Category Archives: Firm News

Eileen Elliott in the news: Vermont Health Exchange and Small Businesses

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Dunkiel Saunders attorney Eileen Elliott published an article, Navigating the health exchange for small businesses, in the Creative Corner in the Burlington Free Press. In her article, Eileen describes the upcoming health exchange, Vermont Health Connect, and how the changes will affect small businesses.

Eileen also spoke with the Associated Press about the health care changes in Vermont. The article, Businesses may get sticker shock on health care, describes the national implications of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses.

In addition, Eileen was a guest on WDEV’s The Mark Johnson Show, where she answered questions about Vermont’s Health Exchange.

Dunkiel Saunders helps health-care providers, including nonprofit institutions and organizations, corporate entities, and private practitioners, understand and navigate the complex and rapidly evolving area of state and federal health-care law. The full description of the firm’s health care practice can be found on the Dunkiel Saunders site.

Dunkiel Saunders Looking to Hire Administrative Assistant/Paralegal

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Downtown Burlington law firm is seeking a person to fill the position of administrative assistant/paralegal.  This person will learn to be adept at independent management of legal filings, and must be proficient in all office procedures.  Responsibilities will also include research/writing support to attorneys, preparation and organization of real estate closing documents, and database management.  Very strong editing/proofing and computer skills are essential.  This person will take the lead in implementation and utilization of online document management system, so prior experience with similar systems is helpful but not essential.  We offer an excellent work environment, as well as competitive benefits and salary.  Interested parties please e-mail cover letter and resume to:  kmcclennan@dunkielsaunders.com

Eileen Elliott interviewed on Inc.com

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Adam Bluestein from Inc.com interviewed Dunkiel Saunders partner Eileen Elliott on April 2nd about the Affordable Care Act.

The article, “What Will Obamacare Do To Your Insurance Premiums,” focused on how Vermont’s proposed rates for the insurance exchange will affect small businesses and theorized what this will mean for other states.

Of course, Vermont isn’t exactly like the rest of America (Bernie Sanders, anyone?). It has a history of progressive healthcare policy. Community rating, which prohibits insurers from varying rates based on health status, went into the effect in the state in the mid-90s, and insurers already have been required to meet most of the ACA’s other requirements. Inc.com.

Find a description of the firm’s healthcare practice on the Dunkiel Saunders website.

photo by ernstl

Forbes Interviews Justin McCabe for Trademark Startups

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Dunkiel Saunders’ IP attorney, Justin McCabe, is quoted in last week’s Forbes article “Trademarking 101: 9 Red Flags Before Naming Your Startup.” The article describes the necessity and challenges of securing and maintaining national and international trademarks, and offers key strategies for choosing and registering trademarked company names.

“You can’t register a trademark that is either a generic term or a descriptive term (like Eddie’s Car Repair),” says McCabe. “This creates a problem for many new companies in coming up with the best name because they want to say what your company does and what it’s about, but you’re limited because trademarks at their core must be unique.” Forbes.com.

Burlington Free Press Article: Brian Dunkiel on The Art of Making Green Marketing Claims Stick

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Brian Dunkiel

Consumers are increasingly looking for Green products in today’s marketplace, but how can marketers highlight the environmental performance of their product while adhering to the recently-released Federal Trade Commission Green Guides?

Dunkiel Saunders partner Brian Dunkiel’s article about how to ensure that green marketing strategies are both effective and legal is featured in today’s Burlington Free Press. Read it at:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012312130009&nclick_check=1

Image by Michael Riddell

 

 

 

Brian Dunkiel To Speak at Vermont Bar Association Brownfield Forum

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DS partner Brian Dunkiel will be speaking at the Vermont Bar Association’s Brownfields Forum on November 29th, 2012 at the Stoweflake Resort and Conference Center in Stowe, Vermont. The conference will include seminars on all aspects of brownfields, including their economic and environmental benefits, how to  identify them, federal and state liability provisions, site planning and coordinating regulatory programs, working with landowners, funding options and how to use them, and insurance. Brian will be a panelist for the “Making the Funding Work” seminar, where he and his co-panelists will use their experiences to describe successful approaches to brownfield projects that utilize a variety of funding and transaction options.

To find out more about Dunkiel Saunders’ work on the Salisbury Square brownfield project, go to http://www.dunkielsaunders.com/case-studies/salisbury-square.html

CHT Acquires Burlington’s South Meadow Apartment Complex

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Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) purchased South Meadow Apartments in Burlington’s south end for $19 million today. Built 25 years ago, South Meadow is home to 148 apartments, including 40 affordable units. Dunkiel Saunders is honored to have represented CHT in closing the transaction and to have helped preserve affordable housing units in Burlington.

Read more about this in the Burlington Free Press and Seven Days.

Dunkiel Saunders adds two new attorneys; expands intellectual property practice.

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Dunkiel Saunders is pleased to announce that Justin McCabe and Erik Nielsen have joined the firm as associate attorneys.

