Attorney Peter D. Van Oot of the northern New England law firm of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC has moved to the Upper Valley and will continue his land use, environmental and corporate law practice primarily from the firm's Lebanon office. Van Oot will continue to work part-time in the firm's Brattleboro office and will be available to the firm's southern Vermont clients in Brattleboro whenever needed going forward. DRM CEO and Managing Partner Paul H. Ode Jr. announced the change on May 22.
“Peter opened our firm's Brattleboro office 17 years ago. We are grateful to Peter for his leadership in building our law practice in southern Vermont, where DRM is now an active part of the business and professional community. His transition to our new and growing practice in the Upper Valley assures that Vermont and western New Hampshire will have access to high quality services in land use, environmental and corporate law for many years to come.”
A graduate of Williams College and Georgetown University Law School, and a former legislative aide to U.S. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Van Oot has been with DRM since 1987. At DRM, he established and helped to build the firm's Brattleboro office, which is the largest law office in that area of the state and shares resources across DRM's six offices in New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. He chairs the firm's Regulated Entities Group, which includes lawyers and legal professionals working in energy law, telecommunications, public utilities, health care, land use/environmental law, and government and public affairs.
Van Oot's work in environmental law is broadly known and widely respected. He has served as lead permitting counsel for projects ranging from the High Points Estates residential project, the Grafton Village Cheese manufacturing and retail store and the recently permitted Commonwealth Dairy yogurt manufacturing facility in Brattleboro to the 1,000-unit Ginn Company development in Burke and the 24-lot Rocking Stone Farm residential project in Manchester, Vt. He has served as lead counsel in most of Vermont's Superfund Sites and advises a wide range of environmental and land use clients throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
Van Oot's work as corporate counsel is also significant. He serves as outside general counsel for a number of entities, including Sonnax Industries in Rockingham; Marlboro College; the Vermont Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (the Austine School in Brattleboro); the Brattleboro Retreat in Brattleboro; Harpoon Brewery in West Windsor, Vermont and Boston and the Windham Foundation in Grafton.
Van Oot's reputation and skill have led successive Vermont governors and corporate leaders to name him to advisory panels on both economic development and environmental affairs. He has served on Gov. Howard B. Dean's Council of Environmental Affairs and Governor James H. Douglas's Jobs Cabinet. Most recently he was named by Gov. Douglas to the Brownfields Advisory Council, a group created by the 2008 legislature to promote the remediation of contaminated sites. In 2009 he chaired the judicial nominating committee that led to the nomination of Federal District Court Judge Christina Reiss by Sen. Leahy and her subsequent appointment by President Barack Obama. He also served on the judicial nominating commissions that vetted the nominations of Vermont Federal District Court Judges Garvin Murtha (Retired) and William Sessions. He currently serves on the Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center and Land Use Institute Advisory Committees.
Van Oot is a founding regent of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, which recognizes preeminent leaders in the field of environmental law. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2010 and New England Superlawyers. He has an AV Preeminent Peer Rating from Martindale-Hubbell as an environmental lawyer and is active in community affairs and the Vermont and American Bar Associations.
Van Oot has been actively involved in the Brattleboro civic community where he served as a board member and chair of United Way of Windham County. He presently serves on the board of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (“BDCC”) and served as board president from 2007 to 2009. He also serves on the executive committee and board of Southern Vermont Business Leadership Council, on which he will continue to serve during his transition to the Upper Valley.
DRM is a full-service law firm with more than 60 attorneys and six offices in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. DRM provides legal services to local, national and international clients in practice areas that include bankruptcy and business restructuring, business law, captive insurance, energy and telecommunications, family law, health law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and land use, environmental law, tax law and trusts and estates. The firm represents clients in legislative, regulatory and public affairs through the Government and Public Affairs group. DRM is the law firm member for Vermont of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms.
