Bernie Lewis is the sitting judge in the Orange District Probate Court. In addition to serving as judge, Bernie practices law with the firm of Lewis & Baldwin, PLLC, with a concentration on Estate and Long Term Care Planning, Civil Litigation, Bankruptcy, Real Estate Law, Commercial Law and Family Law. Bernie has taught Probate Law as an adjunct professor at the Franklin Pierce College and worked for the State of Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance and Securities as the Market Conduct Chief Examiner.
Before entering the practice of law, Bernie was an executive in the defense industry. He began work as a scientific computer programmer at the Arnold Research Organization, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffatt Field, California. He also had extensive experience in the military flight simulation industry and has held positions as a Scientific Computer Programmer, Manager of Programming Services, Manager of Digital Landmass Radar Simulation Software, Senior Systems Analyst, Program Engineer and Program Manager.
Bernie holds an AA and BS degrees in Mathematics, has done graduate work in Systems Management at the University of Southern California, and holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Vermont Law School. He is admitted to practice in the State of Vermont as well as the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Bernie has tried cases in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Great Britain, and serves clients on both the East and West Coast.
Mike possesses over 20 years of legal counsel, management, negotiations, and contract development experience within both the telecommunications and defense industries. His specialties include assisting clients in the development and implementation of Intellectual Property plans; the drafting and prosecution of patent applications before the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO); and the negotiation, development, and management of License Agreements to protect critical, emerging technologies. Mike is well versed in all facets of corporate law, providing his clients the perfect complement to his technical and business development skills.
Prior to forming his own law practice, Mike held various leadership positions in Comcast, AT&T and Teleport Communications Group (TCG). His expertise spans the entire corporate enterprise including Sales, Operations, Product Management, Contract Development, Contract Management, Access Management and New Business Development. Mike’s intimate knowledge of the corporate enterprise facilitates his ability to assist business clients in resolving their most complex legal issues. As a founding member and Director of the Business Development team at Comcast Business Communications (CBC), Mike was responsible for negotiating joint partnering opportunities accelerating Comcast’s introduction into the CLEC market. His role was expanded to include Wholesale Carrier Product Management and Strategic Supplier negotiations. Mike’s team created the Building Site Acquisition process and was responsible for the negotiations, contract development and management of License Agreements permitting CBC’s network group to deploy equipment into various, strategic building locations.
Prior to Comcast, Mike was the District Manager of the Complex Bids group at AT&T responsible for negotiating and delivering physical network designs, network costs, and profitability assessments in support of AT&T’s large customer RFPs. Mike was also an integral member of AT&T’s New Business Development team within the Access Management organization. Mike and his team negotiated national agreements with two of the largest competitive access providers in the competitive local exchange industry helping AT&T realize $100M+ in access savings over five years. Through his efforts to deliver AT&T’s switched and dedicated local services, Mike and his team negotiated multiple agreements including CLEC Interconnection, Collocation, Sales Agency, SS7, Private Line Dedicated Services, Switched Services, Building Owner Easements, and Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRUs).
Mike holds a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from the Vermont Law School, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Rutgers University, and a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Villanova University. Mike is a licensed member of the Vermont Bar, a licensed Patent Attorney registered before the US Patent & Trademark Office, a member of the Vermont Bar Association (VBA), American Bar Association (ABA), and the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA). In addition, Mike is a licensed private pilot, a certified scuba diver, and holds a real estate license in the state of New Jersey.