Justin McCabe comes to Dunkiel Saunders after several years of practice at another prominent Burlington, Vermont firm, where he focused on intellectual property and especially patent law. Justin has extensive experience working with companies, small businesses, inventors, designers, and software developers to help them identify and protect their valuable intellectual property assets.

At Dunkiel Saunders, Justin will assist the firm’s clients in all areas of intellectual property law, including drafting patents and prosecuting them before the USPTO, litigating patent and trademark infringement disputes, negotiating intellectual property agreements, advising on trademarks, copyrights, and trade secret protection, and assisting with open source software licensing. His particular patent experience spans several different technological disciplines, and complements the firm’s focus on assisting clients in the energy, environmental, healthcare, technology, and green consumer product industries. His addition will help the firm offer a greater range of intellectual property services to its clients in these and other fields.

Click here to learn more about Justin and the firm’s intellectual property practice.

Erik Nielsen begins his legal career at Dunkiel Saunders after clerking at the Vermont Supreme Court for Justice Beth Robinson. Erik graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Law in 2011. Prior to clerking at the Vermont Supreme Court, he worked as a legal fellow at the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and also spent his last semester of law school at the EPA as a law clerk to three administrative law judges.

At Dunkiel Saunders, Erik’s work will focus primarily on the firm’s regulatory practices, including renewable energy, telecommunications, and public utilities. He will also support the firm’s civil litigation practice.

Click here to learn more about Erik.

Together with their new colleagues at Dunkiel Saunders, Justin and Erik are committed to helping clients make a difference in their communities and the broader world. We welcome them to the firm.

Join Us for the 1st Annual Art + Soul Event, June 7, 2012

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Dunkiel Saunders is excited to announce the First Annual Art + Soul Event.  The event will take place at our office on June 7, 2012 during Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival.

Over the last ten years, we’ve been privileged to work with people all around Vermont who are engaged in creative and meaningful enterprises that make a real difference in their communities.  Helping such inspiring individuals, nonprofits, and businesses succeed is what makes the practice of law so personally fulfilling for all of us at Dunkiel Saunders.

We’ve created Art + Soul to celebrate their work, raise money for great causes, and help forge new connections between folks who participate in Vermont’s vibrant creative economy.

Each year, Art + Soul will benefit a different local nonprofit, featuring local art inspired by, or connected to, the nonprofit’s mission.  All art will be sold, and proceeds from art sales will be split between the artists and the nonprofit.

This year the event will benefit the Intervale Center and will feature artwork inspired by the Intervale Center’s mission of sustainable local agriculture.  The Intervale Center has accomplished an amazing amount over its 35+ year history, helping small farmers grow economically viable enterprises, contributing to the development of a vibrant local food culture, and revitalizing Burlington’s Intervale, which serves as a remarkable resource for all of us in Burlington.  The organization has become an indispensable steward of sustainable agriculture in Vermont and is a critical thread in the unique fabric of our community.

We hope you’ll join us on June 7, 2012 between 6:30 and 9:00 PM at our office at 91 College Street, Burlington to help celebrate the Intervale Center’s good work.  Make some new connections, buy some great art, support a good cause, and take home some inspiration to sustain your own good work.

The team at Stride Creative Group has donated the graphic design work for Art + Soul and will be co-sponsoring the event this year, along with Thread Magazine, a new publication that focuses on Vermont’s art, food, music and cultural scene.

For additional information please visit the website: www.artandsoulvt.org or our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/artandsoulvt

RSVP by Tuesday, June 5th: Ki McClennan, kmcclennan@dunkielsaunders.com

Vermont Medical Society Honors Eileen Elliott for Contributions to Vermonters’ Health

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Eileen Elliott, Esq., received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Vermont Medical Society, which is presented to a nonphysician who has made a significant contribution to the health of the people of Vermont. A partner in the Burlington law firm of Dunkiel, Saunders, Elliott, Raubvogel and Hand, Elliott was instrumental in the VMS’s U.S. Supreme Court support of a Vermont law banning data mining companies from selling prescription information to drug companies. Ms. Elliott dedicated countless hours to the effort, including drafting an amicus brief in support of the law that forcefully called for the protection of medical privacy and reinforced the importance of the doctor-patient relationship.

“It was a privilege to receive this award,” said Elliott. “I share it with my partners, who wholeheartedly supported the time and effort we put into writing the amicus brief, and with my colleagues Jessica Oski, Geoff Hand and Elizabeth Catlin, who were directly responsible for the quality of our arguments. We all believe the doctor/patient relationship has to be carefully protected from intrusion and exploitation by outsiders who want to use it solely to make money. Although we disagree with the Court’s decision, we will never regret the honor of standing up for doctors who are sick of being targeted for pharmaceutical marketing schemes that focus on the drug more than the patient.”

Excerpted from The Green Mountain Physician.