Caledonia County attorney William W. Cobb was reprimanded Tuesday by a hearing panel convened by Vermont’s Professional Responsibility Program.
Cobb is also the probate judge in Caledonia County.
The panel, operating under the authority of the Vermont Supreme Court, imposed a 15-month suspension of Cobb’s license to practice law because he mishandled information and committed other violations.
The panel sanctioned him on five counts related to two distinct cases. It found that Cobb disclosed confidential juvenile records and confidential client information, failed to provide competent representation because he did not review recordings of alleged victim interviews or follow his client’s wishes about modifying conditions of release, and misrepresented the circumstances and substance of his timekeeping.
The panel held two hearings in Cobb’s case in the fall of 2021, but the findings were delayed by the illness and death of the panel’s longtime staff attorney, Mark DiStefano. Shannon Bertrand replaced him on the all-volunteer panel, but since he’d missed the hearings and other initial proceedings, Bertrand needed time to get up to speed.
This is not Cobb’s first brush with legal discipline. In December 2020, the state Judicial Conduct Board reprimanded Cobb for abusing his judicial position to gain an advantage for a client facing criminal charges.
Cobb agreed to a 12-month mentorship with another part-time probate judge. During that time, if Cobb agreed to represent a client in Caledonia County, he had to confer with that mentor.
Cobb has been a lawyer since 2000 with a focus on criminal defense, family law and civil cases. is licensed to practice law in Vermont, New York and Connecticut. He is a sole practitioner in St. Johnsbury.
— Ella Ruehsen
