Friday, August 16, 2013

Gillies's Essays on Vermont Legal History

Paul S. Gillies, a Vermont lawyer, has published Uncommon Law, Ancient Roads, and other Ruminations on Vermont Legal History, with the Vermont Historical Society, which describes it as twenty-five essays that “ examine the foundations of legal thought in Vermont, historical issues ranging from log drives to keeping of sheep and blue laws, the state's legal luminaries, and contemporary issues including ancient roads and Act 250.” As Gillies elaborates in today's Green Mountain Outlook:
All important issues wind up in court. If only courtrooms could speak, they could tell stories about people and their concerns more lurid, more complicated, and more interesting than you would expect, meeting the people on the street. Public and private turmoils stir up controversies that show us the character of the parties and the integrity of the judicial system, and give us the ability to capture a moment in history otherwise lost to memory.
Gillies will preside at a book signing on August. 20, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the Vermont History Museum, 109 State Street, Montpelier.