Richard T. Cassidy

Richard T. Cassidy

Now Offering ZOOM Mediations

Rich Cassidy is a Vermont personal injury and employment lawyer who works regularly as a mediator and arbitrator. He has been providing mediation and arbitration services since joining the initial Early Neutral Evaluation panel for the United States District Court for the District of Vermont in 1994.

A founder of Rich Cassidy Law, he has more than 40 years of experience with the practice of law in Vermont. As an advocate, Rich has represented all sides in many kinds of disputes: plaintiffs and defendants, employers and employees, injured parties, and insurance companies. He believes that the breadth of his experience benefits all of his clients.

He has significant experience with litigation and alternative dispute resolution involving higher education, public education, public safety, health care, municipalities, and manufacturing. His clients have included college students, faculty, and administrators as well as individuals, businesses, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit entities.

He has also advocated for individuals, businesses, and governments in a broad range of civil litigation, including in construction cases, cases under the Uniform Commercial Code, and contract and business tort claims.

In addition to his work as a litigator and counselor, he has served as a mediator and arbitrator and is a member of the Panel of Early Neutral Evaluators for the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and the mediation panels for the Vermont Environmental Court and Vermont Superior Courts.

When he’s not practicing law or in a committee meeting, Rich enjoys reading, walking his dog, Sophie, skiing, swimming, and rowing his Adirondack Guide Boat on Lake Champlain.

Education:

• Albany Law School Union University, Albany, New York
• J.D. – 1978
• University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
• B.A. – 1975
• Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Rutland, Vermont
• College Preparatory Diploma – 1967 -1971

Bar Admissions:

• Vermont, 1979 to present
• New York, 1979 to present
• U.S. District Court District of Vermont, 1979 to present
• U.S. District Court Northern District of New York 1979 to present
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1986 to present
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1990 to present

Honors and Awards:

• Jonathon B. Chase Award, ACLU of Vermont, Inc., 1990
• Grassroots Award, American Bar Association, 2009
• Equal Justice for All Award, American Bar Association, 2008
• President’s Award, Vermont Bar Association, 2015

Public Service:

• Uniform Law Commission, Vermont Member, (by gubernatorial appointment) 1994 – Present
• President, 2015 – 2017
• Executive Committee, Member
• Scope & Program Committee, Chair, Member
• Secretary
• Drafting Committee Chair, Uniform Covenants Not to Compete Act, 2020 to present
• Chair, Developments in Privacy Law Monitoring Committee (current)
• Drafting Committee Chair, Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act, 1994 -2010
• Drafting Committee Member, Apportionment of Tort Responsibility Act, 2001-2002
• Drafting Committee Member, Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, 1998 -2000
• Drafting Committee Member, The Model Punitive Damages Act, 1994-1996

            South Burlington School Board

• Member, 2001- 2013
• Chair, 2007-2016

           Vermont Solid Waste and Air Quality Board

• Chair, 1994 to 2006

           Vermont Human Rights Commission

• Commissioner, 1973-1975
• Vermont Higher Education Planning Commission
• Member, 1973-1974

            Professional Associations and Memberships:

            American Bar Association,

• Member, 1978 to present
• Board of Governors, 2005 – 2008
• House of Delegates, 1999 – 2015
• Member and Chair, Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, 2005-2011, Board Liaison, Member and Chair
• Board Liaison, Section of Labor and Employment, 2005-2008
• Board Liaison, Standing Committee on Legal Protection, 2006-2008

            American Counsel Association

• Member
• President, 2009 – 2010

• Director

            American Law Institute, Elected Member, 2015 – present

            National Employment Lawyer’s Association, Member 1988- present

            Vermont Association for Justice, Member

            Vermont Trial Lawyers Association, Member

• Vermont Employment Lawyers Association,
• Founding Member,
• Past President
• Treasurer

            Vermont Bar Association, Member, 1978- Present

            Past Employment:

• Hoff Curtis, President and Shareholder, 1989 – 2016
• Hoff, Wilson, Powell and Lang, P.C.
• Shareholder, 1986 – 1989
• Associate, 1982 – 1986
• Law Office of David C. Drew, Associate Attorney, 1980 – 1982
• Vermont Supreme Court,
• Chief Law and Law Clerk to Chief Justice Albert W. Barney, Jr., 1979 – 1980
• Law Clerk  to the Hon. Robert W. Larrow, Associate Justice, 1978 – 1979

 Rich is a frequent writer and speaker on legal topics. He is the author of “Civil and Human Rights,” (The University of Vermont and The Center for Research on Vermont: Burlington, VT, 1999), and has lectured on trial practice, employment, arbitration, mediation, and construction law subjects before the American Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, the Vermont Bar Association, the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association, and the Vermont Employment Lawyers’ Association.

He has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers® and New England Super Lawyers® by his peers. (Listing in The Best Lawyers in America® or Super Lawyers® does not guarantee a desired result in a legal case or that listed lawyers are necessarily more skilled than lawyers who are not listed in such publications.) He was the 2013 “Best Lawyer of the Year” for Employment Law – Individuals and the 2015 “Best Mediator of the Year.”

His blog, On Lawyering.com is widely read by legal professionals and is syndicated in Lex Blog.