Vermont Law and Graduate School

12th Annual Energy Symposium: Navigating Challenges to the Energy Transition
2025-09-25 13:00 - 17:45 (America/New_York) | Bracewell LLP, 31 W. 52 Street, Suite 1900, New York, New York
Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment and Alumni in Energy group are excited to host the 12th Annual VLGS Energy Law and Policy Symposium both in person and virtually. Held during Climate Week NYC, the symposium will bring together VLGS alumni, partners, and supporters for a half-day discussion on the challenges facing the energy transition. Doors open at 12 p.m. ET, and the program will begin at 1 p.m.

New York continuing legal education (CLE) credits will be available to symposium attendees. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Kevin B. Jones Fund, which supports the academic and professional development of Vermont Law and Graduate School energy students.

Learn more and register by clicking here.

Constitution Day 2025: "Landmark Cases in American Constitutional Law"
2025-09-17 17:00 - 18:00 | Chase Community Center, 164 Chelsea St., South Royalton, VT, 05068
In celebration of the day that the United States Constitution was adopted, the Vermont Bar Association (VBA) and Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) will host a panel presentation focused on “Landmark Cases in American Constitutional Law.”

Panelists include:

Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber

Vermont Superior Court Judge Timothy Tomasi

Vermont Superior Court Judge Daniel Richardson JD’03

Vermont Superior Court Judge Bonnie Badgewick

VLGS Professor Peter Teachout

Incoming VBA President Jordana Levine JD’04 (Moderator)

This event is free and open to the public, and all in-person attendees will receive a pocket Constitution. There will be an opportunity to ask questions of panelists following the presentation.

If you are unable to join us in person, the livestream can be accessed by clicking here.

2025 New England Legal Writing Conference
2025-09-12 08:30 - 17:00 | Vermont Law and Graduate School, 164 Chelsea St., South Royalton, VT, 05068
Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) looks forward to hosting professors from near and far for the the 2025 New England Legal Writing Conference. This year’s theme is “Legal Writing: 2035.”

Participants will be asked to imagine the promise—and peril—of the future of legal writing. What will legal writing look like ten years from now? How should legal writing professors pivot to address rapidly evolving developments in technology and society? Which core principles of legal writing should we preserve–and which should we abandon?

For conference details, including information on registration and hotel accommodations, please click here. You can view the tentative schedule below.

SCHEDULE:

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Breakfast (Yates Common Room)

Sponsored by Bloomberg and Carolina Academic Press

9:15 – 9:30 a.m. | Dean’s Welcome with Dean Beth McCormack (Yates Common Room)

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. | Opening Plenary Address (Yates Common Room)

Moderator: Professor Greg Johnson

Linda Anderson, Stetson University College of Law: Legal Writing Reimagined: AI, NextGen Bar, and the New Writing Process—What Every Professor Needs to Know

10:25 – 10:50 a.m. | Plenary Discussion Group (Yates Common Room)

Moderator: Professor Catherine Fregosi

Nicole Belbin, Beth Cohen, and Jessica Mahon Scoles, Western New England School of Law: The Future of Legal Writing is Now: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

10:50 – 11 a.m. | Coffee Break (Yates Common Room) Sponsored by Aspen Publishing

11 – 11:50 a.m. | Concurrent Sessions

Map Room

Moderator: Professor Michael Kovac

Anna Elbroch, Melissa Christensen, Heather Ward, Julia Pothen, and Kelsey Klementowicz, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law: Mindful AI Integration: Designing Activities that Build Skills, Not Shortcuts

Rachel Jay Smith, University of Cincinnati College of Law: Chatbots as Tutors: Enhancing Legal Writing Education for the Future

Nina Thomas Classroom

Moderator: Professor Anna Connolly

Liz Chen, Brooklyn Law School: Rewarding Reflection

Kerry Fulham, Brooklyn Law School: Beyond Anxiety: Incorporating Creative Exercises into the Legal Writing Classroom

12 – 12:30 p.m. | Lunch (Yates Common Room) Sponsored by Thomson Reuters

12:30 – 1:50 p.m. | Keynote Speakers (Yates Common Room)

Moderator: Professor Greg Johnson

Elizabeth Berenguer, Stetson University College of Law; Lucy Jewel, University of Tennessee Winston College of Law; and Teri McMurtry-Chubb, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Gut Renovation: Using Critical and Comparative Rhetoric to Remodel How the Law Addresses Privilege and Power

2 – 2:50 p.m. | Concurrent Sessions

Map Room

Moderator: Professor Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff

Colin M. Black, Suffolk University Law School: The Ghost-Writer in the Machine: When Must Lawyers Disclose AI Assistance in Legal Writing?

Sarah Cansler, Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law: Teaching Ethical Use of AI

Nina Thomas Classroom

Moderator: Professor Jessica Durkis-Stokes

Anna Connolly, Vermont Law and Graduate School, Get Out of the Shallows: Break Up Legal Research and Writing

Stevie Leahy, Suffolk University Law School: Fifty Classrooms, One Future: Ground-Level Visions for Legal Writing in 2035

2:50 – 3 p.m. | Coffee Break (Yates Common Room) Sponsored by LexisNexis

3 – 4:30 p.m. | Concurrent Sessions

Map Room

Moderator: Professor Catherine Fregosi

Marni Goldstein Caputo and Kathleen Luz, Boston University School of Law: Professional Identity Formation in the Transactional Context: Not an Amorphous Concept

Laura D’Amato and Claire Abely, Boston University School of Law: A Transactional Simulation for a Changing Legal Education Landscape

Rebecca Chapman, Northeastern University School of Law: Transforming and Expanding Legal Writing Instruction Through Clinical Work

Nina Thomas Classroom

Moderator: Professor Michael Kovac

Patricia Winograd and Rebecca Delfino, LMU Loyola Law School: A Look at the Future . . . From a First-Generation Perspective

Krista Bordatto, Campbell Law School: Incorporating Cross-Cultural Competency and Cultural Humility into the Legal Writing Classroom—Enhancing Advocacy and Global Understanding

Afton Cavanaugh, University of Baltimore School of Law: “We Were Raised in Crisis”: Teaching Legal Writing to a Generation Formed by Upheaval

4:30 – 5 p.m. | Closing Reception (Yates Common Room)
