James F. Desmarais is an American lawyer based in Montpelier, Vermont, where he has served as a Legislative Counsel in the Vermont Office of Legislative Counsel. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, and he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1988.
Education
Desmarais earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont, which was chartered in 1791 and is located in Burlington, the largest city in Vermont.
He completed a Juris Doctor at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987. The school was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of the university's original academical village and is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Its first classes began in 1826, and the school was first housed in Pavilion III of the Academical Village.
Career
Desmarais was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1988, the year after he completed his Juris Doctor. Admission to a state bar permits a lawyer to practice law in that state. He later worked as a partner of S. E. Giorno.
Desmarais also served as a Legislative Counsel in the Vermont Office of Legislative Counsel, which is located at the State House in Montpelier. The office is a nonpartisan body that provides legal and editorial support to the Vermont General Assembly. Its legal attorneys draft bills and amendments and conduct legal and policy research for legislators and committees. Committee records from 2021 and 2022 document his testimony before House committees in this role. In 2021 he also authored resources for the Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors, including the report Recalibration of Weights.
