News
Dinse Contributes to Chambers & Partners’ USA: Regional Real Estate 2018 Guide
Dinse attorneys Molly Langan, Jess Phelps, James Langan, and Brian Murphy, contributed to the Vermont section of Chambers and Partners’ USA: Regional Real Estate guide. The USA: Regional Real Estate guide provides expert legal commentary on the key issues for businesses involved in the real estate sector. The guide covers the important developments in the most significant jurisdictions. You can view Dinse’s contribution here.
Dinse Receives Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2018
The 2018 edition of Chambers USA, a leading directory of American lawyers and law firms, recognized 10 Dinse attorneys in their practice areas. The new guide, released May 3, 2018, also recognizes the firm as among Vermont’s best in every category of practice.
The firm’s Labor & Employment group was described as “extremely knowledgeable.” Sources say “Their expertise and experience is very helpful. They’re readily available and really good about talking through the issues.”
The firm’s Litigation group received the highest possible ranking. The team is known as a “highly impressive group with a strong reputation for defending educational institutions, construction firms and healthcare providers, among other clients.”
The firm’s Real Estate group also received the highest ranking and clients say “The team is excellent, from the lawyers to the paralegals to the administrative folks. Every ‘t’ is crossed and every ‘i’ is dotted. Everything is thorough and very timely. These people are very skilled and efficient; we never have a problem.”
The firm’s highly-ranked Intellectual Property practice is recognized as a “Noteworthy practice that specializes in technology licensing, trademarks and copyright matters. Strong experience in domestic and international trademark clearance, prosecution, registration, enforcement and maintenance.” Sources say that the firm has “the expertise and connections to handle big league matters.”
And the firm’s Corporate/Commercial group was top-ranked, with Chambers’ sources saying the firm is “practical, straightforward and easy to deal with.”
| Corporate/Commercial Afi Ahmadi David Gurtman Brian R. Murphy Jeffrey J. McMahan Intellectual Property Jeffrey J. McMahan Labor & Employment Amy M. McLaughlin Jeffrey J. Nolan Karen McAndrew | Litigation: General Commercial Ritchie Berger Karen McAndrew Litigation: Medical Malpractice & Insurance Defense Ritchie Berger Real Estate Austin Hart Molly Langan |
Dinse Announces Two New Directors and Shareholders of the Firm
Dinse is pleased to announce that Maggie Platzer and Justin Barnard have been elected as Directors and Shareholders of the firm.
Maggie Platzer joined the firm in October 2011 after acting as Assistant General Counsel and Privacy Officer at Delta Dental of Massachusetts in Boston. Her practice focuses primarily on employee health and retirement benefits, and healthcare compliance. Maggie helps employers understand their compliance obligations when managing and reporting health coverage, self-insuring employee health benefits, and management of their 401(k), 403(b) or other retirement plans. She also advises healthcare providers as to their compliance obligations under HIPAA and other privacy laws.
Justin Barnard joined the firm in July 2014 after serving as a lead litigator in the Maine Attorney General’s Office for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and prior to that as a law clerk for the Honorable Kermit Lipez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Justin’s practice focuses primarily on representing clients before federal and state trial courts, appeals courts, and administrative bodies. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries and contexts, from solar development to professional malpractice.
Jess Phelps Publishes Article on Agricultural Conservation Easements in Ecology Law Quarterly
Jess Phelps of Dinse’s Real Estate and Environmental groups recently published an article, Defining the Role of Conservation in Agricultural Conservation Easements, in Ecology Law Quarterly, the environmental law review published by the University of California-Berkeley. This article focuses on the challenges of balancing the environmental protection of these lands against the need for these agricultural properties to have operational flexibility, with specific suggestions regarding how to encourage better conservation outcomes. This article is available for download, here.
Dinse Welcomes New Attorneys
Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew is pleased to announce that Jess Phelps, Sara Huddleston and Michael Thomas have joined the firm as associate attorneys.
