchie E. Berger
Mergers & Acquisitions Law: Brian R. Murphy
Non-Profit / Charities Law: Brian R. Murphy
Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants: Ritchie E. Berger, Karen McAndrew
Product Liability Litigation – Defendants: Shapleigh Smith, Jr.
Real Estate Law: Austin D. Hart, Molly K. Lebowitz
Tax Law: Mark A. Langan
Technology Law: Jeffrey J. McMahan
Trusts and Estates: Mark A. Langan
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is one of the largest and most respected law firms in Vermont and northern New York. At Dinse, client service is our highest priority. For more information, please visit our website at www.dinse.com.
Best Lawyers Recognizes Twelve Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew Attorneys
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew announces that twelve of its attorneys were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the The Best Lawyers in America® 2016 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.) in nineteen different practice areas. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
The practice areas and the attorney(s) listed in each area are as follows:
- Commercial Litigation: Ritchie E. Berger, Karen McAndrew
- Corporate Compliance Law: David Gurtman
- Corporate Governance Law: Brian Murphy
- Corporate Law: Jeffrey J. McMahan, Brian R. Murphy
- Education Law: Jeffrey J. Nolan, Karen McAndrew
- Employment Law – Management: Amy M. McLaughlin, Jeffrey J. Nolan, Karen McAndrew
- Immigration Law: Leigh Polk Cole
- Litigation – Construction: Karen McAndrew
- Litigation – Intellectual Property: Shapleigh Smith, Jr., Karen McAndrew
- Litigation – Labor & Employment: Amy M. McLaughlin
- Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants: Ritchie E. Berger
- Mergers & Acquisitions Law: Brian R. Murphy
- Non-Profit / Charities Law: Brian R. Murphy
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants: Ritchie E. Berger, Karen McAndrew
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants: Shapleigh Smith, Jr.
- Real Estate Law: Austin D. Hart, Molly Langan
- Tax Law: Mark A. Langan
- Technology Law: Jeffrey J. McMahan
- Trusts and Estates: Mark A. Langan
Best Lawyers Recognizes Four Dinse Attorneys as Burlington Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year
Best Lawyers has named each of the following Dinse attorneys as “Lawyer of the Year” in their respective practice areas for 2016 in the Burlington area. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys through exhaustive peer-review assessments they conduct with thousands of leading lawyers each year.
Ritchie E. Berger
Personal Injury – Litigation – Defendants
Mr. Berger is head of the Litigation Section of the firm and is considered one of Vermont’s premier trial lawyers. He concentrates on the defense of complex civil litigation throughout Vermont and New England. He is a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Past-President of Vermont Chapter.
Karen McAndrew
Litigation – Construction
Ms. McAndrew is one of Vermont’s leading trial lawyers. She headed the firm’s litigation practice for many years, and was named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1997. She has successfully tried many complex civil cases in state and federal courts, and handled numerous appeals in the Vermont Supreme Court and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has a particular concentration in higher education law.
Jeffrey J. Nolan
Employment Law – Management
Mr. Nolan’s litigation and counseling practice focuses on representing employers and institutions of higher education before courts and administrative agencies in employment and student-related matters; advising employers and institutions of higher education on the resolution and legal implications of employment and student-related issues; and assisting employers and institutions of higher education in the development and implementation of appropriate policies, handbooks and training programs.
Austin D. Hart
Real Estate Law
Mr. Hart has represented clients in all phases of real estate transactions, including acquisition, permitting, development, finance, operation, leasing, and sale. He has advised clients with different types of real estate projects, including commercial office buildings, retail shopping centers, institutional campuses, and a planned recreational/residential community. He has served as counsel to common interest community owner associations, including a large mixed use resort association at a major Vermont ski area. A substantial portion of his practice focuses on the unique issues faced by colleges and hospitals in the ownership, operation, and expansion of their campuses, including property tax exemption laws. Mr. Hart was elected in 2015 as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
New England Super Lawyers Recognizes Ten Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew Attorneys
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew announces that eight attorneys have been selected for inclusion on the 2014 New England Super Lawyers list in five different practice areas, and two attorneys have been selected for inclusion on the 2014 New England Rising Stars list. Attorneys are identified as “Super Lawyers” based on extensive nomination and polling among New England attorneys aimed at identifying New England’s top attorneys in each class. Attorneys are identified as being “Rising Stars” based on extensive nomination and polling among New England attorneys who are asked to nominate the best attorneys who are 40 or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less.
The practice areas and the attorney(s) listed in each area for the 2014 New England Super Lawyers list are as follows:
Business Litigation: Ritchie Berger, W. Scott Fewell, Karen McAndrew
Employment & Labor Law: Jeffrey Nolan
Estate Planning & Probate: Mark Langan
Health Care Law: Linda Cohen
Real Estate Law: Molly Langan, Austin Hart
David Gurtman and Andy MacIlwaine have been selected for inclusion on the 2014 New England Rising Stars list in the practice areas of Business/Corporate Law and Construction Litigation respectively.
