Vt. Memo to the Bar, May 10, 2017

SUPREME COURT OF VERMONT

OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR

PATRICIA GABEL, ESQ. Mailing Address

State Court Administrator Office of Court Administrator

patricia.gabel@vermont.gov 109 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05609-0701

Telephone: (802) 828-3278

FAX: (802) 828-3457

www.vermontjudiciary.org

TO: Members of the Vermont Bar

FROM: Patricia Gabel, State Court Administrator

RE: Promulgated and Proposed Rule Amendments, Approved Financial Institutions and

Miscellaneous Information

DATE: May 10, 2017

For your information, please find the following:

• Promulgation Order A.O. 9, Rule 1

• Promulgation Order A.O. 14

• Promulgation Order A.O. 44

• Promulgation Order A.O. 45

• Proposed Day is a Day (Appellate, Civil, Criminal, Environmental, Family, Juror, Probate, and Small Claims)

• Approved Financial Institutions

• Updated Court Forms

• Obligations Under A.O. 41

• eCabinet Registration

I. PROMULGATED RULE AMENDMENTS

a. Promulgation Order A.O. 9, Rule 1

This Order, promulgated on May 8, 2017, effective July 10, 2017, adds paragraph (4) to Rule

1(E) to make clear that the Professional Responsibility Board has the responsibility to review the

Rules of Professional Conduct and to make proposals to the Court to amend those rules. The

amendment reiterates the obligation under Administrative Order 11 to provide the proper notice and

opportunity to comment on amendment proposals and notifies individuals that requests for changes

should be directed to the Board.

b. Promulgation Order A.O. 14

This Order, promulgated on May 8, 2017, effective immediately, replaces Justice Dooley with

Justice Carroll as the justice responsible to entertain motions for Area I.

c. Promulgation Order A.O. 44

This Order, promulgated on May 8, 2017, effective May 15, 2017, updates cross references to

Administrative Order 41, concerning licensing of attorneys, which has been revised, reorganized,

and renumbered. The reference to attorneys admitted for a government study license has been

removed because that type of license is no longer available under A.O. 41.

d. Promulgation Order A.O. 45

This Order, promulgated on May 8, 2017, effective May 15, 2017, updates a cross

reference to Administrative Order 41, concerning licensing of attorneys, which has been revised,

reorganized, and renumbered.

II. PROPOSED RULE AMENDMENTS

(NOTE: THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED BY THE

COMMITTEES AND HAVE NOT BEEN REVIEWED BY THE SUPREME COURT.)

Proposed Day is a Day (Appellate, Civil, Criminal, Environmental, Family, Juror, Probate, and

Small Claims)

The proposed amendments to various rules adopt the “day is a day” rule, a simplified method

of computing time periods adopted in 2009 amendments to the federal rules. Under the former

rules, a period of 11 days or more was computed differently than a period of 10 days or less. The

shorter time periods did not count intervening Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. Under the

amended rules, all deadlines are computed the same way no matter the length—all days,

including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, are counted. If the period ends on

a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline falls on the next business day.

Because periods of 10 days or less would be shortened by the inclusion of intermediate

Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the shorter time periods have been extended. Most time

periods are proposed to be changed to use multiples of 7 so that time periods will end on a week

day. In general, the proposed amendments change periods of 3 days to 5 days, 5 days to 7 days,

10 and 15 days to 14 days, 20 days to 21 days, 45 and 50 days to 42 and 49 days. Thirty-day time

periods remain unchanged. Several 10-day time periods are proposed to be enlarged to 28 days

for consistency with the federal standard for motion practice.

The proposed amendments retain the language of the former rules making the computation

provisions apply to a time period in “any applicable statute.” By Act 11 of 2017, the Legislature

amended a number of statutory procedural time periods of 10 days to 14 days and of less than 10

days to be expressly “business days.” For consistency, the proposed amendments add “business

days” to time periods in rules that were taken from one of the amended statutes and a definition

of “business day” is added.

The proposed amendments to V.R.C.P. 6(e) and V.R.Cr.P. 45(e), providing an additional 3

days for actions required after service, adopt the simplified language of F.R.C.P. 6(d) and

F.R.Cr.P. 45(c), as amended in 2005 and 2007, and follow the federal rule in effect until

December 2016 by adding the additional 3 days after service by electronic means if permitted or

required under V.R.C.P. 5(b)(4).

Comments on the proposed rule amendment and or the proposed form changes should be sent

by July 10, 2017, to Emily Wetherell, Deputy Clerk, at the Vermont Supreme Court, at the

following address:

Emily Wetherell, Deputy Clerk

Vermont Supreme Court

109 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05609-0801

Emily.Wetherell@vermont.gov

III. MISCELLANEOUS

a. List of Approved Financial Institutions

Rule 1.15B(a)(1) of the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct requires lawyers to maintain

their trust accounts only in financial institutions approved by the Professional Responsibility

Board. Financial institutions which have not been so approved may obtain information as to how

to become certified by contacting the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (802) 859-3000. For a

complete list of Approved Financial Institutions, please click on the following link and select

“Attorney Trust Accounts”:

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/boards-and-commitees/professional-responsibility

b. Court Forms

Court forms are constantly being updated. Please refer to the judiciary website for the most

up-to-date forms. https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/court-forms

c. Obligation under A.O. 41

Attorneys are reminded that an “attorney shall report to the Court Administrator within thirty

days any change of the office mailing or electronic mail address” and that “notice sent to a

reported address shall be sufficient even if not received by the attorney because of failure to

report the proper address or failure of delivery not caused by the court.” A.O. 41, § 7; See A.O.

44, § 1.

Please email those changes to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov. Your cooperation is very

much appreciated.

To ensure you continue to receive these emails, please add JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov

to your Safe Senders list.

d. eCabinet Registration

Administrative Order No. 44 requires attorneys in active status to register up to three email

addresses in eCabinet for purposes of receiving notices of hearing and other documents. You

may include staff email addresses in the three email addresses that you specify. eCabinet

registration is required whether you practice in court, or not.

If you have already registered in eCabinet, the email address(es) you provided as part of that

process will be used.

If you have not already registered in eCabinet, please go to https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/,

click Register Now, and follow the simple prompts. Attorneys will need their attorney license

numbers to register. Helpful information about the Attorney Email Registration process is also

available on the Electronic Filing page of the judiciary website at

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/electronic-access/electronic-filing.

Please contact jud.helpdesk@vermont.gov or call the Helpdesk at 802-828-4357 with any

questions in the meantime.

You are also reminded that you are required to update the email address(es) and other contact

information you have registered as soon as there are any changes, including changes to staff

email addresses you may have included with your registration. To revise the information, please

go to https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/, log into eCabinet, click “Account,” choose “My

Profile,” and make the necessary changes to your contact information.

Notification to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov or in eCabinet of a change to your contact

information does not automatically notify the other. It is your responsibility to notify both. If you

are a member of the Vermont Bar Association, you will also need to separately notify the VBA.