Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Spring 2016, Volume 42, No. 1 | Page 22

Interview with Bob Paolini

body in. There are ways to make arrangements about office-sharing and mentoring
where we can help the next generation get
a foothold and stay here.
TC: I’ve seen a number of CLE offerings
through the VBA that address succession
planning.
BP: It is a national issue, it’s not just a
Vermont issue. It is a national problem.
TC: Actually, that brings to mind too,
the idea of connecting with Vermont Law
School. My understanding is most people
who graduate from Vermont Law School
would love to stay in Vermont, but due to
a scarcity of job opportunities, they can’t.
BP: Right. The high debt and lack of opportunity, or if the opportunity is there, really not a salary large enough to live on.
TC: I would imagine that they must have
mechanisms if an older attorney is interested in having a younger attorney come in, to
make the connection.
BP: Yes, as we try to do here.
TC: Let’s talk a little about your time in
the legislature. You’ve given a little bit of
background to it. Have you seen a lot of
changes in the legislative process in the
past twenty years, or are things working
pretty much the same as they were when
you were a representative in the Eighties?
BP: Well, the legislature has gotten more
complicated; legislation has gotten more
complicated. It seems to take longer. Issues
are more difficult to resolve. But at times I
can flash back to my days in the House and
it’s the same arguments, the same discussions. It is kind of a little bit of both. Each
session is unique; each two-year biennium
is different from the one before or the one
that will follow.
TC: Even though you have a lot of the
same people?
BP: Even though there are a lot of the
same people, some of the issues resolve
differently each time. So there are differences but there are a lot of similarities from
session to session.
TC: Now it’s my understanding that
we’re going to be able to continue tapping
into your expertise with the legislature for
at least the next couple of years? Tell me
about that and what the plan is.
BP: The Board has indicated their desire
to keep me on as a Government Relations
Coordinator or whatever, so we do have an
agreement that I am going to work with the
Board and with you for the next biennium
in that position. Of course this is all brand
new for us, so we will see how it works out,
but I see myself as clearly working full-time
during the legislative session and being

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available to you and to the Board to attend
meetings with the administration, the judiciary, the legislature, summer study committees, and planning sessions for the legislature between the months of June and
December as needed.
TC: Great, that is fantastic! So that would
be for at least the next two legislative sessions?
BP: It would be the next biennium, so
2017 and 18.
TC: And then decide after that?
BP: And then you guys will decide what
you want to do with me after that.
TC: So what do you think you’re going
to miss the most when you transition into
your new role?
BP: I think that just the time with our
members, working with the staff here, I will
miss a lot. And I probably should add that
by the time people read this Kevin Ryan will
have left Vermont. He has gotten a great
opportunity that he well deserves