Three Gravel & Shea attorneys gave presentations last week at the Vermont Bar Association Mid-Year Meeting in Lake Morey.
Shareholder Navah Spero and Associate Livia DeMarchis presented Probate 101. The session, intended to provide a broad overview of the Vermont probate court, was geared toward attorneys new to practicing in Vermont and attorneys who are starting or interested in starting their own probate practice.
“The participants were very engaged and asked good questions,” said Spero. “It’s a smart practice area to be getting into right now as the Baby Boomer generation ages, bringing more and more cases before the probate court.”
Spero is a member of Gravel & Shea’s litigation practice group and specializes in probate litigation. DeMarchis’s practice focuses on tax and estate planning as well as trust and probate administration.
Special Counsel Cassandra LaRae-Perez presented a detailed overview of food and beverage law at the state and federal levels. She also provided the attending attorneys with information on current litigation trends and recent developments in both case law and regulatory regimes, like class actions suits based on similar claims across the country and the changing nature of regulations related to CBD products, particularly dietary supplements.
“It’s a dynamic area of the law consistently challenged by an active plaintiffs’ bar and recent sweeping changes in regulation,” said LaRae-Perez. “Even companies doing their best to do the right thing can find themselves at the business end of a daunting lawsuit, and it’s hard for new companies to navigate all the regulations and myriad agencies involved. But that’s also what makes it interesting.”
LaRae-Perez is the only Vermont attorney with a dedicated food and beverage practice.
