Kohler, Stadecker new partners at DRM, Dodge named practice group chair

Attorneys Elizabeth L. Kohler and Cathleen E. Stadecker have been elected directors and owners of the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC and Director William J. Dodge has assumed a new leadership role at the firm. The election of the new members took place at the firm’s annual meeting in December.

“Beth, Cathy and Will have stood out at the firm and within the legal community for the quality and depth of their legal work,” said DRM Managing Partner Paul H. Ode, Jr. “As each of them advances into new leadership roles at DRM, they are helping to shape a generation of managers who will readily adapt to a constantly changing marketplace. This dynamic is important to assuring that clients receive the best legal advice to meet their current and future needs. I am pleased that they will each play new and important roles in the decisions we make as a firm.”

Kohler came to work at DRM in 1994. She left the firm to join Atlantic Cellular and served as general counsel to Atlantic Cellular and later as a corporate officer and general counsel to its successor company, Rural Cellular Corporation, doing business as Unicel. When Verizon Wireless acquired Unicel, Kohler continued as assistant general counsel for Verizon Wireless, where she focused on complex telecommunications transactions and compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements. In 2012, she rejoined DRM to work primarily in the telecommunications field. Recently, she has also branched into areas of environmental and energy law as client needs evolve. She is a cum laude graduate of Boston College with a major in economics, and she earned her law degree at Northeastern University in Boston.

Stadecker joined DRM in 2010 after working in the San Francisco office of a prominent, national law firm for five years. As a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, she has concentrated her practice in the area of trademark law, including the resolution of domain name and other internet disputes. More specifically, she assists clients with trademark selection, clearance, registration, and enforcement. She handles trademark litigation, both before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in the U.S. Patent and Trade Office and in the federal courts., and also drafts and negotiates IP-related agreements, including software licensing and service agreements, independent consultant agreements, IP license agreements, and employee invention assignment and confidentiality agreements. Stadecker is a cum laude graduate of Columbia College with majors in English and music, and she graduated from Columbia’s law school as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a recipient of the Carroll G. Harper Prize for achievement in intellectual property studies and writing.

Dodge will chair DRM’s Regulated Entities Group, which includes the Environmental Law, Energy and Telecommunications, Government and Public Affairs and Health Law groups.

In this role, he will be responsible for the strategic direction of these groups in support of the firm’s overall objectives, as well as helping DRM attorneys and legal professionals in developing their individual practices.

Dodge practices in the telecommunications, energy, and land use area, using his experience in managing large utility projects to address complex client needs. In recent years he has played a pivotal road in expanding wireless telecommunication infrastructure across northern New England, applying his siting skills to drafting and implementing new laws in Vermont and New Hampshire to expedite and streamline the siting of telecommunications infrastructure. In 2012, he successfully defended a challenge to the first Section 248a certificate of public good decision appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court. More recently, he co-manages the right-of-way team for a Vermont utility in connection with a major regional economic development project, while also working with members of the DRM Business Law Group on renewable energy transactions. A graduate of international programs in France, Chile and Spain, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Trent University and earned his law degree at the University of Texas School of Law. He was named a Rising Star by Vermont Business Magazine in 2010, and has been recognized in Chambers USA for real estate and land use since 2010. He has served on the board of directors for the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce since 2012.

Operating on the fundamental belief that anything is possible when imagination and pragmatism live side by side, the 60-plus attorneys at DRM apply creativity, connections and experience to solve their clients’ toughest legal problems. From offices located in Vermont and New Hampshire, DRM represents regional, national and international entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technology businesses and Fortune 100 companies. The legal services provided by the firm include bankruptcy and business restructuring, general business, captive insurance, renewable energy and telecommunications, health law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and land use, environmental, tax, and trusts and estates, plus legislative and regulatory services through the firm’s Government and Public Affairs group. DRM is the exclusive member firm in Vermont for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+ countries worldwide. Downs Rachlin Martin: business sense, legal ingenuity.