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is one of the largest and most respected law firms in Vermont and northern New York. At Dinse, client service is our highest priority. For more information, please visit our website at www.dinse.com.
American College of Trial Lawyers Names Ritchie E. Berger to its Board of Regents
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C. is pleased to announce that the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) has appointed Ritchie E. Berger to its Board of Regents, the first lawyer from Vermont to be chosen. ACTL is composed of the best trial lawyers from the United States and Canada.
Mr. Berger is a Director of the firm and head of its Litigation Section. His practice concentrates on the defense of complex civil litigation throughout Vermont and New England.
Mr. Berger also regularly lectures and conducts seminars on trial topics, is co-author of Vermont Jury Instructions, and serves on the U.S. District Court of Vermont’s Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is one of the largest and most respected law firms in Vermont and northern New York. At Dinse, client service is our highest priority.
Best Lawyers Recognizes Five Dinse Attorneys as Burlington Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year
Best Lawyers has named each of the following Dinse attorneys as “Lawyer of the Year” in their respective practice areas for 2015 in the Burlington area. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys through exhaustive peer-review assessments they conduct with thousands of leading lawyers each year.
Ritchie E. Berger
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Mr. Berger is head of the Litigation Section of the firm and is considered one of Vermont’s premier trial lawyers. He concentrates on the defense of complex civil litigation throughout Vermont and New England. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Past-Vermont State Chair, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Past-President of Vermont Chapter.
Mark A. Langan
Tax Law
Mr. Langan is head of the firm’s trust and estates practice. Mr. Langan’s practice involves the restructuring of estates and companies to reduce estate, gift, and income taxes at the federal and state levels and to provide creditor protection for clients in high risk occupations. His work also includes tax planning for business reorganizations including mergers, consolidations and recapitalizations, and tax planning for partnerships including formation, distributions and dissolutions.
Karen McAndrew
Commercial Litigation
Ms. McAndrew is one of Vermont’s leading trial lawyers. She headed the firm’s litigation practice for many years, and was named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1997. She has successfully tried many complex civil cases in state and federal courts, and handled numerous appeals in the Vermont Supreme Court and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has a particular concentration in higher education law.
Amy M. McLaughlin
Litigation – Labor and Employment
Ms. McLaughlin leads the firm’s Employment Law Group. In her practice, she regularly provides guidance on compliance issues, assists employers with the development and implementation of workplace policies and procedures, performs workplace investigations, conducts employment law trainings, and defends employers in connection with administrative charges, governmental audits and civil litigation.
Brian R. Murphy
Corporate Law
Mr. Murphy is a corporate and tax attorney concentrating in counseling closely-held businesses and their owners and nonprofit organizations. He is active in counseling clients on formation and structuring issues (including decisions with respect to the selection of the proper entity for effecting business and investment transactions), executive compensation and 409A compliance, tax planning, and representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Tax Court.
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is one of the largest and most respected law firms in Vermont and northern New York. At Dinse, client service is our highest priority.
Vermont Supreme Court Heightens Duty Owed in Certain Premises Liability Cases
The Vermont Supreme Court recently established a new rule in Demag v. Better Power Equipment, Inc., 2014 VT 78, — Vt. —-, — A.3d —-, that a landowner or occupier owes a duty of reasonable care to all “lawful entrants” to his property, thereby abolishing a decades-old distinction between “invitees” and “licensees” in which the latter was owed a lower standard of care. With the Demag ruling, Vermont joins the slight majority of states who have abolished the licensee-invitee distinction. The Court explicitly limited its holding to “lawful entrants,” and did not address the question of whether the duty of care owed to trespassers would also be heightened to a reasonable standard of care.
New Litigation Attorney Joins Dinse
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is pleased to announce that Justin B. Barnard joined the firm in July as an associate attorney.
Mr. Barnard is a member of the firm’s litigation group with a focus on civil litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Barnard served as a lead litigator for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in the Maine Attorney General’s Office. Mr. Barnard represented the State of Maine in both federal and state courts, including class actions and lawsuits involving complex issues of constitutional and federal law. In 2013, Mr. Barnard successfully briefed and argued an appeal in an equal protection class action before the First Circuit, obtaining dismissal of the case. Mr. Barnard is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Dartmouth College.
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C., with offices in Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York, is one of the largest law firms serving Vermont and the northern tier of New York.
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Karen McAndrew as one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is pleased to announce that Karen McAndrew has been included among Benchmark Litigation’s Top 250 Women in Litigation. This distinction is given based primarily on targeted research completed during the US Benchmark Litigation review process and is dedicated to honoring America’s leading female trial lawyers. Important elements during this research were peer review and overall depth of their litigation careers. Top 250 Women in Litigation features female litigators from all 50 states.
Karen McAndrew has had an active litigation practice for more than 30 years, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has tried numerous cases to verdict in both state and federal courts, has handled appeals to the Vermont Supreme Court as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and has represented clients in arbitrations and mediations.
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C., with offices in Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York, is one of the largest law firms serving Vermont and the northern tier of New York.