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Jeff Nolan

NEWS

Leigh Cole and Jeff Nolan Present at UVM Legal Issues Conference (October 2017)

Each fall the University of Vermont presents a popular national conference on legal issues in higher education, designed for education administrators. This year Leigh Cole and Jeff Nolan participated as speakers on topics including current legal trends in campus threat assessment, sexual assault-related litigation, and emotional support animals (Jeff) and immigration (Leigh).

NEWS

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
NEWS

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.

NEWS

Nolan to Co-Present Four New Training Programs Offered by United Educators in 2015

Program Designed to Prevent Violence and Address Title IX and VAWA Compliance

Bethesda, MD (May 18, 2015) — New training programs designed to help institutions develop a cross-disciplinary approach to prevent and respond to sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking are being offered by United Educators (UE), the nation’s leading provider of risk management solutions for higher education. Unique to this training is the emphasis on use of campus threat assessment teams to address these offenses. The “Title IX, VAWA, and Threat Assessment” trainings will be offered in four cities and feature an interactive format to help institutions comply with Title IX and VAWA training requirements.

“Keeping victims safe while preventing and responding to sexual assault, stalking, dating or domestic violence requires a coordinated approach involving administrators representing multiple functions,” said Marisa Randazzo, PhD, Managing Partner, SIGMA Threat Management Associates and one of the two presenters.

As an international expert on threat assessment, targeted violence, and violence prevention, Dr. Randazzo will conduct the training with Jeffrey Nolan, a partner with Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C. Nolan’s firm represents institutions of higher education, advising them on issues and assisting with the development and implementation of policies and training programs.

“Risks are diffused and reports are investigated more effectively when threat assessment teams can work closely with Title IX coordinators, student affairs, human resources, campus safety, and legal affairs to evaluate any ongoing threats and implement safety plans where necessary,” said Randazzo.

Nolan said, “This will help satisfy Title IX coordinator training requirements provided in the April 24, 2015, ‘Dear Colleague’ letter as well as VAWA training requirements for officials who conduct disciplinary hearings. Participants will leave with actionable plans and a better understanding of the perspectives and responsibilities of other team members. The overall impact will be a safer campus environment.”

This unique approach will help administrators prevent and resolve incidents of sexual violence and assault on college campuses. “Administrators need multiple tools to assess and address the complex issues they face,” said Constance Neary, UE’s vice president for risk management. “Attending training as a multidisciplinary team enables administrators to be better equipped to prevent and resolve incidents of sexual violence.”

Training sessions are scheduled for Baltimore on June 18-19; Boston, July 28-29; Chicago, Oct. 8-9; and Atlanta, Nov. 3-4.

# # #

United Educators (UE), a reciprocal risk retention group, is a licensed insurance company owned and governed by nearly 1,300 members representing thousands of schools, colleges, and universities throughout the United States. Members range from small independent schools to multicampus public universities.

UE was created in 1987 on the recommendation of a national task force organized by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Our mandate is to provide schools, colleges, and universities with a long-term, stable alternative to commercial liability insurance. EduRisk™ from United Educators provides members with risk management resources to help prevent incidents that put people and institutions at risk. And, when claims do occur, UE protects our schools, colleges, and universities with education-specific coverage and an experienced claims management team. This prevention and protection philosophy enables UE to reduce the overall cost of risk for our policyholders.

United Educators is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best and was named a Ward’s 50 company in 2013 and 2014.

NEWS

Nolan presents several sessions at UVM Conference

Jeff Nolan of Dinse’s Higher Education Practice Group presented three sessions at the University of Vermont’s national Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference in October, 2014. Jeff co-presented the keynote update on recent developments in higher education law, co-presented a session on the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (“VAWA”) and Title IX, and co-presented a session on the relationship between VAWA obligations to respond to dating violence, domestic violence and stalking and the work of campus threat assessment teams.

NEWS

Nolan Presents National Webinar on Sexual and Dating Violence and Campus Threat Assessment

During September, 2014, Jeff Nolan of Dinse’s Higher Education Practice Group co-presented a webinar sponsored by United Educators and the University Risk Management and Insurance Association. Colleges and universities from around the country participated in the webinar, which suggested that institutions should consider involving their campus threat assessment teams as appropriate when responding to reports of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking that are likely to be received given the requirements of the recently-enacted Violence Against Women Act amendments to the Clery Act.

NEWS

Nolan presents seminars on sexual violence prevention, threat assessment and workplace violence prevention

In April, 2014, Jeff Nolan of Dinse’s Higher Education and Employment practice groups presented a session on Campus SaVE Act implementation and training at the University Risk Management and Insurance Association’s Northeastern Regional Conference in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a session on workplace threat assessment and reintegration of “scary” employees into the workplace at the BLR Safety Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, and a session on threat assessment and the law at the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety Threat Assessment Conference in Richmond, Virginia.

Nolan presents Campus SaVE Act seminar and leads discussion group

Jeff Nolan of Dinse’s Higher Education Practice Group recently participated in the National Association of College and University Attorneys’ Spring Conference in Miami, which focused on “Student Sexual Misconduct: Addressing Institutional Culture and Compliance.” Jeff co-presented a session on the changes to institutional policies and practices required by the Campus SaVE Act, which went into effect March 7, 2014 and requires colleges and universities to respond to and provide training regarding domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Jeff also co-led a discussion group regarding how institutions should work with local law enforcement where on-campus misconduct may also implicate the criminal justice system.

Nolan Co-Authors Chapter in International Handbook of Threat Assessment

A chapter co-written by Jeff Nolan of Dinse’s Higher Education Practice Group (with co-authors Gene Deisinger, Ph.D. and Marisa Randazzo, Ph.D.) titled “Threat Assessment and Management in Higher Education: Enhancing the Standard of Care in the Academy” was published in December, 2013 in the International Handbook of Threat Assessment. This peer-reviewed Handbook, which compiles chapters covering the basics of threat assessment and management, threat assessment in specific fields of practice such as higher education and schools, and best and promising practices in threat assessment and management operations, was published by the Oxford University Press.