But Jerry O'Neill was, in my opinion, a titan of Vermont law and somebody who merits remembering. Besides, it's not like anyone can stop me.
I first met Jerry over the phone when I was a baby lawyer doing something dumb (and humorous) and my at-the-time boss called Jerry up for some advice on speakerphone. Jerry chuckled at my antics and gave me some good advice that I followed. The crisis—or more accurately, potential crisis—was averted. Before he ever met me in person, Jerry was mentoring me.
Jerry always gave me good advice. And I asked plenty of stupid questions. But Jerry was always kind, generous, and helpful (I almost wrote "to a fault" here but that idiom doesn't quite fit because it's who Jerry was). I can't count the times that Jerry helped me with things over the years. He was a huge resource in several of my professional roles. And the only thing he would ever say about it was that it was his small way of repaying all the people that had helped him throughout his career. Jerry was, as someone noted yesterday, "The most humble trial lawyer I've ever known."
My relationship with Jerry wasn't personally close. We didn't socialize outside of work, but I still considered Jerry a friend and a mentor. I attended his celebration of life yesterday—one can watch that here—and it was moving to me to hear how Jerry was kind, generous, and helpful in his personal life too. Jerry wasn't perfect, but he was a great human being and he will be missed by so many.
Jerry didn't like when things went too long. He had a particular look and I can see it in my mind's eye now. So that's all I'm going to say here. I hope there's a good wine list up there, Jerry, and a very knowledgeable sommelier. I'm going to miss you.
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