Vermont Bar Association

What it reported doing in 2024

Directory/website - the Vermont bar association directory is a comprehensive listing of Vermont licensed attorneys and judges, along with their mailing addresses, phone and fax numbers, and electronic addresses. It also contains a complete listing of the Vermont court system and local, state and federal offices frequently contacted by members of the legal profession. A copy is distributed to every member free of charge.lawyer referral service - a public service of the Vermont bar association that provides referrals to individuals seeking an attorney.meetings - the Vermont bar association sponsors two meetings each year, the annual and mid-year meeting, at which continuing legal education seminars are offered together with social events.membership - membership in the Vermont bar association is voluntary. The membership program tracks all expenses relating to membership such as the dues mailing, printing and postage costs for notices to attorneys, etc. Lobbying - lobbying for the Vermont bar association is under the direction of its executive director. The association tracks, reports and testifies on legislation of importance to Vermont licensed attorneys.casemaker - the Vermont bar association offers its members on-line legal research through our web portal.legal access coordinator - the coordinator identifies and unifies pro bono efforts throughout Vermont, publicizing and promoting the work of pro bono attorneys, recruiting and providing training for pro bono attorneys in areas of need, and coordinating with existing access to justice programs and projects. The legal access coordinator also provides support services for the rutland county pilot project and the county legal assistance projects. Rutland county pilot project - the rutland county pilot project is a Vermont bar foundation funded project under which members of the private bar provide legal service to low-income pro se litigants in specific cases in superior, family and probate courts in rutland county. Participating attorneys receive a reduced fee ($60 per hour) to represent eligible clients in landlord/tenant, foreclosure and collection cases in rutland superior court; in child support contempt cases in rutland family court; and in involuntary guardianship cases in rutland district and fair haven district probate courts. Screening for eligibility is done by Vermont legal aid in burlington. Attorney compensation is generally capped at 5 hours for superior court cases, and at 3 hours for involuntary guardianship and family court cases. County legal assistance projects - the county legal assistance projects are modeled after the bennington county legal assistance project and the rutland county pilot project. They will operate in much the same manner as their predecessors and they will use forms, literature and procedures developed for those projects. The addison, windham, windsor, bennington, Washington and franklin/grand isle county legal assistance projects seek to provide representation to indigent and low-income litigants limited to the following legal areas (child support contempt/modification; landlord/tenant disputes; collection and foreclosure matters; collection matters; and involuntary guardianship cases). Aba catalyst - the Vermont bar association and the Vermont law school have partnered on a virtual lawyer incubator pilot project to test a model of encouraging new lawyers to establish law practices in underserved areas of Vermont. An important goal of the project will be to use the skills and enthusiasm of these young lawyers to provide legal services to low income clients through pro bono and low bono representation. New attorneys will learn how to meld services for poorer clients into a practice that still enables the attorney to make a decent living while servicing their communities.victims of crime act (voca) grant - this is a reimbursement grant between the Vermont crime victims services and the Vermont bar association to provide direct services to

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: Limited
• Program expense ratio: Limited
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -0.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.34; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 20.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: Limited
• Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings