Wynn Thomas Underwood (August 27, 1927–October 20, 2005) was an American attorney, political figure, and judge from Vermont. He twice served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, and served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1980 to 1985.[1][2]

Biography

Underwood grew up on a farm in Sudbury, Vermont.[1][2] He attended the one-room Hill School in Orwell and then Brandon High School and Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts.[1] Underwood attended Dartmouth College for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II; he fought with the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment ski troops (later merged into the 10th Mountain Division).[1][2]

After returning home, Underwood traveled the Caribbean as a freelance writer until returning home to Vermont.[1] In 1947, at the age of twenty-one, he was elected as a Democrat to the Vermont House of Representatives as the representative of Sudbury. He was one of the youngest members of the Vermont General Assembly.[1]

Using the G.I. Bill, Wynn attended Boston University Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1952.[1] Wynn served his legal apprenticeship with Asa Bloomer in Rutland, and then practiced two years with Osmer C. Fitts in Brattleboro before opening his own law office in Middlebury.[1] Wynn was elected state's attorney for Addison County, serving from 1955 to 1957.[1] Wynn then joined the law firm of Conley, Foote & Underwood in Middlebury from 1957 to 1962, and then formed his own law firm, Underwood, Lynch & Ketcham in Middlebury 1962 to 1972.[1] Wynn was chairman of the Middlebury selectboard from 1967 to 1972.[1] Wynn was president of the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association from 1969 to 1970 and was president of the Addison County Bar Association from 1968 to 1970.[1]

Wynn was counsel to U.S. Senator George Aiken in 1965, during the process of passing the legislation that created the Tri-Town Water District, the nation's first rural water bill, which benefited Addison, Bridport, and Shoreham.[1] President Lyndon B. Johnson invited Wynn to the White House for the signing of the bill.[1]

In 1970, Wynn was again elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, from Middlebury, Weybridge, and Ripton. During his term, a vacancy opened on the Vermont Superior Court, and Wynn was named to the position by joint election of the House and Senate.[1] Wynn served on the Superior Court from 1972 to 1980.[1] In one of his best-known cases, Wynn presided over a landmark 1977 Chittenden Superior Court case in which the plaintiff, who was paralyzed in a skiing accident, won a $1.5 million judgment, which at the time was believed to be the largest in the state's history.[2] Underwood ruled that the case could proceed, and that the inherent risks of skiing did not automatically bar seeking damages.[2] In a 1980 interview, Underwood said that as a result of this ruling, he received "poison-pen letters from the length and breadth of the United States."[2]

In 1980, Governor Richard A. Snelling appointed Wynn to the Vermont Supreme Court as an associate justice, succeeding Rudolph J. Daley. Wynn served in that position from 1980 to 1985.[1] He was known for his pro-individual rights philosophy.[2] After Snelling selected Frederic W. Allen, who was not previously a judge, to be chief justice in late 1984, Wynn abruptly resigned, stating that was disappointed in being passed over.[2] The vacancy created by Underwood's resignation allowed the incoming governor, Democrat Madeleine Kunin, to make an appointment in her first year in office.[2]

Wynn was elected president of the Vermont Bar Association, and served from 1981 to 1982. He served as vice chairman of the Judicial Conduct Board from 1991 to 1996.[1]

Underwood died at his home in Shelburne on October 20, 2005, after a long illness.[2]

Personal life

Underwood was survived by his wife of fifty-six years, Sharry, his five children and their families, and two sisters.[1][2] He was described as an avid hunter and fisherman and a down-to-earth man who "was the last judge to have a spittoon in his chambers."[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Obituary: Wynn Thomas Underwood", Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus, October 25, 2005.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Sam Hemingway, "Ex-Supreme Court Justice Dies", Burlington Free Press, October 22, 2005.
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