RUTLAND DAILY HERALD

Editorial

August 12, 1996

Peter P. Plante, attorney from White River Junction and Norwich who died last week, could be described as a lawyer's lawyer. Whether it was on the Professional Conduct Board, as president of the Vermont Bar Association, or in the courtroom, he conducted himself with consummate artistry and perception.

His professional career spanned a period during which the judicial system in Vermont underwent major changes in structure and attitude. Peter Plante helped bring about some of those changes.

When he first began practice as a lawyer, Vermont's judges, from the county court level to the state Supreme Court, all held two-year terms elected by the Legislature. But, the custom of re-election was so ingrained that, once elected, a judge held a position that was tantamount to a lifetime appointment.

At the level below county court, officially known as Superior Court, there were local courts known as municipal courts.

Judicial appointments there were political. When a governor was elected, he often named lawyers who had been his regional supporters to the municipal court positions.

There was also a regular progression in advancement in the office. If a Supreme Court justice died in office or retired, the Legislature would fill the vacancy with the election of the most senior of the county court judges. No rule said the progression had to be that way, but it was interrupted so rarely that such an interruption was an occasion for considerable comment.

So the only time there was any real suspense in the judicial selection process was when there were various candidates for a vacancy, all jockeying for position among legislators. The late Milford K. Smith, Rutland lawyer, ran successfully for the state Senate from Rutland County and while in that capacity successfully captured election to a county court seat. He served with distinction at that level and later in the Supreme Court.

Despite the seeming fragility of a judge's term, it was almost unheard of for anyone to complain to the Legislature about the conduct a judge.

And they often ruled their courtrooms with an iron hand. The late Judge Paul Chase would lecture attorneys severely from the bench during trials, with little regard for privacy, but there were no major attempts, if any, to remove him from office.

In his various legal capacities, Peter Plante helped bring about the much more formal structured system we now have.

He was especially effective in working for a more modernized system that would be protected from utter political chaos once the unwritten customs were ignored. He did a lot of that work in various capacities in the Vermont Bar Association.

Yet his chief work was as a trial lawyer, at which he was tenacious. In a hotly contested malpractice case there came a time for suggestions of stipulations on points that would not be disputed by both parties. Plante told the judge: "Your honor, we're not conceding a single thing," and went on throughout an exhaustive trial to win.

Civic duty came naturally to him, whether as Norwich town moderator or as head of the University of Vermont trustees. In short, Peter Plante provides an outstanding example of the best in Vermont's legal profession.