Attorneys and staff of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC are mourning the loss of Attorney and Director Eric A. Poehlmann, 46, who died this week while hiking in Colorado.
“We are all deeply saddened to learn of Eric’s untimely death,” said Paul H. Ode Jr., managing partner and chief executive officer at DRM. “Eric was a skilled legal craftsman and one of the firm’s top litigators. He was highly regarded by our clients. He was loved and respected by everyone at the firm. He will be sorely missed.”
Eric A. Poehlmann
Poehlmann joined DRM after graduating from Cornell Law School in 1996. He was named a director in 2005.
An experienced trial lawyer, he handled some of Vermont’s most complex litigation, from defending private equity firms in shareholder derivative actions, to defending products liability, toxic exposure, and professional malpractice cases. He handled complex tax and income disputes as well as insurance coverage issues. According to colleagues, he was considered the state’s pre-eminent attorney on matters of federal pre-emption law.
Poehlmann was a principal author of the state’s anti-“patent troll” statute, the first law in the country to give a state Attorney General legal authority for protecting businesses and non-profits from unfair attacks by overly aggressive patent owners. That law has since been copied by a number of other states.
Founding partner Robert D. Rachlin, who served as a mentor, said “Eric’s death is a grievous loss, not only to the legal community and to our firm, but to me personally. Eric was not only a skilled “lawyer’s lawyer;” but he was also a thoroughgoing gentleman who understood that an adversary is not an enemy and that litigation does not warrant an abandonment of kindness and civility toward those whom circumstances situate for the moment as opponents. I have lost a dear colleague and friend.”
Poehlmann holds a masters degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. A member of the Vermont Bar Association, he was admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the districts of Vermont and Southern New York and the Courts of Appeal for the First and Second Districts.
Poehlmann is survived by his wife, Jennifer Poehlmann, and their three children. The family lives in Richmond.
A tribute to Poehlmann written by his colleagues and friends is available on the firm’s web site, www.drm.com . When arrangements are announced, they will also be posted on the firm’s web site.