Jess is a member of the firm’s real estate group. Prior to joining the firm, he was an attorney at the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of General Counsel, Natural Resources and Environment Division in Washington, D.C., where he primarily worked on land conservation transactions involving the Natural Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”) and Forest Service. He graduated from Drake University School of Law where he served Editor in Chief of the Drake Law Review.
Sara is a member of the firm’s business group and her practice involves a variety of corporate and nonprofit transactions, including drafting agreements and advising clients on corporate governance. She graduated from Boston College Law School where she served as a research assistant to Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luís Roberto Barroso and Professor Paulo Barrozo. Sara also helped Professor Sharon Beckman, Director of the Boston College Innocence Program, establish a program to address the re-entry needs of exonerees.
Michael is a member of the firm’s business group and provides legal support to start-ups and established companies in all aspects of their business operations. Prior to joining the firm, he assisted startup companies in the Boston area by drafting licensing and operating agreements while working in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic at Boston College Law School. Michael graduated from Boston College Law School where he served as Managing Editor for the Boston College Intellectual Property and Technology Forum Journal.
Leigh Cole elected to Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA)
Leigh Cole has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA). NACUA is the premier organization in the field of higher education law and a primary source of information on legal developments facing colleges and universities.
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.
Dinse receives top rankings in Chambers USA 2017
The 2017 edition of Chambers USA, a leading directory of American lawyers and law firms, recognized 10 Dinse attorneys in their practice areas. The new guide, released May 26, 2017, also recognizes the firm as among Vermont’s best in every category of practice.
The firm’s Labor & Employment group was described as a “Distinguished employment law practice, noted for its strength in the education and healthcare sectors. Experienced in a wide range of employment law matters, including compliance matters pertaining to OSHA standards, claims under the FLSA, and day-to-day governance matters. Has additional experience in employee discrimination, discipline and grievance procedures.”
The firm’s Litigation group received the highest possible ranking. The team is known as a “highly impressive group with a strong reputation for defending educational institutions, construction firms and healthcare providers, among other clients.”
The firm’s Real Estate group also received the highest ranking and sources say “They’re awesome, knowledgeable and thorough. It’s been amazing since the moment we walked through the door. The whole experience is professional and pleasant.”
The firm’s highly-ranked Intellectual Property practice is recognized as a “Noteworthy practice that specializes in technology licensing, trademarks and copyright matters. Strong experience in domestic and international trademark clearance, prosecution, registration, enforcement and maintenance.”
And the firm’s Corporate/Commercial group was top-ranked, with Chambers’ sources saying “We’re abundantly pleased with our relationship. Everyone is professional, competent and responsive. I don’t have enough good things to say about them.”
Corporate/Commercial
Afi Ahmadi
David Gurtman
Brian R. Murphy
Jeffrey J. McMahan
Intellectual Property
Jeffrey J. McMahan
Labor & Employment
Amy M. McLaughlin
Jeffrey J. Nolan
Karen McAndrew
Litigation: General Commercial
Ritchie Berger
Karen McAndrew
Real Estate
Austin Hart
Molly Langan
Dinse welcomes new attorney
Dinse, is pleased to announce that Daniel R. Sharpe joined the firm as Of Counsel in May. Mr. Sharpe will be working with the firm’s employment practice group, advising clients on employee benefit plan design, administration, and compliance, ERISA, and executive compensation.
Mr. Sharpe has considerable experience in all aspects of employee benefits law. Much of his recent work has been focused on fiduciary performance and risk management. He has advised management and administrative committees as well as union plans. Mr. Sharpe has provided advice and guidance in the adoption of investment policies and in reviewing fees for retirement plans, foundations and endowment funds. His employee benefit work covers executive compensation, qualified retirement plans, welfare benefit plans, federal and state income taxation of retirement benefits and ESOP plan design and administration. Mr. Sharpe has represented clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the US Tax Court and other Federal courts.