Montpelier– Gov. Peter Shumlin has appointed Rutland Attorney Elizabeth Mann and Addison County State’s Attorney David Fenster to fill two vacancies on the Vermont Superior Court.
Mann is filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kathleen Manley. Fenster is filling a newly created position.
“Both Beth and David bring strong legal backgrounds to these new roles,” Gov. Shumlin said. “Both understand how the law affects the daily lives of individuals and how justice must go hand-in-hand with compassion and understanding. Both will make great judges.”
Fenster is the State’s Attorney for Addison County, a position he has served since November 2009. He is currently the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Department of State’s Attorneys. Before becoming the Addison County State’s Attorney, Fenster was in private practice in Bennington, Vermont, from 2005 to 2009 at the firm of Barr Sternberg Moss Lawrence Silver Saltonstall & Fenster. In private practice, his practice involved civil litigation, domestic relations matters, and criminal defense.
Fenster served as a Deputy State’s Attorney in Bennington County from 1993 to 2005. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Past President of the Vermont Bar Association. Fenster is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He and his wife Katree live in Middlebury with their two children.
“I am honored and humbled that the Governor has given me this opportunity to serve Vermonters on the Superior Court,” Fenster said. “Vermont’s judiciary has a strong tradition of ensuring that all litigants are treated with dignity and respect, that cases are handled with impartiality, and that all Vermonters have access to justice. I am grateful for the opportunity to join the judiciary in its work toward keeping the promise of that tradition.”
Mann is a partner at the Rutland law firm of Tepper, Dardeck, Levins and Mann.  She brings to the bench over twenty-five years of experience in Vermont criminal, civil, and family law. She served as a federal public defender from 1999 to 2010 and also has experience in probate law, administrative law and worker’s compensation matters. Mann is a 1987 graduate of Dartmouth College and a 1990 graduate of Vermont Law School. She is a past president of the Vermont Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She and her husband live with their two children in Hartford.