Paul Jarvis Law

What the firm handles

Paul Jarvis Law is a small practice based in Burlington, Vermont. Its work sits mostly in two areas: criminal defense and family law. The firm also takes on civil litigation, and its FAQ page states that it handles personal injury and medical malpractice matters.

That mix points to a general practice with a criminal-side lean. A client facing a DUI charge and a client going through a divorce would both find a place here. In my opinion, that breadth suits people who want one office for more than one kind of problem.

The firm is young as a named entity. It was set up in 2023. The lawyer behind it is not, and that gap between the firm's age and the attorney's history shapes how this listing should be read.

The attorney behind the practice

Paul Jarvis Law was established by Paul D. Jarvis in 2023. He has practiced as a Vermont Bar attorney since 1972, which is a long run by any measure. His career started on the other side of the courtroom: from 1972 to 1975 he worked as a prosecutor in the Chittenden County State's Attorney Office.

He moved into private practice in 1975 and stayed there. Along the way he was a partner in three earlier firms. Those were Jarvis and Kaplan in 1982, Jarvis and McArthur in 2008, and Jarvis, McArthur & Williams in 2011. Paul Jarvis Law is the latest chapter in that sequence.

His schooling is on the record too. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1969, cum laude, and from Boston College Law School in 1972. He is admitted to practice in the State of Vermont and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.

The site adds two further details about his career on the bench and before the high court. It states that he has argued cases before the Vermont Supreme Court. It also states that he has served as an acting judge in the Vermont Superior Court, in both the Chittenden Criminal and Family Divisions. Time spent judging, even in an acting role, gives a lawyer a close view of how courts weigh a case.

Criminal defense and DUI work

Criminal defense is the clearest thread running through the firm's material. It is the area the site describes in the most detail, and it lines up with a career that began in a prosecutor's office.

DUI and DWI

DUI and DWI cases get their own billing on the home page. That fits a lawyer who has handled impaired-driving charges across five decades of Vermont practice. Driving with a suspended license is listed alongside them, which often follows a first offense.

Other criminal charges

The listed charges go well beyond driving offenses. They include simple and aggravated assault, drug possession and sale, domestic assault, and sexual assault. The firm also names property crimes, embezzlement, and bank fraud.

That range covers both street-level charges and white-collar matters. For someone unsure whether a case is too small or too serious for a given office, the stated list answers the question in plain terms. It reads as a general criminal practice rather than a narrow one.

Family law and civil disputes

The family law side is spelled out with similar care. The firm handles divorce and legal separation. It also takes on parental rights and responsibilities, child support, and spousal support.

Prenuptial agreements and juvenile matters fill out that list. Family cases and criminal cases sometimes cross over, for example when a domestic charge and a custody dispute run at the same time. A practice that does both can keep that work in one office, which can matter for a client trying to keep the two sides in step.

Civil litigation is named as a fourth practice area. The FAQ mentions personal injury and medical malpractice on top of that. The site gives less detail on these than it does for criminal and family work. A prospective client would do well to ask how often the firm takes such cases, and what a given matter would involve.

What the record shows

One detail is worth flagging. The site's structured data still carries the name of an earlier firm, Jarvis McArthur & Williams, while every visible page brands the practice as Paul Jarvis Law. As a reviewer, I read that as a leftover from the rebrand rather than a sign of a second business. It is the kind of thing a caller can confirm in a sentence.

What stands out on the evidence is continuity. The same attorney has worked Vermont courtrooms for more than fifty years, first as a prosecutor, then in defense and family practice. The firm name has changed several times. The lawyer has not.

The public record here is specific where it counts. It names the founding attorney, his two degrees, the year he was admitted, his bar memberships, and the courts he has appeared in. That is more than many small-firm pages offer, and it gives a reader real footing.

Paul Jarvis Law reads as a focused Burlington practice built around one long-serving attorney. For a client weighing a criminal, family, or civil matter in the Chittenden County area, the site sets out what the firm does and who would be doing it. That is a fair place to start a conversation.