Vt. Memo to the Bar, Nov. 7, 2022

SUPREME COURT OF VERMONT

OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR

THERESE CORSONES, ESQ. Mailing Address

State Court Administrator Office of the Court Administrator

Therese.Corsones@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: Teri Corsones, Esq., State Court Administrator

RE: Promulgated and Proposed Rules, Odyssey File and Serve and Public Portal Information,

Filing of Exhibits & Other Miscellaneous Info

DATE: November 7, 2022

For your information, please find:

• Promulgation Order Amending Rule 807 of the Vermont Rules of Evidence

• Proposed Order Amending Rules 9(b)(1), 11, and 13(e) of the Vermont Rules of Admission to

the Bar of the Vermont Supreme Court

• Proposed Order Amending Rule 4.3(a) of the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings

• Odyssey File and Serve and Public Portal Information

• Filing of Exhibits

• Miscellaneous

I. PROMULGATED RULE AMENDMENTS

Promulgation Order Amending Rule 807 of the Vermont Rules of Evidence

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/PromulgationOrderAmendingRule807oftheVermontRulesof

Evidence--STAMPED

This Order was promulgated on November 7, 2022, effective January 9, 2023.

Rule 807 is amended to correct the constitutional deficiencies described by the Vermont Supreme

Court in State v. Bergquist, 2019 VT 17, 210 Vt. 102, 211 A.3d 946, regarding when a witness can

testify out of sight and hearing of a defendant. Subdivisions (c) and (f) are amended to ensure the

Rule comports with the minimum constitutional standard set in Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836

(1990), as interpreted in Bergquist. To make the showing of necessity needed to justify testimony

outside of a defendant’s presence, the State must show that the witness would be traumatized not by

the courtroom or other aspects of providing testimony, but by the presence of the defendant (or by

defendant’s image when subdivision (e) applies). The State must also show that the witness would

suffer a level of emotional trauma that is more than mere nervousness, excitement, or some

reluctance to testify.

Subdivision (a) is amended to correct an unintended effect of an amendment made in 2015. The

purpose of that amendment was to make the rule consistent with the Legislature’s efforts to

eliminate offensive language from the Vermont Statutes. See 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.) (eff. July 1,

2014), An Act Relating to Respectful Language in the Vermont Statutes Annotated. The amendment

adopted the terms used in the statute to describe individuals with mental or intellectual disabilities

and referred to the newly enacted statute for the definitions of those terms. However, the term

“psychiatric disability” provided by 1 V.S.A. § 147 encompasses a wider arc of impairments than the

original term used by the Rule, which was “mental illness,” as still defined in 18 V.S.A. § 7101(14).

Thus, the language is amended to again refer to “mental illness” to prevent the expansion of a rule

that was originally intended to be applied narrowly, given its impact on the right of confrontation.

II. PROPOSED RULE AMENDMENTS

(NOTE: THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AND HAVE

NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE SUPREME COURT.)

a. Proposed Order Amending Rules 9(b)(1), 11, and 13(e) of the Vermont Rules of Admission to

the Bar of the Vermont Supreme Court

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/PROPOSEDOrderAmendingRules9(b)(1),11and13(e)ofthe

VermontRulesofAdmissiontoBar--FORCOMMENT

The proposed amendment to Rule 9(b)(1) clarifies that an applicant must be on active status in the

other U.S. jurisdiction to qualify for the exemption from the five-years-from-graduation requirement.

In conjunction with a similar proposed amendment to Rule 13(e), the proposed amendment to Rule

11 clarifies what good cause means in the context of the Board of Bar Examiners’ determination of

whether to extend the time within which the Board will accept an MPRE score.

Comments on these proposed amendments should be sent by January 9, 2023, to Andrew

Strauss, Licensing Counsel of the Office of Attorney Licensing, at the following address:

Andrew Strauss, Licensing Counsel

Andrew.Strauss@vermont.gov

b. Proposed Order Amending Rule 4.3(a) of the Vermont Rules for Family Proceedings

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/PROPOSEDOrderAmendingRule4.3(a)oftheVermontRulesf

orFamilyProceedings--FORCOMMENT

The proposed amendment to Rule 4.3(a) makes clear that the provisions related to consolidation of

relief-from-abuse cases to domestic cases apply to all actions subject to Rule 4.0 where a relief from

abuse action is filed either prior to or following the filing of the action subject to Rule 4.0. The

actions subject to Rule 4.0 are set forth in Rule 4.0(a)(1). In addition to divorce and annulment

actions, they include legal separation, dissolution of a civil union, parentage, desertion, and

nonsupport. The proposed amendment to Rule 4.3(a)(3) provides for automatic consolidation in

cases where a relief from abuse action is filed after the Rule 4.0 action and a temporary order is

issued or, in the case of a denial, a request for hearing is filed, when one of the following three

circumstances exists: (1) the complaint in that action is still pending; (2) there are pending post-

judgement motions; or (3) the requests for relief in the abuse-prevention action conflict with an

outstanding order in the action subject to Rule 4.0.

