This commentary is by Hannah King of Burlington. She is executive director of the Vermont Bar Foundation and a former Burlington city councilor.
When we talk about access to justice, we are talking about something foundational to democracy: the idea that everyone, regardless of income, status or circumstance, should be able to understand and exercise their rights under the law. At the Vermont Bar Foundation, we fund legal services that make this promise real for thousands of Vermonters each year. And as new data from Vermont Law and Graduate School makes clear, the economic return on this investment is not just powerful — it’s transformative.
VLGS’s latest report on the economic impact of its pro bono legal clinics reveals something Vermonters can be proud of: over $15 million in Vermont-centric economic benefit generated from just $1.36 million in Vermont-focused operating budgets. That’s an astonishing return of $11 for every $1 invested, all by providing no-cost legal services to those who need them most.
These clinics aren’t hypothetical. They are lifelines.
Vermont Law and Graduate School is not just a hub for legal education — it’s a vital partner in the state’s justice ecosystem. By embedding students in hands-on legal clinics, VLGS equips future lawyers with real-world skills while directly serving Vermonters in need.
Its unique focus on public interest law and community impact sets a national example and reflects Vermont’s values of fairness, equity, and innovation. Investing in VLGS is investing in a pipeline of legal professionals who are deeply committed to justice, sustainability and rural advocacy — priorities that define our state and its future.
- In South Royalton, legal advocates have supported over 700 veterans since the inception of the program in 2014, and 200 client families each year — including domestic violence survivors and children – resulting in more than $6.3 million in impact.
- The Small Business Law Clinic, in collaboration with Vermont Legal Aid and the Vermont Bar Association, helped nearly 300 small businesses, many of them recovering from catastrophic floods, creating over $3.1 million in economic benefit.
- Clinics focused on food justice, immigration, environmental health and renewable energy are improving lives while strengthening communities across every Vermont county.
This work is not possible without the generosity of donors and the strategic vision of our partners, including the Vermont Supreme Court, which commissioned the original economic impact study this work builds upon.
As the executive director of the Vermont Bar Foundation, I see daily how these efforts ripple outward — stabilizing families, empowering small business owners, protecting vulnerable populations and training the next generation of legal professionals to lead with compassion and purpose.
Legal aid isn’t charity. It’s infrastructure. It’s public safety. It’s economic development. It’s justice.
At a time when trust in institutions is being tested and the rule of law must be fiercely defended, Vermont’s commitment to legal access is more than a moral imperative — it’s an economic engine. Let’s continue to fund it, expand it and celebrate it.
