Who We Are

Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson has established a strong and enduring reputation in the community.  In 2002, the firm earned the ranking of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest designation of professional excellence awarded through that organization’s peer ranking system.   While the location of our office and some of the names of our attorneys may have changed over the years, Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson continues to provide the same level of excellent legal service to Vermonters that it has since its inception.

Herbert J. Downing, Esq.

Herb is a Director and Shareholder in Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, P.C. He is currently licensed to practice law in the State of Vermont and U.S. District Court, District of Vermont.  He maintains a general civil practice with emphasis on the collection of delinquent accounts and residential and commercial real estate transactions.

(802) 878-3346 | Ext. 101
HJD@essexvtlaw.com

  • Herb was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1953 and grew up in the Buffalo, New York area. He graduated from Clarence Central High School (Clarence, New York) in 1971 and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1976. Following graduation from Hamilton College, Herb moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked for three years. He relocated to Vermont in 1978 and enrolled at Vermont Law School (VLS) in South Royalton, Vermont. In 1981, Herb earned his Juris Doctor degree and graduated cum laude from VLS. He was admitted to the Vermont Bar in 1982 and began his career in Rutland, Vermont representing creditors in collection matters. Herb joined Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, P.C. as an associate attorney in 1987 and became a director and shareholder in 2007.

    Herb currently resides in Colchester, Vermont with his wife and dog. He was a member of the Character and Fitness Committee of the Vermont Supreme Court and has served on both the Colchester Development Review Board and Colchester Selectboard. He also served as an acting judge in the Vermont Superior Court’s Small Claims jurisdiction. Herb has been a member of the Colchester Lions Club for the past 35 years and remains actively involved with that organization. In his spare time, Herb enjoys visiting with his three children and six grandchildren, drawing, painting, gardening and traveling.

  • Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont - Juris Doctor (1981)

    Hamilton College, Clinton, New York - Bachelor of Arts (1976)

    Clarence Central High School, Clarence, New York (1971)

  • Admitted to practice law in the State of Vermont (Active)

    Admitted to practice law in U.S. District Court, District of Vermont (Active)

    Notary Public, State of Vermont (Active)

    Member of the Vermont Bar Association (VBA)

    Member of the Chittenden County Bar Association

Jason F. Ruwet, Esq.

Jason is a Director and Shareholder in Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, P.C. He is currently licensed to practice law in the State of Vermont, Washington, D.C., and U.S. District Court, District of Vermont.  He focuses his practice on corporate and general business law; estate planning; probate law; commercial financing; commercial real estate and residential real estate law.

(802) 878-3346 | Ext. 103
JFR@essexvtlaw.com
Jason Ruwet | LinkedIn

  • Jason grew up on the coast of Maine outside of Portland. He lived there until enrolling at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. In the summer of 1994, Jason served as a Research Associate for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, D.C. While there, Jason focused his research on U.S. and Canadian trade relations as well as hemispheric free trade agreements. Following college and his experiences in Washington, D.C., Jason returned to the Portland, Maine area to earn his Juris Doctor at the University of Maine School of Law. During law school, Jason interned for the Maine International Trade Center (MITC) in Portland, Maine where he provided technical assistance to businesses looking to expand their interests outside of the United States. Between 1995 and 2000, Jason also volunteered his time at the Maine Volunteer Lawyer’s Project, an organization committed to providing and referring pro bono legal services to individuals who could not afford legal assistance. Jason moved to Vermont in 2000 and began working with a mid-sized law firm in South Burlington, Vermont. He worked with that office for almost two and a half years prior to accepting a position as an associate attorney with Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson in 2003. Jason became a director and shareholder in Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, P.C. in 2007.

    Jason currently resides in Williston, Vermont. He enjoys skiing, hiking and just about anything else that gets him outdoors. Jason and his wife Kate travel whenever they can and particularly enjoy visiting their children in college. When his children were younger, Jason volunteered as a youth t-ball and soccer coach in the Town of Williston and served as the Committee Chair for Williston BSA Troop 692. For several years, Jason has been actively involved in many community service projects and fundraisers, including the Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic. Jason can also be heard loudly and enthusiastically supporting several Champlain Valley Union High School Varsity men’s and women’s athletic teams as their public address announcer.

  • University of Maine School of Law, Portland, Maine - Juris Doctor (1999)

    Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York - Bachelor of Arts (1995)

    Brunswick High School, Brunswick, Maine (1991)

  • Admitted to practice law in the State of Vermont (Active)

    Admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C. (Active)

    Admitted to practice law in U.S. District Court, District of Vermont (Active)

    Notary Public, State of Vermont

    Member of the Vermont Bar Association (VBA)

    Member of the VBA International Law Section

    Member of the Chittenden County Bar Association

Nancy M. Geise, Esq.

Nancy is licensed to practice law in the State of Vermont and in the U.S. District Court, District of Vermont.  Her practice is focused on bankruptcy law and she represents debtors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings.  She also represents the firm’s creditor clients in collection cases that have been moved to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court.

(802) 878-3346 | Ext. 105
nancy@essexvtlaw.com

  • Nancy grew up outside of Boston in Belmont, Massachusetts. Her high school years provided the foundation for her life-long love of languages – she studied French, German and Russian in high school – and she went on to major in German and the University of Vermont. She continued her language studies in Germanic Philology at the University of Minnesota. Her path to law was an unconventional one. She apprenticed with several law firms in the Burlington, Vermont area before being hired at Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson in 2002 as a paralegal, where she concluded the four-year law office study program and was licensed as an attorney in 2007.

    For over ten years, Nancy has been an integral part of the Pro Bono and Reduced Fee Bankruptcy program through Legal Services Vermont, providing numerous low-income clients with representation in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. In 2025, the Vermont Bar Association recognized Nancy for her pro bono service to Vermonters by presenting her with the annual Sandra Baird Award. In her years of bankruptcy practice Nancy has witnessed how crushing financial problems can debilitate people, who may also be facing other life challenges. Nancy views her reduced fee and pro bono services as an integral part of her bankruptcy practice.

    Nancy is a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Board of Civil Authority in Underhill, Vermont. She served as co-chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the Vermont Bar Association from 2018-2020. Her travels have taken her from New Zealand to Israel and she particularly enjoys visiting Greece, Iceland and Sweden. She is currently learning Italian and hopes to return to Italy soon. Nancy enjoys hiking, paddle boarding and Nordic and downhill skiing and feels fortunate to live in a state where she has all those activities so close by. For many years Nancy was a member of an all-women band, The Front Porch Foursome, and provided vocals as well as guitar and fiddle accompaniments.

    Nancy lives in Underhill with her husband and cat, Sophie.

  • University of Vermont, Bachelor of Arts, German, 1977

    Graduate work in Germanic Philology, University of Minnesota, 1977-1978

    Graduate work in German Literature and Language, University of Vermont, 1996-1999

    Four-Year Law Office Study, Vermont, 2007

  • Admitted to practice law in the State of Vermont (Active)

    Admitted to practice law in U.S. District Court, District of Vermont (Active)

    Notary Public, State of Vermont (Active)

    Member of the Vermont Bar Association (VBA)

    Member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA)

    Member of the Chittenden County Bar Association

KOW in the Community

In addition to providing legal services for our clients, we at Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson have always been engaged in the communities in which we reside. You will often find us participating in community service projects such as blood drives, Green Up Day, and food drives to benefit local food pantries. Some of us have served and continue to serve our communities as selectboard members, school board members and Justices of the Peace. We have also donated our time as Scout leaders, youth athletic coaches, and volunteers in our local school systems.