Robert B. Hemley

Bio

Robert Hemley was admitted to the bar in 1971 in New York. After working for a Wall Street firm and serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, he joined Gravel & Shea in 1976.

In his 50 years at the firm, Bob gained extensive experience in medical malpractice, personal injury, professional malpractice, product liability claims, employment disputes, First Amendment law, commercial litigation, criminal defense, and mass tort litigation and class action suits.

Education

• New York University, J.D. 1970
• Amherst College, B.A. 1967

Bar Admissions

• New York (1971)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1972)
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (1972)
• U.S. District Court, District of Vermont (1976)
• Vermont (1977)
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York (1977)
• U.S. Supreme Court (1989)

Honors

• Named Burlington Lawyer of the Year in various categories in The Best Lawyers in America© (2009, 2011-2013)
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for more than 25 consecutive years, since 1989
• Listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business since 2003
• AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell since 1986
• Listed in New England Super Lawyers since 2007
• Named as one of the Top 100 New England attorneys in New England Super Lawyers (2007-2011, 2013, 2015-2017, 2019)
• Named as a “litigation star” in Benchmark’s Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys since 2008
• Received Matthew Lyon Award by the Vermont Press Association for lifetime achievement in First Amendment work

Memberships & Affiliations

• Chair, U.S. District Court Advisory Committee (formerly Civil Justice Reform Act Task Force) for Vermont, 1993-Present
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
• Member, Chittenden County, Vermont and American Bar Associations
• Member, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• Member, Defense Research Institute
• Member, American Board of Trial Advocates (Charter member, Vermont Chapter; President, 1993-1994)
• Member, Federal Panel of Early Neutral Evaluators

Representative Matters

• Won a jury verdict of $6,000,000 for a local garbage hauler in a predatory pricing case against Browning Ferris. The judgment was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Won a $3,000,000 jury verdict on behalf of a young girl whose t-shirt ignited, on the theory that cotton t-shirts are a dangerously defective product.
• Won numerous jury verdicts in medical malpractice, negligence and products liability cases, obtaining millions of dollars for injured plaintiffs.
• Successfully defended numerous local businesses at trial in minority shareholder cases.
• Represented at trial a national packager of medical data in a successful effort to declare a Vermont statute unconstitutional. The verdict was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Represented at trial the owner of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in a successful effort to declare a Vermont statute unconstitutional.
• Obtained an arbitration award on behalf of the owners of a hydroelectric facility obtaining a valuation millions of dollars higher than the valuations presented by the opposing party.
• Represented numerous national companies in disputes with the Vermont Attorney General over fair trade practices and advertising.
• Represented numerous criminal defendants in federal courts.
• Represented national and regional brokerage firms in disputes with customers and the State Department of Financial Regulation.
• Represented physicians at the state’s largest hospital in employment-related disputes.
• Represented national employers in defense of wrongful discharge and other employment related matters.

Selected Reported Cases

• Browning-Ferris Indus. of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Travelers Ins. Co. v. Henry, 2007 WL 1448072 (D. Vt. May 14, 2007)
• Austin v. Downs, Rachlin & Martin, 2006 WL 2585102 (D. Vt. Aug. 24, 2006)
• Dwight v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 2005 WL 756517 (D. Conn. Mar. 31, 2005)
• In re Inquest Subpoena (WCAX), 2005 VT 103, 179 Vt. 12, 890 A.2d 1240 (2005)
• State v. Whitney, 2005 VT 102, 178 Vt. 435, 885 A.2d 1200 (2005)
• Austin v. Downs, Rachlin & Martin, 114 Fed. Appx. 21 (2d Cir. 2004)
• Blanchard v. Eli Lilly & Co., 207 F. Supp. 2d 308 (D. Vt. 2002)
• Soutiere v. Betzdearborn, Inc., 189 F. Supp. 2d 183 (D. Vt. 2002)
• Herald Ass’n v. Dean, 174 Vt. 350, 816 A.2d 469 (2002)
• Andrew C. & Margaret R. Sigler Found., Inc. v. Town of Norwich, 174 Vt. 129, 807 A.2d 442 (2002)
• Needham v. Coordinated Apparel Group, Inc., 174 Vt. 263, 811 A.2d 124 (2002)
• Vermont Mobile Home Owners’; Ass’n v. Lapierre, 131 F. Supp. 2d 553 (D. Vt. 2001)
• In re Sealed Documents, 172 Vt. 152, 772 A.2d 518 (2001)
• Vermont Soc’y of Ass’n Executives v. Milne, 172 Vt. 375, 779 A.2d 20 (2001)
• Savoie v. Merchants Bank, 166 F.3d 456 (2d Cir. 1999)
• Lupien v. Citizens Utils. Co., 159 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 1998)
• Boston & Maine Corp. v. Canadian Nat’l Ry., 152 F.3d 917 (2d Cir. 1998)
• Ray v. Doughboy Recreational, Inc., 122 F.3d 1057 (2d Cir. 1997)
• Costello v. Gannett Satellite Info. Network, Inc., 939 F. Supp. 313 (D. Vt. 1996), aff’d, 112 F.3d 503 (2d Cir. 1997)
• Shaw v. Agri-Mark, Inc., 67 F.3d 18 (2d Cir. 1995)
• Ross v. Times Mirror, Inc., 164 Vt. 13, 665 A.2d 580 (1995)
• Beauchemin v. Blodgett Corp., 163 Vt. 175, 656 A.2d 984 (1995)
• State v. Gundlah ex rel. Smallheer, 160 Vt. 193, 624 A.2d 368 (1993)
• Downs v. Downs, 159 Vt. 467, 621 A.2d 229 (1993)
• David L. Threlkeld & Co. v. Metallgesellschaft Ltd. (London), 923 F.2d 245 (2d Cir. 1991)
• State v. Schaefer, 157 Vt. 339, 599 A.2d 337 (1991)
• Mobbs v. Cent. Vermont Pub. Ry., 155 Vt. 210, 583 A.2d 566 (1990)
• U.S. v. Starr, 816 F.2d 94 (2d Cir. 1987)
• Schaafsma v. Morin Vermont Corp., 802 F.2d 629 (2d Cir. 1986)

Languages

• Spanish