Vanderhoof v. Cleary

The question presented is whether a shareholder of a law firm organized under the Vermont Professional Corporation Act, 11 V.S.A. ch. 3, is vicariously liable for the acts or omissions of another shareholder of the firm. Plaintiffs sued defendant Davis for damages arising out of an allegedly defective title search done by an attorney in defendant’s law firm. The Franklin Superior Court granted Davis’s summary judgment motion, and this appeal followed. We affirm.

The relevant facts as developed in the summary judgment record are not in dispute. Defendant Davis and Allen F. Gear created a…