The Hon. Alison Arms is a judge for the Vermont Superior Court. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Peter Shumlin on July 20, 2011.
Arms has held assignments in the Probate Division in Chittenden County; the Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions in Franklin County; and the Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions in Grand Isle County.
Prior to her appointment, she served as an assistant federal defender with the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Burlington since 2008. Before that, Arms briefly handled criminal defense matters in private practice (2008) and was a trial and research attorney for the Chittenden County Public Defender’s Office (1999 to 2007) and a public defender with the Manhattan Office of Criminal Defense (1994 to 1999).
In addition, she taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont and was an instructor at the Denver Business College.
Arms received a B.A. in political science and history from the University of Vermont in 1991. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, in 1994.
She is a past president of the Vermont Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.