Passion. Experience. Diligence.

James A. Dumont graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1975. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1978, where he was co-Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. Jim clerked for the Hon. James S. Holden, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, for one year and then served as a Public Defender in the Chittenden County and Franklin-Grand Isle districts for two years.

In 1981, Jim joined Sessions & Keiner in Middlebury, and the firm was reconstituted as Sessions Keiner & Dumont in 1982. Jim formed his own law firm in Bristol in 2003. The photograph on this website shows Jim’s office in Bristol, the historic National Bank of Bristol building built in 1926.

For many years, Jim has concentrated on civil and administrative litigation, principally representing citizens and public interest organizations involved in environmental and energy litigation. He also continues to represent victims of employment discrimination, personal injury and workplace injury.

In the 1980s, Jim taught Environmental and Land Use Litigation at Vermont Law School. He also served as the Reporter for the Vermont Supreme Court’s Advisory Committees on Rules of Civil Procedure, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Family Procedure and Probate Procedure for seven years. His duties included acting as staff person for each Committee, and authoring the Reporter’s Notes that appear in the published volume of rules and that accompany and explain each new rule and rule change. After Jim stepped down as Reporter, he was appointed to serve as a voting member of the Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure, a position he held for thirty years until he decided to move on to other matters in 2026. He also has served on the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Remote Hearings.

In 2002, Jim was appointed by the Vermont Commissioner of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA) to preside as the Hearing Officer in the State's investigation of Fletcher Allen Health Care's troubled Renaissance Project. After Jim examined initial evidence and received detailed arguments from FAHC and the Commissioner's office, he issued a ruling rejecting certain of FAHC's procedural defenses and accepting others. The Commissioner and FAHC then reached a settlement.

Jim is active in the Vermont Employment Lawyers Association and was a Past President.

Jim is a trained mediator. He has successfully served as a mediator in many cases in state and federal court.

Jim has taught many courses for other lawyers, in the areas of procedure, evidence, employment law and the environment. In 2001, Jim was awarded the Vermont Bar Association’s Public Service Award.

Jim's office is located on Main Street in Bristol, about half way between Rutland and Burlington. Jim has represented clients from Highgate Center to Hardwick to Brattleboro to Bennington. He routinely meets with clients at their homes or offices across the state, or by zoom.