Comments on this proposed amendment should be sent by January 9, 2023, to Hon. Thomas

Carlson, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Rules for Family Proceedings, at the following

address:

Hon. Thomas Carlson, Chair

Thomas.Carlson@vermont.gov

III. ODYSSEY FILE & SERVE AND PUBLIC PORTAL INFORMATION

All Superior Courts, including the Environmental Division, the Judicial Bureau, and the Supreme

Court are using Odyssey and accepting electronic filings through Odyssey File & Serve. Please use

the following links to access Odyssey electronic filing and portal systems and for more information.

Reminders for OFS Users:

1) PDFs must be “flattened” prior to efiling through Odyssey File & Serve

With the increased use in electronic signature tools, it is important for OFS filers to

remember that all PDFs must be flattened prior to filing in OFS. In order to eFile a form-

fillable PDF or a PDF that has been electronically signed, you must first save them as a flat

file. Otherwise, the filing will fail and you will need to refile.

Follow the steps below to "flatten" a completed PDF:

1. Open the completed PDF.

2. Right click on document and select Print. NOTE: if document opens in Adobe, Select

File and select Print.

3. Select the PDF printer. (The Adobe PDF printer is installed automatically with Adobe

Acrobat. Numerous free PDF printer

drivers are available for download from the Internet.)

4. Select OK.

5. Specify location to save the printed, "flattened" version of the form.

6. Select Save

2) Attorneys must select the party they represent as the “person responsible for fees” in the Fee

section of the filing process. Additionally, when the attorney represents more than one party,

attorneys should continue to select the same party as the “person responsible for fees”;

otherwise, the attorney will incur an additional efiling use fee.

Odyssey File & Serve. Odyssey File & Serve (OFS) is the platform through which you

electronically file with the courts. To access OFS, please visit https://vermont.tylerhost.net/ofsweb

You can access user guides through the “User Guides” link in the “Self Help” window. You can also

access docket-specific user guides and a new Frequently Asked Questions on the judiciary’s website

at www.vermontjudiciary.org/efiling

For technical support regarding Odyssey File & Serve, please contact Tyler Technologies at 800-

297-5377 or efiling.support@tylertech.com

If you have procedural questions about OFS, please email the judiciary at

JUD.EFileSupport@vermont.gov

Odyssey Public Portal. The Odyssey Public Portal allows you to view your case files. To access the

portal, please visit https://publicportal.courts.vt.gov/Portal/ Before you can view your case files, you

must first register in the portal and then request elevated access. The Public Portal User Guide

contains instructions on how to register and request elevated access. You can read the user guide on

our website at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/public-portal

For technical support regarding the Public Portal, please contact the Vermont Judiciary’s HelpDesk

at Jud.helpdesk@vermont.gov When emailing, please write “Public Portal” in the subject line.

IV. FILING OF EXHIBITS FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING

Per the 2020 Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing, all electronically filed documents (including

exhibit lists and exhibits) must be submitted in PDF format. It is recommended that the exhibit list

be filed in Odyssey File & Serve (OFS) as a “Lead Document” and that any PDF exhibits be filed as

attachments to that exhibit list.

Multimedia files that cannot be converted to PDF format should be submitted by nonelectronic

means on a DVD or USB flash drive (aka thumb drive) and can be mailed or delivered to the court.

It is recommended that filers indicate this on the exhibit list being filed in OFS. Please note that

while the courts are equipped to view common multimedia formats (such as .mp3, .mp4, .mpeg,

.mov, .wmv files), the filer will have to provide compatible player software if an exhibit is in a

proprietary multimedia format.

Finally, please remember that regardless of how an exhibit is filed, it is the filer’s responsibility

during a hearing to present the exhibits. During remote hearings, this means the filer must either

assure that all witnesses have been provided with the marked exhibits in advance and have them

available to view; or be able to share his or her screen to allow all participants to view the exhibit. If

the exhibit is a video or audio file, the litigant must be prepared to play it during the hearing.

V. MISCELLANEOUS

a. 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

Please use the link below to report any form question, concern or issue

http://www.vermontjudiciary.org/website-feedback-form or you can access our Website Feedback

program at the bottom of each web page.

b. Obligation under A.O. 41

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

days any change of the office mailing or electronic mail address” and that “[n]otice sent to a reported

address is 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, § 4(c). To update changes in your

contact information, please access your attorney account with the Attorney Portal

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

JUD.CAOMemotoBar@vermont.gov to your Safe Senders list.

c. 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.

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. This website only works with Internet

Explorer. 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 if you have difficulty accessing eCabinet or 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.

Updating information in the Attorney Portal or in eCabinet does not automatically notify the

other. It is your responsibility to update both. If you are a member of the Vermont Bar Association,

you will also need to separately notify the VBA.

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

JUD.CAOMemotoBar@vermont.gov to your Safe Senders list.