Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC

When in Doubt………

By Ed Adrian

November 22, 2019

A few weeks ago the Vermont Secretary of State, Jim Condos, made a mistake. He posted… and then deleted an “offer” regarding a $75 coupon from Costco…. that turned out to be a scam. Fellow blogger John Walters covered the story but from more of a political bent. As I’ve explained in the past, this blog is focused on legal issues, my (somewhat anemic) political blog can be found here. What are the legal…

Freedom & Ethics

SCHOOL LAW – Statutes and Regulations and Rules and Guides OH MY!: And the Reproductive Cycle of the Seahorse

By Ed Adrian

October 23, 2019

EdAndElsa — Contemplating School Law and Equal Pay at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland

Most of my readership is in Vermont (at least according to Google Analytics) but even those of you outside Vermont, even outside of the U.S. may have heard about the most recent news coming from our little corner of the world. No I’m not talking about Bernie Sanders or Howard Dean, but rather the Burlington High School Girls Soccer Team, the Seahorses. On Friday the 18th of October, the Seahorses were “yellow carded” after midfielder…

Freedom & Ethics

Professional Prosecutors – Part 3

By Ed Adrian

November 13, 2018

FullSizeRender — Beginning at the Ending, Mass MOCA, North Adams, Massachusetts

We last left off after a review of the Grey Areas of Professional Licensing in Vermont and the Burden of Proof in Professional Licensing cases. In part three of this series, we will be reviewing who has the authority to “charge” unprofessional conduct. In Vermont, as previously discussed, we have four separate entities that regulate professional discipline. The Vermont Agency of Education regulates teachers. The Vermont Board of Medical Practice (under the umbrella of…

Freedom & Ethics

Notaries Beware!

By Ed Adrian

November 8, 2018

Yesterday I received a notice from the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office, Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), informing me (and presumably every other person who is registered as a public notary in Vermont) that there is a new sheriff in town involved in the oversight and regulation of notaries public. Here’s a copy of the notice. All notary registrations are now going to go through OPR and treated just like all the other professions regulated…

Freedom & Ethics

Professional Licensing – Burden of Proof – Part 2

By Ed Adrian

October 11, 2018

BurdenOfProof — The World's Largest Carousel at The House On The Rock in Dodgeville, WI

We last left off with a broad comparative analysis between the four different professional regulatory systems in Vermont. Educators, attorneys, physicians and everyone else. I don’t plan on spending too much time, if any, in this series discussing attorney discipline. Namely because Bar Counsel Mike Kennedy is far more versed in this area and has already given a great overview of the Vermont attorney disciplinary system in his blog “Ethical Grounds.” Since the licensing…

Freedom & Ethics

The Grey Areas of Professional Licensing – Part One

By Ed Adrian

October 8, 2018

FogAndFoliage — Fog and Foliage in Nebraska Notch - Stowe, VT

As recently reported by the Burlington Free Press, one of the Burlington High School guidance counselors was charged with six counts of unprofessional conduct. The initial charges ranged from what I would characterize as employment or personnel issues that on their face do not appear to rise to the level of unprofessional conduct, to the very serious allegation of falsifying a student’s record. The Vermont Agency of Education initially sought a 364 day suspension…

Freedom & Ethics

Emergency 802?

By Ed Adrian

April 3, 2018

There’s been plenty of press coverage about the Burlington School Board’s Emergency Meeting that was held at 9:00 PM this past Sunday. Sunday also happened to be both Easter and April Fools’ Day. Vermont Digger’s headline characterized the meeting as delaying the release of an ongoing racial bias investigation, while the Burlington Free Press, alluded to whether the meeting itself, as warned and conducted, constituted a violation of Vermont’s Open Meeting Law. The…

Freedom & Ethics

Like Making Bread….

By Ed Adrian

January 25, 2018

WCH — Windham County Courthouse - Newfane, VT

If any of you have ever baked bread, you know that you are only supposed to knead the dough for so long before it starts to impact the quality of the final product. Some things aren’t meant to be touched, if at all. Related to this is the old Vermont proverb, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Sometimes a client will come into the office and we’ll decide the best thing to do in…

Freedom & Ethics

Never Assume You Are Off The Record…..

By Ed Adrian

January 11, 2018

There was old Odd Couple Show courtroom scene where Felix Unger expounded upon the dangers of “assuming.” I’d encourage you to watch it because it provides an important context for the premise of this post. Most people may have some experience with the term “off the record” as it applies to the media. Presumably that experience is not personal because most people do not speak with the media on a regular basis and on the…

Freedom & Ethics

Transparency Isn’t Always the Answer Part Deux….

By Ed Adrian

December 19, 2017

A few months ago I attended the first meeting of of the Vermont Ethics Commission and blogged about it here (incidentally if you know how to locate the Commission’s website, please drop me a line, I haven’t been able to find it). During the course of that meeting I engaged in an exchange with the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office about executive officers and state employees getting guidance of a confidential nature from the Commission.…

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When in Doubt………

SCHOOL LAW – Statutes and Regulations and Rules and Guides OH MY!: And the Reproductive Cycle of the Seahorse

Professional Prosecutors – Part 3

Notaries Beware!

Professional Licensing – Burden of Proof – Part 2

The Grey Areas of Professional Licensing – Part One

Emergency 802?

Like Making Bread….

Never Assume You Are Off The Record…..

Transparency Isn’t Always the Answer Part Deux….

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