The South Royalton Legal Clinic at VLGS
Overview
Working under state and federal student practice rules and guided by experienced staff attorneys, approximately 40 Vermont Law and Graduate School student clinicians and work-study students help to represent clients in over 150 court, administrative, and other appearances each year. The clinic has trained many of Vermont’s leading legal service providers.
Student clinicians help develop cases from start to finish. This includes interviewing and counseling clients, conducting research via discovery, negotiations, and case and statutory analysis, writing briefs and motions, and preparing for and presenting at trial or hearing. South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC) students have also been involved in Vermont Supreme Court and U.S. District Court cases that have set precedents and clarified important points of law.
The South Royalton Legal Clinic does not guarantee representation, even if your issue falls into the categories below. Please note that the South Royalton Legal Clinic does not represent any criminal matters. If we are unable to help with your matter, please feel free to contact Vermont Legal Aid (800-889-2047 or visit their website at vtlegalaid.org) or the Vermont Lawyers Referral Service, a service provided by the Vermont Bar Association (800-639-7036 or visit their website at vtbar.org).
Family Law
We are currently restricted in the cases we can represent by the requirements of our grants. Currently, our grants allow us to assist victims of domestic violence in seeking relief from abuse orders (only in Vermont’s Orange and Windsor Counties), and representation of children caught in contentious family situations (court-appointed). Situation depending, we may be able to help with divorce, parental rights and responsibilities, parent-child contact (visitation), emancipation, and stalking orders.
Veterans Law
We are currently restricted in the cases we can represent by the requirements of our grants. Currently, our grants allow us to assist veterans in navigating the Veterans Administration and other veteran-related issues, such as benefits applications or appeals, bankruptcy, discharge upgrade, estate, foreclosure, expungement, SSI/SSDI appeals, and landlord/tenant issues. The SRLC veterans law program works alongside Veterans Affairs, Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), Veterans Place Inc., and Veterans Inc.
Student Enrollment, Caseload, and Case Statistics
The South Royalton Legal Clinic provides a hands-on learning experience for Vermont Law and Graduate School students. Student clinicians work with supervising attorneys throughout the life of a case. They conduct research and client consultations while obtaining practical legal experience in court. Students have the opportunity to lead initial intakes, research cases, consult with clients, and attend court hearings.
By working in the SRLC, students develop key legal skills such as: time management, using client management software such as Clio, drafting legal documents, and developing case strategies. They also learn to work as a team, fostering a healthy office environment which introduces them to the caliber of professionalism expected after law school.
Each year, there are also several advanced student clinicians who supervise incoming student attorneys, coordinate meetings between new students and supervising attorneys, and lead a lecture on a specific topic of interest, all while continuing to work on existing client matters.
Since 1979, thousands of clients have had their essential legal needs served through the South Royalton Legal Clinic with the help of more than 1,000 motivated law students. Annually, the clinic provides an estimated $1.5 million in free legal services to Vermonters. As one of the state’s three major providers of civil legal services, the clinic has become an essential resource throughout the state. The SRLC works collaboratively with many other service providers, including Vermont Legal Aid, Legal Services Law Line of Vermont, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Assault, University of Vermont, and Have Justice Will Travel.
The SRLC has represented clients in the following courts: Vermont Superior Court; Windsor, Washington, and Orange Family Divisions; Vermont Superior Court, Windsor Civil Division; Vermont Superior Court, Washington, and Windsor Probate Divisions; Office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in St. Albans, Vermont, and Boston, Massachusetts; as well as the Offices of Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) in White River Junction.
Projects
Children First! (CF!) Legal Advocacy Project
This project was formed in 2000 as a result of a report issued by the statewide Commission on the Future of Vermont’s Justice System, which highlighted the need for qualified attorneys to represent children in high-conflict proceedings involving divorce and parenting. Children First! provides legal representation to children caught up in particularly difficult and contentious disputes in family court (divorce, post-judgment, parentage, etc.) and probate court (guardianships). Though all the clients in Children First! cases are juveniles that are represented by court appointment only, SRLC attorneys and clinicians also assist parents and guardians involved in these cases to refocus their parenting and their involvement in their children’s lives. In this way, the SRLC helps adults assume appropriate parental responsibility for children in terms of their housing, employment, household finances, and education.
Domestic Violence (DV) Project
The Domestic Violence project began in 1997 and provides legal representation to address the legal needs of Vermont victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in final relief from abuse proceedings primarily in Windsor and Orange counties. This project serves as a no-cost resource to survivors of domestic violence, individuals and families that would not otherwise be able to access legal services. The project also provides training to domestic violence and rape crisis advocates.
Veterans Legal Assistance Project (VLAP) of Vermont
VLAP was established in 2014 to provide pro bono legal assistance to Vermont’s military veteran population. The project represents veterans with state civil law issues in Windsor and Orange counties, as well as on a statewide basis in matters concerning veterans law-specific issues, such as appeals from the denial of VA benefits and discharge upgrades. VLAP also assists veterans with debtor issues such as bankruptcy relief, foreclosure defense, and consumer protection. Through ongoing outreach to community partners, VLAP continues to develop awareness of veterans’ needs and advocate for adequate services.
Additionally, the South Royalton Legal Clinic provides assistance to low-income residents of Windsor and Orange Counties by offering legal information on a variety of civil issues. Types of cases include family matters (divorce; separation; parentage; child support); representation of juveniles committed to state custody as Children in Need of Services (CHINS); landlord/tenant law; bankruptcy and consumer matters; wills and guardianships; and family law assistance to prisoners.
Who We Are
Donald Hayes JD’10
- Director, Vermont Veterans Legal Assistance Project
- Director, South Royalton Legal Clinic
- Professor of Law
Mary Mason JD’18
- Assistant Professor of Law
Chester Harper JD’20
- Assistant Professor of Law
Amanda Murphy
- Office Manager, South Royalton Legal Clinic
Rebekah Suddens
- Office Assistant, South Royalton Legal Clinic
Contact Us
If you have questions about the South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School and how we might assist you, you are welcome to contact us at the following:
Phone: 802-831-1500
Fax: 802-831-1115
Email: srlc@vermontlaw.edu
Or via mail:
South Royalton Legal Clinic
PO Box 117
South Royalton, VT 05068
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