Interview with William Sorrell
Teri Corsones : It ’ s December 6 , 2016 , and I ’ m meeting with Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell in his office in Montpelier . Bill , on behalf of Vermont Bar Journal readers everywhere , thank you for taking time to meet with me today . William ( Bill ) Sorrell : My pleasure .
TC : I understand that you ’ re now the 2 nd longest currently serving Attorney General in the nation . BS : That ’ s right .
TC : And the longest serving Vermont Attorney General in history .
BS : That ’ s also correct . I followed the then-longest serving AG in Vermont history , Jeffrey Amestoy .
TC : Oh , I didn ’ t realize that .
BS : So when I announced that I wasn ’ t going to run for re-election , he sent me a note congratulating me , but saying something like , “ Vermonters for 31 years have had only two AG ’ s , neither one of whom has run for Governor . That ’ s something to be proud of .”
TC : ( Laughing ) He has a good memory . Did you ever imagine on May 1 , 1997 when you were first sworn in , that you would be making history as the longest serving Vermont Attorney General ?
BS : I did not . I originally became Attorney General by appointment . I was Howard Dean ’ s administration secretary , and Howard had appointed Jeffrey Amestoy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court , right at the beginning of his term in January of 1997 , so the AG position was open . In April Howard appointed me , and I was sworn in May 1 , and I ’ ve stood successfully for election each even numbered November from then through 2014 .
TC : Well , given your unique position in Vermont history , I would love to get your perspective on different matters affecting the Bar over the years . I thought first we would go back to before May 1 , 1997 . Can you talk a bit about your background , where you grew up , where you went to school , and how you became interested in the law ?
BS : I ’ m a Burlington native - an only son with four sisters . My father spent his career in law enforcement , and my mother was a State Senator for 10 years and during at least one of her terms was the only woman in the state senate . My mom was a political activist , and go figure , I ended up in a job that ’ s a combination of law enforcement and politics / public policy . Both of my parents passed on before I became AG , but each in their own right would be totally tickled that I ’ ve been able to do what I ’ ve been doing for almost 20 years now .
TC : I ’ m sure they would be very proud that you ’ ve followed in both of their footsteps .
BS : Yes , and this has been a terrific job . Back to my education , like you , Teri , I went to Notre Dame undergrad , and then to Cornell Law School . I thought about moving elsewhere in the country and making my own mark , then realized that I loved the mountains , loved the lakes , and loved my family members and I came back here .
After I finished my clerkship was just when Pat Leahy had been elected to the US Senate , so his Chief Deputy , Frank Murray , moved up to State ’ s Attorney . That opened up a vacancy in a Deputy Prosecutor job in Chittenden County . For the first 2 ½ years , I was a Deputy State ’ s Attorney in Chittenden County . I tried a lot of cases and loved being in court every day . Then Frank Murray left to go into private practice , and Governor Snelling named me State ’ s Attorney . I did that for a year . Frank Murray had gone into partnership with Joe McNeil in Burlington , and they called me up one day and said hey we would love it if you would come into partnership with us . Those two guys went to Notre Dame Law School , and I went to Notre Dame undergrad …
TC : We Irish stick together .
BS : There you go ! In June or July of 1978 I joined them . McNeil , Murray and Sorrell was the firm , and we grew quite a bit .
TC : What were your primary areas of practice ?
BS : We did the City of Burlington ’ s legal work and so did a fair amount of municipal work . Joe McNeil ’ s father died suddenly and left a regular Vermont law practice , with real estate , divorce and personal injury stuff . We represented the Burlington School District so I ultimately got into doing a lot of education related law and labor law . I did an awful lot of collective bargaining around the state , primarily for school districts , but not exclusively . In February of 1989 , I get a call late on a Friday afternoon , and it ’ s Governor
Kunin . We had some small talk but I knew she wasn ’ t calling me on a Friday afternoon for just small talk . She said to me “ Bill , I want to ask a favor of you , I would like you to do a stint of public service .” The then-Chittenden County State ’ s Attorney had left for a federal magistrate position , and for whatever reason , the Governor wasn ’ t inclined to name any of the names submitted to her . So I said , “ well , I ’ m honored , but I ’ m not looking for work ” and she said , “ I know that ,” and I told her I needed to think about that over the weekend . I talked with various folks over the weekend , including then-Judge Frank Mahady , the Burlington Police Chief , and some others . I stopped by my mother ’ s house that Saturday afternoon and she said “ Gee , the Governor stopped by here today to talk to me ,” and I thought ( laughing ) “ Oh boy , this is the pressure !”
TC : So you went back to your state ’ s attorney roots .
BS : Yeah , my partners were in shock - I wasn ’ t really practicing in the criminal court much at all , and it had been about 11 years , so I didn ’ t really know the deputies . It also took some getting used to the significantly reduced income level . I loved www . vtbar . org THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2016-17 35