- Philip H. Hoff - Founder
Philip H. Hoff
Founder
Phil Hoff made history in 1962 when he was elected Vermont’s first Democratic Governor since 1853. His political career began when he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1960, where he gained influence as part of a freshman caucus known as the "Young Turks." Phil’s success as Governor was confirmed as he pioneered unprecedented environmental, development, and social welfare programs and was re-elected in 1964 and 1966. His many accomplishments include ending the outdated Overseer of the Poor system of welfare administration, and founding the Vermont District Court, the Judicial Nominating Board, the Vermont State Housing Authority, and Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC). Concerned about racial justice, he co-founded the Vermont-New York Youth Project with New York City Mayor John Lindsay, which brought minority students from the city together with Vermont students to work on joint summer projects at several Vermont colleges.
Phil remained active in politics running for the United States Senate in 1970, and then serving as an adviser to New York City Mayor Abe Beame. In 1982, he returned to elective politics, serving three terms in the Vermont State Senate from 1982-1988. While in the Senate, he revitalized the Vermont Human Rights Commission and served for many years on the Vermont Advisory Commission to the United States Civil Rights Commission.
After his service as Governor, Phil returned to the legal profession, rejoining his old firm Black, Wilson and Hoff. The firm evolved over time eventually becoming Hoff, Wilson, Powell and Lang, P.C. In 1989, Phil left the firm co-founding Hoff, Agel, Curtis, Pacht and Cassidy, P.C (now Hoff Curtis) in 1989 with former Vermont Defender General David Curtis, Richard Cassidy and John Pacht. Phil’s practice focused on civil litigation, business law and estate planning. He chaired a blue-ribbon commission that reformed the Vermont Bar Exam in 1982 and recommended adoption of Vermont's continuing legal education requirement.
In 2008, Phil received the Marc vanderHeyden Service to Vermont Award. The award is given by the Vermont Campus Compact Board of Directors to a distinguished individual with ties to Vermont who, through his or her actions, scholarly or professional work, and/or sustained civic engagement, has influenced, inspired and motivated others. Phil also remained committed to education, serving as a trustee of Williams College and President of Vermont Law School’s Board of Trustees from 1990-95.
Phil’s legal career began in 1951, after graduating from Cornell Law School and moving to Burlington, VT with his wife, Joan Brower. He was born in Turner Falls, MA and received his undergraduate degree in 1948 from Williams College after seeing combat in the Navy’s submarine service in the South Pacific during WWII.