Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Fall 2015, Vol 41, No. 3 | Page 8

Interview with Jennifer Emens-Butler

ple are getting excited to practice here. We
do have the opportunity to read for the law;
we have captive insurance; we have cutting
edge consumer protection and public interest law opportunities; we have rural communities with extreme need for legal services, all on top of the scenery bonus. It seems
like we are getting a small increase in young
members who are starting to try new things
or taking over from a retiring lawyer. We
want to be able to track them, because it’s
important to keep the services that lawyers
provide available to all Vermonters.
My son, who is eleven, asked me the other day, again, “What is it that you do exactly?” It is hard for him to grasp. It’s nothing like what he sees portrayed as lawyers
on TV. I said simply that I help people. It
may be harder for him to picture since I
don’t wield a scalpel or an ax or a gun, but
I said I help people solve problems using
my training and my mind. Isn’t that what every single lawyer does, no matter the practice area? One simple sentence, you help
people, right? And we cannot lose sight of
that—no matter the area, it’s an exciting,
stimulating, diverse, and honorable way
to make a living. We can complain about
all the little things that all people nitpick
about, but we all want to help people in
some fashion. So what is more noble than
that? What is more fun than that? What is
more rewarding than that?
BP: It’s my interview, so I get to ask the
questions.
JEB: Come on, you can answer that
[laughing].
BP: So, what can or should the bar association do, both to combat the perception of the older bar and/or to encourage
more young people to stay? Why aren’t
more people doing what you did? I visited
there, I loved it and I want to stay there. Is
that changing?

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JEB: Some of that may just be a money
thing. I mean Vermont has a d