Family Law

• Divorce
• Child Support
• Child Custody and Visitation
• Adoption
• Spousal Support

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Gravel & Shea litigators include former state and federal prosecutors who have represented clients in criminal matters in both state and federal courts.
• Wrongful Death
• Sex Crimes
  Gravel & Shea has a strong reputation for representing victims of crime. Jerry O’Neill, a Gravel & Shea shareholder and Past President of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, was the lead attorney on cases involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, winning a trial judgment and reaching settlements totaling over $30,000,000. Jerry and Celeste Laramie focus particularly on representing sexual assault victims (including victims of assault within families and by close friends and associates), and has secured a judgment of $3,400,000 for a sexual assault survivor.
• Assault
  The firm also represents individuals who are the subject of other types of physical harm, including assault and battery.

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Other types of mergers and acquisitions. We have represented buyers and sellers in transactions ranging in size from over one hundred million dollars to transactions involving the purchase of small, specialized businesses, such as dental practices, regional manufacturers or retail facilities. Our merger and acquisition clients include Vermont-based businesses and buyers and sellers of companies throughout the United States. We also represent international clients on the U.S. aspects of multi-national transactions.
• Business Formation
  Our Business Formation & Representation practice group was integrally involved with revisions to the Vermont Business Corporation Act, the adoption and amendments to the Vermont Limited Liability Act, the Licensed Lender Act, the Vermont Uniform Partnership Act, the Vermont Securities Act, and other important business legislation in Vermont. Our Business Formation & Representation attorneys understand and can counsel clients on what they need to know and do.
• Business Disputes
  Gravel & Shea’s litigation department is regarded by its peers, adversaries and the judiciary as superbly qualified in the area of commercial litigation. The firm has experience in assisting the varied interests of its commercial clients in all manners of litigation. Cases successfully litigated run the full gamut, including contract disputes, partnership and corporation dissolution, minority shareholder oppression, antitrust, tortious interference, Consumer Protection Act claims, and complex commercial disputes. The firm’s clients range from sole proprietors to multi-national companies.
• Business Transactions
  Our experienced group of business and corporate attorneys assists in the formation of new businesses and advises newly-formed and existing companies, financial institutions and entrepreneurs. We provide counsel in a wide variety of commercial transactions, investments and securities matters, as well as corporate, limited liability company (LLC) and partnership issues.
• Limited Liability Companies
• Trade Secrets
• Intellectual Property
• Unfair Competition
  Gravel & Shea attorneys bring deep expertise to advising clients and litigating intellectual property (IP) cases, including cases involving trademark, copyright, patent infringement and disputes, domain name disputes, unfair competition claims under the Lanham Act, and other intangible business assets such as trade secrets, covenants not to compete and interference with business relations.
• Antitrust
  Gravel & Shea has successfully handled major antitrust litigation and is regarded as one of the best-equipped Vermont law firms to handle antitrust cases, along with other complex commercial litigation. Bob Hemley and Matt Byrne recently represented one of four gasoline distributors who in a conspiracy to fix gasoline prices in Vermont. The plaintiffs were represented by a national law firm which was touted as a premier plaintiffs’ antitrust firm. After several years of discovery, no evidence was developed to support the claim, which the defendants believed was politically motivated. A settlement was reached for a small fraction of the anticipated ongoing defense costs.

Employment Law

• Wrongful Termination
• Employment Discrimination
  Gravel & Shea’s employment law attorneys can help implement equal employment practices, as well as defend against charges of discrimination at the state and federal levels. This includes claims brought under Title VII, the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as well as other state and federal laws.
• Employment Contract
• Employment Litigation
  In today’s world, it is critical to manage risk by considering business structures, tax, regulatory hurdles, employment issues, estate planning and more. And we have the expertise you’ll need when your situation calls for litigation. We’ll stand beside you with the tenacity, instinct and decisiveness of born advocates.
• Severance Agreement
• Sexual Harassment
  Gravel & Shea’s employment law attorneys train supervisors and managers on preventing sexual harassment complaints, making accommodations to employees with disabilities, and evaluating

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  Our real estate and litigation attorneys have significant experience in all types of property law disputes and litigation, including boundary disputes, easement issues, encroachment and trespass, adverse possession claims, highway right-of-way issues, condemnation matters and partition cases. To help our client reach their goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner, we actively coordinate and collaborate with title insurance companies, consultants, engineers and surveyors.
• Premises Liability
• Construction Litigation
  Gravel & Shea is uniquely positioned to assist clients in the field of construction law. Our attorneys use their knowledge and experience to successfully guide owners, contractors, architects, engineers and design-build entities through all phases of the construction process.
• Real Estate Transactions
  The real estate attorneys at Gravel & Shea bring many years of experience to a broad range of real estate transactions. We assist clients with all phases of developing properties, from the initial planning through the permit process to final occupancy.
• Eminent Domain
  We have obtained million dollar compensation jury verdicts for our clients in eminent domain actions that are among the largest such awards given in Vermont.
• Land Use and Zoning
  Our real estate attorneys have considerable experience with Vermont’s municipal zoning laws and Act 250, Vermont’s state-wide land use and development law. We have successfully represented many landowners, developers and businesses before Development Review Boards, Planning Commissions, Act 250 District Commissions, Vermont’s Environmental Court and the Vermont Supreme Court, as well as in other local, state and federal venues.

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  As in other areas, it is a testament to the high regard in which Gravel & Shea is held by its peers that, in addition to its work for plaintiffs, it is regularly asked to defend products liability and personal injury cases by large national self-insured interests.
• Medical Malpractice
  Gravel & Shea has obtained million dollar results for its clients who have been victimized by medical malpractice (including malpractice by physicians, nurses, and dentists), legal malpractice and financial malpractice, involving professionals such as accountants.
• Auto Accidents
• Dog Bites
  Gravel & Shea lawyers have represented plaintiffs in cases that address a full range of negligent conduct, including car accidents, premises liability (e.g., slip and falls, dog bites) and wrongful death. As plaintiffs’ counsel, we obtained some of the highest awards in Vermont for catastrophically-injured clients.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Gravel & Shea represents individuals and families on all matters pertaining to the ownership and transfer of wealth. We engage in estate planning for clients at all stages of life, following a multi-disciplinary approach that harnesses the expertise of attorneys throughout the firm. We work with clients to consider how their particular circumstances, goals, and needs can be effectively matched with appropriate estate planning techniques.
• Wills
  Will probation, trust administration, trust and will contests, creditor claims, allowance of fiduciary accounts and claims against fiduciaries
• Trusts
  The attorneys at Gravel & Shea engage in all phases of probate, estate, and trust administration. Our attorneys and paralegals have many years of experience providing probate and trust services and do so in a thoughtful and efficient manner, designed to minimize stress on family members. We assume responsibility for the often-complex process of settling estates ranging in size from the relatively modest to multi-million-dollar estates, advising administrators, executors, trustees, and other fiduciaries every step of the way.
• Power of Attorney
  Counsel on, and registration of, advanced care directives for healthcare and assigning power of attorney and health care proxies
• Probate

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  Our Tax Controversy group is comprised of both experienced tax practitioners and seasoned litigators. We represent clients in all phases of contested tax matters before state and federal tax authorities and on a wide range of contested tax issues, including income, estate, excise and state and local taxes. We have experience representing clients from the appeals level through U.S. Tax Court.