Education

Harvard Law School, J.D.

University of Vermont, B.A.

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Recognized as the “dean of the real estate bar” in Vermont, Carl Lisman devotes approximately half of his time to litigation and dispute resolution, with an emphasis on business and real estate matters. He spends the remainder of his time on business and real estate transactions and finance. Others have noted that he has done more resort development and condominium work than any other lawyer in the State of Vermont.

 

Carl’s clients range from buyers, sellers, and operators of local and regional businesses owners, to real estate developers, property managers, and mortgage brokers, as well as local, regional, national, and international lenders. His practice encompasses the entirety of Vermont and beyond, and he frequently serves as a consultant and expert witness in court.

Carl is listed in the Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Superlawyers and The International Who’s Who Legal – Real Estate.​

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For 17 years, Carl taught basic property, common interest, and mortgage finance law to second- and third-year students at Vermont Law School as an adjunct professor. He has lectured throughout the country to practicing lawyers on commercial law, corporate governance, resort and real estate issues, common-interest ownership law, and other topics. He served as chair and faculty member of annual programs on drafting documents for condominiums, planned communities and new urbanism projects, and resort real estate for the American Law Institute-American Bar Association’s joint Consortium on Continuing Legal Education.​

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He is currently chair of the Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission. As a commissioner, Carl has served on a number of drafting committees, including Landlord and Tenant Act (2015), Home Foreclosure Procedures (2015), Partition of Heirs Property (2010), Real Estate Cooperatives (1981), Planned Communities (1980), Securities (1985), and Protection of Charitable Assets (2011). In addition, he chaired drafting committees on Manufactured Housing (2012), Common Interest Communities (2008 and 1994), Nonjudicial Foreclosure (2002), and Unincorporated Nonprofit Associations (1996).​

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An elected fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, he served a three-year term as a member of the Board of Governors and chaired the College’s Committee on Common Interest Ownership.

 

A member of the American Bar Association, Carl was appointed chair of the common interest committee of the Real Property, Trust and Probate Law Section. He was a long-time chair of the of the Joint Editorial Board for Real Property, sponsored by the American Bar Association, the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and the Uniform Law Commission. He is also a member of the American Law Institute, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the Vermont Bar Association.​

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Carl was elected to the board of trustees of the University of Vermont for a six-year term in 2002 and was elected chair for three years. He has also served as chairman on a number of civic organizations, including Chittenden County (Vermont) Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Baird Center for Children and Families, Inc., and the Vermont Foundation for Children and Families.

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​Carl has been a member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute since 2005.

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Following graduation from Harvard Law School, Carl was a clerk for Honorable Sterry R. Waterman, United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit. He then worked as an associate with a major Wall Street firm before returning to Vermont. He has been an active member of the Vermont Bar Association, and has served as a member of its board of managers.