Updated at 9:35 p.m.
Burlington has hired a new city attorney.
Dan Richardson, a partner in the Montpelier law firm Tarrant, Gillies, Richardson and Shems, will leave the firm to take the city government’s top legal job. It was recently vacated by Eileen Blackwood, who held the position for nine years in Mayor Miro Weinberger’s administration.
Weinberger announced Richardson’s appointment Tuesday afternoon in front of City Hall. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Burlington City Council, which plans a vote next Monday.
“Dan brings almost two decades of experience to the city team and is really, frankly, one of the most highly qualified attorneys in the entire state of Vermont,” Weinberger said.
Weinberger highlighted Richardson’s municipal experience. As an adjunct professor, Richardson created the Vermont Law School’s first municipal law course. Richardson also serves on the Montpelier City Council, but plans to resign in order to take the city attorney job.
Richardson graduated from Vermont Law School in 2003 and clerked for Chittenden Superior Court Judges Matthew Katz and Richard Norton. He became a partner of his current law firm in 2009.
Through his work, Weinberger said, Richardson has practiced many different forms of law and has represented more than 20 Vermont municipalities. He is a former president of the Vermont Bar Association and is on the Vermont Bar Foundation’s board of directors.
Richardson told reporters Tuesday that he views Burlington’s legal department as “second to the [state attorney general’s] office and the most impressive public-sector legal team in the state of Vermont.”
“I can say honestly that Burlington shaped me into the lawyer I became,” Richardson said. “And it has been 16 years that I have sought to come back to the city to practice law.”
He said he views the position as a “risk manager” for the city. He’ll be giving city officials advice on the parameters of the law and provide a full outline on the legal options available on policy issues.
He said he’s a “big believer” in Vermont’s public records law and said it’s important for city government to operate with transparency.
“Part of my role as city attorney is to, you know, essentially act as an umpire to say, ‘This is something that’s allowable in the public realm and this is something that isn’t,’” Richardson said.
“I see my job as making sure that the law is explained and understood,” he added, “and not just simply dictated.”
Disclosure: Richardson has previously represented VTDigger and its parent organization, the Vermont Journalism Trust, in public records cases.
