Staff

THEO KENNEDY

Mr. Kennedy was born in Brunswick, Maine, and grew up mostly in New York. He graduated cum laude in 1983 from Middlebury College. Theo received his Juris Doctor in 1991, and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Environmental Health in 1994 from Boston University. Theo was licensed to practice law in Massachusetts in 1994, working in real property, banking, and debtor-creditor law as a title examiner and lender counsel performing closings, as well as handling a motion practice and banking litigation support for a private law firm in Boston. He also spent a year with a sole practitioner doing plaintiff-side personal injury law before returning to the areas of banking and real property as a senior counselor for a statewide not-for-profit in Massachusetts that assisted elders in financial distress and foreclosure. Intent on returning to Vermont, he joined the Vermont Department of Public Service in the Consumer Affairs and Public Information Division in January 1999, becoming conversant in public utility regulatory and consumer matters. In 2001, he joined the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration as a Staff Attorney and Director of Health Rates and Forms, where he developed expertise in the health insurance industry and legislative and regulatory healthcare issues. Prior to joining Otis & Kennedy in July 2010, Theo helped oversee legislative, regulatory, data analysis, and policy matters for seven years in the Vermont Department for Children and Families as Director of Planning, Policy, and Regulation.

Civic and Professional Activities

• Admitted to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1994-Present
• Admitted to the Bar of the Vermont Supreme Court 2000-Present
• Admitted to the Bar of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, 2010-Present
• Vermont Bar Association Member (Present)
• Vermont Trial Lawyers Association Member (Present)
• Washington County Bar Association Member (Present)
• Founding Director Brookline Community Theater, Brookline, MA -1987
• Founding Director, Center for Italian Culture, Inc., Newton, MA – 1993
• Community Oriented Policing Award Recipient, Beverly, MA – 1998
• American Association of Public Welfare Attorneys Award Recipient – 2005
• VT Governor’s Certificate of Recognition Recipient as Part of the State Team for Medicare Part D Implementation – 2006
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security Evaluator Certification – 2008
• Vermont Foreclosure Prevention Mediator Certification – 2010
• People’s Health & Wellness Clinic, Barre, VT, Former Board Member
• T.W. Wood Gallery and Arts Center, Montpelier, VT, Former President and Board Member (2009-2020)
• Center for Arts & Learning, Montpelier, VT, Former Founding Board Member (2014-2020)   
• Vermont Public Health Association, Board Member (Present)   
• Vermont Statewide Independent Living Council, Council Member (Present) 
• Middlesex Vermont Planning Commission, Commissioner (Present)
• Middlesex Vermont Board of Civil Authority (Present)
• Washington County Democrats, Vice-Chair (Present)   
• 2020 campaign for the Vermont Senate. Visit Theo’s 2020 campaign website and read his platform.