Criminal defense firms have historically been local, small, and owned by one to three white male law partners. Sometimes they have one named female partner, sometimes they don’t have any at all. If she’s on the sign at all her name is rarely first. Many of these firms provided local Read more…
Attorney Zachery Weight is a seasoned trial attorney at Burke Law who focuses his practice on criminal defense in Northern Vermont. Attorney Weight has won numerous jury trials and successfully represented hundreds of Vermonters charged with criminal offenses in Franklin, Addison, Rutland, Orleans, Essex, Caledonia, Windsor, Washington, Chittenden and Lamoille Read more…
Vermont criminal defense looks a little different these days, Burke Law is still providing free consultations over the phone and conducting emergency hearings with the Vermont Superior Court. Our commitment to Vermont criminal defense is only growing stronger. Being in court, nearly daily, for the last decade has been my Read more…
Jess Burke founded Burke Law in 2011 after returning to Vermont after practicing law in Virginia, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Jess worked as a solo-practitioner until expanding the practice in 2013. In 2017, she purchased and opened Burke Law’s second office location at 141 Palmer Court in Hartford, VT. Her Read more…
UPDATE: In response to COVID-19 Burke Law is shifting its free consultations to phone consultations. Burke Law will be open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. To protect our clients and our employees, in person meetings will now be held over the phone. Burke Law will still be available 24/7 for Read more…
When a criminal defendant is convicted and sentenced in Vermont he or she may be given a suspended jail sentence in exchange for being put on a term of probation. Alternatively, a criminal defendant may be sentenced to a “to serve” sentence. A “to serve” sentence can be served in Read more…
On March 10, 2020, Attorney Jessica Burke won a jury trial for a client in Washington county. The client was acquitted of Aggravated Domestic Assault, Domestic Assault and Aggravated Disorderly Conduct. The trial took one day. The jury deliberated for 55 minutes. If you are charged with a crime in Read more…
Criminal conditions of release are a combination of rules imposed on a defendant by the Court. In other words, the judge outlines activities that you must do or must not do. This can occur before your arraignment, at your arraignment, or conditions of release can be modified later in the Read more…
Anyone charged with a crime in Vermont is entitled to a jury trial. Jury trials involve picking a jury from a pool of potential jurors with your attorney and the prosecutor. The judge presiding over the trial oversees the juror selection process. This process is commonly referred to a “picking Read more…
Probable cause in Vermont is a legal concept. Probable cause is required for DUI arrests. To be arrested for DUI, or any crime in Vermont, probable cause that an individual committed that offense must exist. To establish probable cause, police officers must be able to point to objective circumstances leading Read more…