The Hon. Scot L. Kline is a judge for the Vermont Superior Court. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Phil Scott on February 8, 2018.
Over the course of his judicial career, Kline has held assignments in the Probate Division in Lamoille County.
Prior to his appointment, Kline was general counsel for the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, a position to which he was named in 2016. Before that, he spent time as the Chief of the Environmental Protection Division of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office (2007 to 2016) and general counsel to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (2005 to 2006).
Kline earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University in 1980. He spent the next three years working as a staff auditor and senior tax specialist at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. before completing a J.D. at Cornell Law School in 1986. As a law student, Kline sat as the Note Editor for the Cornell Law Review.
He is licensed to practice in Vermont (1990), the United States District Court for the District of Vermont (1997), the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (2002), the United States Tax Court (2004), and the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (2015).
After graduating from law school, Kline began his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. He served in that capacity until 1987, at which time he entered into private practice as a litigation associate at Davis, Polk & Wardwell in Washington, D.C.
Then, in 1989, Kline relocated to Vermont, where he was hired as a deputy state’s attorney for the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office. During his tenure there, he rose through the ranks, quickly becoming the Chittenden County State’s Attorney. In 1997, Kline completed his term and returned to private practice, this time as a member of Eggleston & Cramer in Burlington.
He was a resident of Essex, Vermont, at the time of his appointment.
