About Us

Markell started working at the practice upon her graduation in 2010 from Vermont Law School (VLS), after doing a third-year externship with the firm’s founder, Dan Grossman. In January 2023, she took over from Dan as the practice’s managing partner when he stepped back to of-counsel status with the firm.

Markell holds two degrees from VLS — a J.D., cum laude, and a master’s of environmental law and policy, magna cum laude. While she was in law school, Markell was a staff editor and head notes editor of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law and cochair of the school’s Arborist Society. She earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, majoring in natural resources and minoring in law and society. Markell is admitted to practice law in both Vermont and New Hampshire and is a member of the bar associations in both states.

From 2016 to 2021, Markell was a member of the board of directors of Vital Communities (VC), a nonprofit that links citizens, organizations, and municipalities to make the region a vital place to live, work, and play. She also participated in 2016 in VC’s Leadership Upper Valley Program — an initiative designed to bring the region’s leaders together to learn about critical issues facing the Upper Valley — and she was chosen as the class speaker at the culminating ceremony for that year’s program. From 2012 to 2019, she was active with an organization called Upper Valley Young Professionals (UVYP) and helped the organization gain its foundational footing. UVYP aims to connect young professionals with one another and with the community and still does so through the Upper Valley Business Alliance; she served on the UVYP board of directors for five years, including as its cochair and chair. Markell also enjoys staying connected with Vermont Law School and is currently a career services mentor and pro bono attorney for the Vermont Legal Food Hub.

Markell grew up on a small farm in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and spent every summer at a family camp on a lake in New Hampshire. She now lives with her husband, Jack, and their young son and daughter in Thetford, Vt., where they garden and raise farm animals, including chickens and goats. Markell also enjoys learning how to spin wool, and hopes one day to actually finish a spinning, weaving, or crocheting project.

Markell may be reached at mr@grlawvtnh.com.

Chris, a 2021 magna cum laude graduate of Vermont Law School, joined the practice shortly after his graduation. In law school, he was the business manager and a staff editor of the Vermont Law Review and a teaching assistant in the Legislation and Regulation class. He also worked while he was in law school for the South Royalton Legal Clinic, providing legal services primarily to underserved veterans; for a public affairs lobbying firm, the Necrason Group; and for Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., as a regulatory compliance intern. Chris is admitted to practice in both Vermont and New Hampshire.

He earned his undergraduate degree in 2012 from the University of Vermont, majoring in history and minoring in forestry. In the years between college and law school, he worked for a design-build construction firm in suburban Boston, where he grew up; in marketing and communications at the New England Aquarium in Boston; and at the Vermont building-supplies company Bethel Mills.

Chris and his partner, Laura Kamyk, live (with their two cats, Lily and Tully) in a circa 1805 house on the banks of the White River in South Royalton, Vt. They enjoy canoeing, hiking, camping, flyfishing, cooking, gardening, and skiing. Chris has a particular interest in New England history and in the identification of trees, wildflowers, ferns, birds, and other wildlife in the region.

Chris may be reached at cb@grlawvtnh.com.

Vanessa has worked in the legal field since taking a summer job here the summer after her sophomore year in high school, in 2004, and she continued working in the office every summer through the rest of high school and all through college. After graduating from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island in 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in paralegal studies, she worked for six years for two other Upper Valley law firms.

In 2016, she returned to the practice as a paralegal. She works on various aspects of real estate transactions, including sales, purchases, refinances, and home equity loans.

A lifelong resident of the Upper Valley, Vanessa was born and raised in Post Mills, Vt., and is a 2006 graduate of Thetford Academy. She played varsity sports all through high school and now enjoys coaching her oldest son’s basketball and baseball teams. You can often find her volunteering at her children’s school events or field trips.. Vanessa now lives in Corinth, Vt., with her husband, Tad; their two young sons; and their dog, Felix.

Vanessa may be reached at vk@grlawvtnh.com.

Chelsea joined the practice in November 2017, after working for several years for two locally owned banks — as a senior banker with Mascoma Savings Bank and as a personal banker with Merchants Bank. She also worked for the practice when she was in college, the summer before her senior year and during her winter break that year. Her current role in the practice includes assisting with real estate sales, estate planning, and estate administration.

She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in photography, cum laude, from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2012 and is also a graduate of Thetford Academy.

Chelsea grew up in West Fairlee and Thetford and now lives in Corinth, Vt., with her husband, Tyler, and their two young daughters. Chelsea’s nonwork interests include photography, painting, gardening, and snowshoeing. She and Tyler are also involved in his family’s annual maple sugaring operation.

Chelsea may be reached at cm@grlawvtnh.com.

Molly joined the firm early in 2019 after working for 12 years for two other Upper Valley law firms that practice mainly in the area of litigation and family law. She proved to be a quick study regarding the real estate and estate planning areas of the law that make up the bulk of the Grossman Ripps Law practice.

She grew up in Norwich and is a graduate of Mid Vermont Christian School in Quechee, Vt. She and her husband live in Claremont, N.H., with her husband’s two children and their two dogs, Daisy and Kiva.

Molly may be reached at my@grlawvtnh.com.

Liz has worked in various legal support positions since 1998, when she was still in high school — including with two other area lawyers and with one of the independent title abstracters that Grossman Ripps Law uses regularly. In her most recent position, she worked for four years with a lawyer in Bradford, Vt., who has since retired.

She joined our office as a paralegal in the summer of 2018. Her responsibilities here include processing title insurance policies, working on various aspects of real estate transactions, closing files after transactions are completed, answering the phones, and greeting clients arriving for appointments.

Liz grew up mostly in the Upper Valley and graduated from Thetford Academy in 2000. She now lives in Thetford and has a son at Thetford Academy and a daughter at Thetford Elementary School.

Liz may be reached at ep@grlawvtnh.com.