Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Spring 2014, Vol. 40, No. 1 | Page 36

by Mary Ashcroft, Esq.

VBA Honors Jean Anne Kiewel and
Sandra Baird with Pro Bono Award
This year, eleven attorneys were nominated for the VBA’s Pro Bono Service
Award by judges, paralegals and office
staff. The nominees included Joseph Bauer, Beth Danon, Leslie Hanafin, Susan Gordon, Clarke Atwell, Vanessa Brown, Jeanne
Blackmore, Pauline Law and Navah Spero.
From this group of generous volunteers,
Sandra Baird and Jean Anne Kiewel were
chosen as this year’s recipients.
Jean Anne Kiewel

When the VBA put out its annual call for
candidates for its Pro Bono Award, Judge
Kate Hayes didn’t hesitate. “There is one
local lawyer that I believe has been doing
low-bono/pro bono work for domestic violence survivors for years and years, and has
never (as far as I know) gotten recognized
for it—that’s Jean Anne Kiewel.” Judge
Hayes wrote that Kiewel “… does solid legal work in all of her cases, is a true expert
in family law, and provides equally good
service to all of her clients, paying or nonpaying.” The judge added , “[s]he takes on
some really tough cases.”
Jean Kiewel’s work helping victims of domestic violence had an early beginning. “I
started a feminist group in high school,”
she remembers. “Women’s rights is why I
wanted to go into law. But domestic violence was not recognized at that point.“
Kiewel attended Barnard College in
New York City. A former Barnard alumna
at Vermont Law School urged graduates
to come to the fledgling law school in Vermont. Jean was one. “Going to Vermont
Law School was probably the best decision
I ever made—I almost chose Brooklyn instead!”
When she was at VLS, Kiewel was encouraged by her sister-in-law, a therapist,
to attend a conference on domestic violence. She did, with friend and sister student Patricia Whalen. That was the beginning of her recognition of the problem, and
her work to stop it. “We got a family law
professor to hold a semester-long course
on the dynamics of family violence,” Kiewel remembers. She also connected with an
Orange County domestic violence project
and sheltered a battered woman in her law
school apartment.
After graduation from VLS, Jean Kiewel
stayed in Vermont, a decision she credits
to Patricia Whalen—“she introduced me to
my husband.”
Soon after law school, Jean worked for
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Vermont Legal Aid in Springfield, an organization which she feels “has molded my
practice.” “There’s a mindset that follows
from Legal Aid,” notes Kiewel. “It’s from
the economic and social justice work that
they do.” While at Legal Aid, she and Patricia Whalen teamed up with a local police
officer to start the New Beginnings women’s organization in Springfield. “The cops
were bringing victims to us at Legal Aid,
and I took one home with me. That ended
with a big group of police in my driveway
in the middle of the night in the middle of
the woods.”
Attorney Kiewel also helped start a battered women’s group in Bellows Falls and
did pro bono work for victims until the program closed. When she moved her practice
to Brattleboro in 1990, Kiewel connected
with the local shelter. “I gave free one-hour
consultations to referrals from the Women’s Freedom Center—they kept sending
them.“ Eventually, the Center obtained an
LAV (Legal Assistance for Victims) grant,
and Jean received some pay for her work.
“It was rewarding and fun work to do,” she
remembers. Kiewel also worked on cases
involving college students who were victims of domestic violence. She found college disciplinary work interesting. “It’s really an undeveloped field which needs
a lot of work.” In 2011 the LAV grant ran
out.
To this day, Kiewel’s proudest accomplishment is being a community lawyer and
helping women escape violence. “They
take control of their lives,” notes Kiewel of
the women she has represented.
Throughout all of her career, Kiewel has
integrated pro bono work into her practice.
At first, it was because she needed something to do. “In Vermont, you are like a
community lawyer, for family, friends, you
help a friend buy or sell a house, you help a
friend with a divorce. “
Kiewel spoke of the challenge of balancing pro bono work. “You need to take
enough paying cases to take pro bono
cases; but once you’ve got it figured out,
someone pops up that you just can’t say
no to.”
Because pro bono work sometimes
translates into less time for family and more
work for staff, Kiewel said that the VBA Pro
Bono Award was really an award shared
with her family and office staff.
Kiewel thinks pro bono and low bono
work can be attractive to young lawyers.
She liked the model of “low bono” work
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2014

started by the VBA and Rutland County Bar
Association. “It was attractive because they
screened the clients, set up the case tracking, paid some expenses and also provided
malpractice insurance coverage for project
cases.” Jean borrowed the idea and was instrumental in starting the Windham County
Legal Assistance Project during her tenure
as president of the Windham County Bar.
Kiewel’s volunteer work has extended to
other causes to improve the administration
of justice in Vermont. She served on the
VBA’s Board of Bar Managers. She also sits
as acting magistrate and acting judge in
Windham family court. “It’s a different perspective,” she said; “you want to advocate,
but you have to change your whole mindset when you go on the bench.“
Attorney Peter Lawrence credits Jean
Anne Kiewel with taking charge of the pro
se litigants education course in Windham
family court. \