Richard T. Cassidy
Director
Richard, one of the founders of Hoff Curtis, has more than 30 years experience with the practice of law in Vermont. He firmly believes that the best representation and advice comes from the most objective perspective that a legal professional can attain. Richard 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.
Richard is a trial lawyer, arbitrator and mediator. His practice focuses on:
* labor and employment,
* personal injury,
* representing professionals,
* the collateral consequences of criminal convictions.
He has significant experience with litigation and alternative dispute resolution involving the legal profession, higher education, health care, and manufacturing. His clients have included college students, faculty, and administrators as well as individuals, businesses, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit entities. For many years he has served as counsel to the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, AFL-CIO Local 3180. His labor union clients also include the Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers Union No 597, the Vermont Federation of Nurse and Health Professionals, UPV/AFT, United Professions of Vermont and UVM United Academics - AFT/AAUP, the faculty union at the University of Vermont. He also serves as general counsel to the Selenium-Tellurium Development Association, an international trade association.
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 early neutral evaluation panels for the Vermont Environmental Court and a number of Vermont Superior Courts.
Richard was appointed as a Vermont Member of the Uniform Laws Commission in 1994. He served as a member of the Drafting Committee on the Model Punitive Damages Act, the Drafting Committee on the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, the Drafting Committee on the Apportionment of Tort Responsibility Act, and Scope & Program Committee and he chaired the Drafting Committee on the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act.(ABA). In 2010, he was re-elected to his second one-year term as Secretary of the Commission, is a member of its Executive Committee, and serves on its Committee on Liaison with the American Bar Association.
Richard represents the Vermont Bar Association in the American Bar Association House of Delegates and was re-elected in 2010 as the Chair of the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. He served as a member of the ABA Board Governors from 2005 through 2008. He was a long-time member of the Vermont Board of Bar Examiners serving as both chair of the board and examiner until 2004. He is currently President of the American Counsel Association.
Richard is a frequent writer and speaker on legal topics. He 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.)
Richard is a 1975 graduate of the University of Vermont and a 1978 graduate of Albany Law School. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Larrow of the Vermont Supreme Court in 1978-79, and as Chief Law Clerk to Chief Justice Albert W. Barney in 1979-80 before entering private practice in 1980.
A South Burlington resident, Richard has been very active as a member of the South Burlington School Board and is its current Chair. He also served as Chair of the Vermont Solid Waste and Air Quality Variance Board from 1993 through 2005.
When he’s not practicing law or in a committee meeting, Richard enjoys reading, skiing, swimming, and rowing his Adirondack Guide Boat on Lake Champlain.
Bar Admissions
State of Vermont
State of New York
United States District Court, District of Vermont
United States District Court, Northern District of New York
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Supreme Court