by Ryan P. Kane, Esq.
Vermont Bar Foundation Grantee
Spotlight: South Royalton Legal Clinic
As all of you avid readers of the Vermont
Bar Journal are doubtless aware, the mon-
ey you donate 1 and the interest from IOL-
TA accounts from all attorneys practicing in
Vermont go to the Vermont Bar Foundation
(VBF). The VBF in turns grants those funds
out to organizations around the State dedi-
cated to providing access to justice for ev-
ery Vermonter. One such grantee is the
South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont
Law School. The Clinic has been working
to provide legal services for Vermont resi-
dents in need for almost 40 years.
History of the
South Royalton Legal Clinic
The South Royalton Legal Clinic arose
out of a desire to give students at Vermont
Law School practical experience through
clinical training while filling the need for
represention for low income Vermonters
in northern Windsor and Orange counties.
The Clinic opened in January 1979. Over
the years, the Clinic has represented thou-
sands of Vermonters. The Clinic has four
experienced attorneys who assist student
clinicians in representing people in core
civil legal matters including family law, dis-
ability benefits, public benefits, represen-
tation of juveniles committed to state cus-
tody as Children in Need of Services, land-
lord/tenant law, bankruptcy,consumer, and
wills and guardianships.
In addition to this core civil legal aid
caseload, the South Royalton Legal Clinic
maintains several long-term projects aimed
at providing essential legal assistance to a
diverse and broad range of Vermonters.
Two of these long-term programs are fund-
ed through regular annual grants from the
Vermont Bar Foundation. The first is Chil-
dren First! Legal Assistance Project (CF!)
which has been funded by Vermont Bar
Foundation since 2000. The second is Ver-
mont Immigration Assistance (VIA).
According to Clinic Director James May,
neither of these projects would exist with-
out the support of the Vermont Bar Foun-
dation. “We began these two projects
years ago because we saw unmet needs
for legal assistance within two very differ-
ent but equally needy populations,” said
May. “We approached the VBF for fund-
ing assistance with confidence that those
needs would be recognized, and we were
not disappointed. Because of its willing-
ness to support these worthy projects,
VBF’s reach has been extended throughout
www.vtbar.org
Vermont and around the world.”
The Children First! Legal
Assistance Project
In 1991, funds from the Vermont Bar
Foundation allowed the Clinic to hire a
third staff attorney. Since 1995, this posi-
tion has been filled by Alex Banks, VLS ‘87.
For the last decade and a half Alex has di-
vided his work between representation of
domestic violence survivors and represen-
tation of children in the Children First! Le-
gal Advocacy Project. CF! represents chil-
dren caught up in difficult family law cas-
es, and receives its cases as court referrals.
CF! has been providing representation to
children in Orange, Windsor, and Washing-
ton counties since 2000.
Alex Banks serves as a court-appointed
attorney for children who have found them-
selves in the midst of contested legal mat-
ters. While Banks is occasionally appoint-
ed by the Criminal Division, the bulk his cli-
ents find themselves entangled in conten-
tious civil matters ranging from parentage
and divorce actions to guardianship cases.
Banks and a cohort of student clinicians
not only provide their minor clients with a
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2016-17
voice in the court system, they also help the
adults responsible for the children assume
appropriate parental responsibility in terms
of their housing, employment, finances,
and education. In doing so, Children First!
benefits the children not only through legal
representation but also on an emotional
and social level. In the past year alone, CF!
provided direct legal representation to 55
children in 28 cases. Of those, 27 children
were represented in 18 newly opened cas-
es. The Children Fir