Office of the Vermont Attorney General Continuing Legal Education Program
“Access to Justice in Vermont,” June 18, 2024, 9:45 a.m. EST sign in for 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
CLE 2 hours credit satisfying VT MCLE Rule 3(A)(4)(c) Diversity and Inclusion Programming
The AGO CLE Program is pleased to present this program in-person and via Microsoft Teams to Vermont State Employees.
Presenters: Emily Chamberlain Adams (she/her), Assistant Attorney General, Co-Director, Civil Rights Unit, Vermont Attorney General’s Office Jill Martin Diaz, Esq., (they, elle), Executive Director, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project; Legal Director, Connecting Cultures - New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma Lindsey Owen, Executive Director, Disability Rights Vermont Omara Rivera-Vázquez, Ph.D. (she/her/ella), Director, Center for Equity and Justice, Saint Michael’s College, Vermont
This program will cover access to justice: challenges and recommendations in Vermont.
Presenter Biographies:
Emily Chamberlain Adams is an Assistant Attorney General and Co-Director of the Civil Rights Unit of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. Emily’s work in the Civil Rights Unit focuses on employment discrimination enforcement, education, and litigation. In this role, she oversees the operations of the unit’s employment discrimination investigations and engages in enforcement litigation where appropriate. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Emily was an attorney at Paul Frank + Collins, P.C., where she represented private employers, nonprofits, municipalities, and individuals in labor and employment matters.
Jill Martin Diaz is an immigration attorney serving as Executive Director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP). Before joining VAAP, they taught doctrinal and clinical immigration law at Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS), and directed the VLGS Center for Justice Reform Clinic. Jill also practiced as a Vermont Poverty Law Fellow at Vermont Legal Aid and an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Sanctuary for Families New York. Jill partners with Connecting Cultures–New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma as their legal director. They also serve on the Vermont Judiciary’s Access to Justice Coalition, the Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont Board of Trustees, the Migrant Justice Junta de Apoyo, and the Vermont Queer Legal Professionals co-founding leadership team. The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association recognized Jill’s achievements by honoring them as one of 2023’s Top 40 Lawyers Under 40.
Lindsey Owen is the Executive Director of Disability Rights Vermont. Lindsey has been committed to helping people with disabilities in Vermont since she was a high school student and volunteered to help students with disabilities learn how to swim. Before attending law school, Lindsey worked as an assistant teacher in a Office of the Vermont Attorney General Continuing Legal Education Program classroom serving children with autism and then as a behavior interventionist. Lindsey worked for Disability Rights Vermont during law school, became a staff attorney in 2013, and has been Executive Director for three years. She has represented individuals in disputes before the Vermont Human Rights Commission and, most recently, focused her work on representing victims with disabilities through the criminal prosecution of their offenders to ensure their victims’ rights are recognized and enforced. Lindsey previously taught as an Adjunct Professor at VLGS.
Omara Rivera-Vazquez is the inaugural Director for the Center for Equity and Justice at Saint Michael’s College, Vermont. She is a former Executive Director for The Community Restorative Justice Center, Inc. Dr. Rivera-Vázquez is also an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at both the State University of New York at Oswego and at VLGS. She has published several peer-reviewed articles on social justice related topics such as juvenile justice, domestic violence, and cancer literacy. Dr. Rivera-Vázquez serves on the Board of Directors for the National Criminal Justice Association Equity in Criminal Justice Funding Committee. At the state level, she is a member of the leadership team for the Statewide Equity through Data, Justice, Inclusion and Education Initiative. In addition, she was awarded a grant from the Vermont Department of Health and additional support from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic to conduct language access training and planning with all Community Justice Centers in Vermont. The AGO CLE Program aims to host events that enable individuals of all abilities to participate fully and equally.