Practice Areas

Our Practice Areas

General Civil Litigation:

Our approach to litigation is two-fold: Assess and Advocate.

Assessment: Know Your Risks

A lawsuit can be a risky and expensive proposition. Before you set foot in the courthouse, you need to understand the legal challenges, expenses, and risks of pursuing your particular claim. At Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson, we work with clients to appraise the legal merits of their claim and to understand the client’s goals.

If you are asserting a right or enforcing an obligation, you need to know whether litigation is the best avenue. Because of cost, the potential for recovery, the likelihood that litigation will accomplish your goals, or other reasons, it may not be. You need to know this as soon as possible, and you need a legal team that will work with you to find the best alternative solution.

If you have been sued or threatened with a lawsuit, you need someone who can help you to negotiate before expenses mount. We can advise you of your risks and rights and give you the tools to fight back in court or to try to resolve the matter fairly with the other party.

Your problems are important, and finding solutions that work for you is critical. 

Advocates: Fighting in Your Corner

If litigation is the best or only solution, Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson has the experience and skills to represent you. The members of our firm are seasoned trial attorneys who have successfully tried cases to juries and judges throughout Vermont in Superior, District, Environmental, and Federal District Courts. We have successfully represented clients on appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court and to the Second Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in New York. We will work with you to develop and prepare your case for trial, navigating the unpredictable course of litigation. Our services include:

  • Trial Preparation and Strategy
  • Hiring Expert Witnesses
  • Defending and Taking Depositions
  • Discovery Management
  • Witness Preparation
  • Written Motions
  • Trial Work
  • Appellate Representation
  • Government Relations

When a judicial solution to a problem is not possible, the potential for remedy may lie with the Vermont Legislature. As a Montpelier-based law firm, Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson has long brought solutions from the Legislature by representing our clients’ positions and educating lawmakers to draft new solutions. We can help deliver your message from the private or municipal sector to state officers to ensure that your voice is heard and your message is communicated effectively. When it comes to local problems, we offer local solutions.

General Counsel Services

Most problems can be avoided with preemptive action. But choosing a safe and effective course of action is not always easy—it requires knowledge and understanding of the law and the potential consequences. Whether you are a municipality, business, or individual, we can provide advice and counsel over time to craft your policies and decisions to avoid unnecessary problems and liabilities and to put you in the best position possible when conflicts arise. Our attorneys offer insight in light of their trial experience and extensive knowledge of the law. Together, we will help you to ensure that your decisions and actions will hold up in Court and to public scrutiny—decisions that will maximize your benefits and goals in both the short term and long run.

Whether you are a business crafting an employment policy or dealing with a dispute; a town revising its bylaws or setting a policy for accessing public documents; or an individual trying to avoid a conflict with a neighbor, our firm has the tools you need to make the right choice.

We also provide representation in the following areas:

Administrative Law
  • Dealing with a state agency is often the most common contact individuals have with the legal system. Whether you are seeking to keep or obtain a professional license or a state permit, to manage a state-regulated business, or to preserve your civil rights, Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson has successfully represented individuals and businesses before agency officials and boards. We know that in these situations your livelihood and your rights are at stake, and we work to protect them.
Business Law and Corporate Planning
  • Our firm provides corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships with representation in a wide variety of business settings. From establishing your company—selecting the form of business entity, drafting the governance documents to meet your particular needs and goals, limit liability, and ensure your control over the development and growth of your business—to helping you dissolve the enterprise, our attorneys are prepared to advise you in each phase of your business to ensure that your company can take full advantage of corporate and business laws to reach your goals. We can also help your company negotiate and contract to ensure that your business has every advantage possible.
Commercial Law
  • When conflicts or legal issues arise in your business, Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson is prepared to represent you. We have represented businesses and individuals with a variety of legal challenges as well as business opportunities. We will help you work with other businesses to ensure that you negotiate agreements to effectively protect your rights and interests, that you receive the benefits of your existing agreements, and that you are not left at the mercy of changing business situations.
Construction Law
  • Our firm has experience representing some of the largest construction companies as well as individual homeowners in conflicts over construction. Whether you are a contractor facing an unhappy client, or an owner dissatisfied with a contractor’s work, we can help you work it out.
Employment Law
  • Effective management of employee relations—from hiring, retaining, and terminating employees—is critical to the success of a business. We work with our business clients to develop employment policies and practices that ensure their managers and directors make and implement decisions in a manner that will best serve and protect the business’s legal interests.
  • Our firm also recognizes that sometimes, despite the parties’ best efforts, employment relationships cannot be salvaged. When that time comes, we can help you—whether you are an employee or employer—fight for what you deserve.
Energy Law
Health Care Law
  • With the growth of cost in health care and increased scrutiny, now more than ever you need someone who can help you represent your interests. Our firm has worked with individuals, medical centers, and health care providers to negotiate with BISHCA and the extensive layers of federal and state regulation. Our experience with governmental policy informs the advice and advocacy we give to help you find solutions that work today.
Historic Preservation
  • Vermont is a state with a rich, living history. We, at Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson, have long-standing commitment to helping individuals, groups, and municipalities preserve their historic assets. We represent clients in design control hearings, establishing conservation trusts, fighting for important landmarks, or working with state and federal agencies to find ways to make a project feasible.
Land Use and Zoning Law
  • Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson has an active land use and zoning practice representing individuals, businesses, and municipalities in local municipal zoning matters and Act 250 permit cases. We also represent clients in permitting and enforcement matters before the Agency of Natural Resources and other state agencies.
Municipal Law
Estate Planning, Probate and Guardianship Law
  • We provide representation to families and individuals in probate matters to assist them in the following areas:
    • Estate Planning
    • Drafting wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and advance directives
    • Estate Administration
    • Resolving disputes among beneficiaries
    •  We can also guide you through the process to create or manage guardianships for individuals in need of care.
Property Tax Law
  • Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson brings a wealth of experience from state government and municipal representation to help you prepare, defend, or challenge property tax determinations. Our firm can take you through assessments and work with municipal and state agencies to ensure that property is taxed at a fair and equitable rate.
Real Estate
  • Whether purchasing or selling a home, property, or business, Vermont law requires the parties to know a great deal about the real estate being traded. At Tarrant, Marks, and Gillies we can help ensure that your transaction goes as smoothly as possible and that you get the benefit of your bargain.
Solid Waste Law
  • Whether you a municipality, a Solid Waste District, or a group of citizens concerned about where solid waste is located in your community, Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson has experience in representing both sides. Developing, expanding, relocating, or closing a landfill may be the most important and expensive decisions that your town makes. Our firm can help make sure that the project conforms to Vermont law or address the problems if it is not.