Weinberger appoints Montpelier attorney Dan Richardson as Burlington town legal professional

Up to date at 9:35 p.m.

Burlington has hired a new town lawyer. 

Dan Richardson, a companion in the Montpelier legislation firm Tarrant, Gillies, Richardson and Shems, will go away the company to get the metropolis government’s major legal job. It was just lately vacated by Eileen Blackwood, who held the posture for 9 yrs in Mayor Miro Weinberger’s administration. 

Weinberger announced Richardson’s appointment Tuesday afternoon in entrance of City Hall. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Burlington Town Council, which ideas a vote future Monday.

“Dan brings almost two many years of working experience to the town team and is seriously, frankly, a single of the most hugely competent lawyers in the overall condition of Vermont,” Weinberger mentioned. 

Weinberger highlighted Richardson’s municipal experience. As an adjunct professor, Richardson created the Vermont Law School’s 1st municipal law system. Richardson also serves on the Montpelier Metropolis Council, but strategies to resign in get to consider the metropolis lawyer career. 

Richardson graduated from Vermont Law University in 2003 and clerked for Chittenden Superior Courtroom Judges Matthew Katz and Richard Norton. He turned a lover of his existing law organization in 2009. 

Via his do the job, Weinberger stated, Richardson has practiced a lot of distinct kinds of regulation and has represented far more than 20 Vermont municipalities. He is a former president of the Vermont Bar Association and is on the Vermont Bar Foundation’s board of administrators. 

Richardson instructed reporters Tuesday that he views Burlington’s lawful department as “second to the [state attorney general’s] office and the most spectacular community-sector legal crew in the condition of Vermont.” 

“I can say truthfully that Burlington shaped me into the attorney I became,” Richardson claimed. “And it has been 16 many years that I have sought to appear back to the metropolis to apply regulation.” 

He explained he views the position as a “risk manager” for the city. He’ll be supplying town officers guidance on the parameters of the law and provide a whole define on the legal selections readily available on policy troubles. 

He said he’s a “big believer” in Vermont’s general public data law and claimed it’s vital for city government to run with transparency. 

“Part of my role as city attorney is to, you know, effectively act as an umpire to say, ‘This is a thing which is allowable in the community realm and this is something that is not,’” Richardson explained. 

“I see my job as generating confident that the regulation is defined and comprehended,” he added, “and not just merely dictated.” 

Disclosure: Richardson has formerly represented VTDigger and its guardian firm, the Vermont Journalism Trust, in public data scenarios.