Sarah Buxton, former state director of workforce development at the Vermont Department of Labor, and David Mears, former executive director of Audubon Vermont, have joined the Montpelier law firm Tarrant, Gillies & Shems.
“We are thrilled to bring both Sarah and David into the firm,” said founding partner Gerald Tarrant. “Both have a wealth of experience and unparalleled reputations in their respective areas of expertise.
Buxton's focus is on general practice, with a special focus on education and employment law. She has a long record of success working in government and the nonprofit sector, including serving in former Gov. Howard Dean’s office and under civil rights leader Marian Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. From 2011 to 2017, Buxton represented residents of Orange-Windsor 1 District in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she championed the passage of the state's first-in-the-nation universal prekindergarten education entitlement.
Mears’ practice will focus on environmental, energy, brownfields and land use law. Prior to joining Audubon Vermont, he served as associate dean of environmental programs at Vermont Law School. He has also held several positions in state and federal government, including serving as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Mears is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Master of Environmental Law and Policy and a law degree from Vermont Law School.