A longtime Burlington lawyer who went up against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont to represent sexual abuse victims and also served as a top federal prosecutor died Sunday. Jerome “Jerry” O’Neill was 77.
Brooks McArthur, a colleague of O’Neill’s at Gravel & Shea, described him as “relentless in seeking justice” for his clients.
“He took on the diocese when it was very courageous to do so,” McArthur said. “Early on those cases were met with a cynicism and Jerry never wavered from that pursuit.”
O’Neill represented dozens of plaintiffs in bringing sex abuse claims against priests and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont, winning trial verdicts, securing settlements and obtaining judgments for his clients in the tens of millions of dollars.
Former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, a close friend of O’Neill’s, said in an interview Tuesday, “He was not a grandstander, he was just a hardworking and honest lawyer, and also an extraordinarily talented lawyer.”
Leahy added, “He also had a good sense of humor, which helps as much as anything.”
Robert Hemley, an attorney, recalled meeting O’Neill in 1976, when O’Neill, then an assistant U.S. attorney, prosecuted a criminal defendant represented by Hemley.
“I had just arrived in Vermont,” Hemley recalled. “I was very impressed with every aspect of Jerry’s approach to the case, both his graciousness and understanding of circumstances that brought this criminal defendant to his doorstep.”
That began a friendship, Hemley said, that stretched nearly 50 years. The two men later became colleagues at the firm Gravel & Shea. Hemley marveled at O’Neill’s work in arguing cases in the courtroom.
“He gained the confidence of juries because he presented so sincerely and honestly,” Hemley said, adding that he presented “as a trustworthy source and that was a big part of how he succeeded.”
A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., O’Neill went on to a legal career in Vermont after a two-year stint as an active duty U.S. Army officer.
He became an assistant U.S. attorney based out of Rutland in 1973 and for several months in 1981 he served as the U.S. Attorney for Vermont, the top federal prosecutor in the state.
O’Neill went into private practice in Burlington after his turn as a prosecutor and for the last several years had worked at Gravel & Shea.
He also served many years on the Burlington Police Commission.
O’Neill frequently served as a resource for journalists, giving interviews and appearing on television to provide analysis of legal issues in the news, from dissecting the latest Vermont Supreme Court decision to breaking down the elements of criminal charges a prosecutor needed to prove in order to gain a conviction.
O’Neill, testifying in the Vermont Legislature in 2019 on ultimately successful legislation that did away with the statute of limitations for sexual abuse victims to bring a civil lawsuit, talked about how difficult it can be for victim of childhood abuse to come forward.
“The shame and the fear and the unwillingness to kind of delve into it themselves and deal with it, is such that the average age that people are really ready and able to delve in and deal with it is in their 40s,” O’Neill said.
Federal Chief Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Tuesday that he had worked early in his career as law partner at a firm alongside O’Neill.
“He was fierce and fair, highly loyal to his clients,” Crawford recalled.
Crawford described his former law partner as a “very close friend” and “like an older brother,” adding, “he was a member of our family.”
The chief judge recalled working alongside O’Neill litigating cases. “When we would try cases together if he did the opening, I’d do the closing, if I would do one witness, he would do the next,” Crawford said. “Not every lawyer is that generous.”
Leahy said Tuesday that he had such trust in O’Neill that he had him serve as the treasurer of past campaigns.
“I knew that he would be meticulous in making sure that money gets spent only for things that were legal,” Leahy said. “He made sure that everything followed the law exactly.”
Leahy said he and Crawford were recently trying to arrange a time to get together with O’Neill to enjoy a quiet dinner and “talk about old times.” However, Leahy said, O’Neill’s health began to falter before that dinner could take place.
Former Vermont Lt. Gov. Molly Gray offered condolences to the friends, colleagues and loved ones of O’Neill on her X account Monday.
“A personal friend and mentor to me and a fierce advocate for justice,” Gray wrote of O’Neill on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “He will be missed.”
O’Neill, on his LinkedIn page, described the varied and complex legal work he did at Gravel & Shea, ending with the statement, “helping people and having a great time in the process.”
