Benjamin Canellys, Esquire
About Me
Benjamin is a litigation associate working to represent the injured in Vermont and New Hampshire. He grew up on Long Island but moved to Vermont in 2017 to attend Vermont Law School. Most recently, Ben has served as a hearing examiner for the Vermont Department of Labor in the Unemployment Insurance and Wages Division Appeals Unit. However, his legal experience includes a legal internship with the Center for International Environmental Law, as well as clinician positions with the Environmental Advocacy Clinic and South Royalton Legal Clinic’s Immigration Assistance Program at Vermont Law School.
- State University of New York at Geneseo, 2015
- BA Anthropology
- Oxford-Brookes University, 2016
- MSc Primate Conservation
- Vermont Law School, 2020
- Juris Doctorate
During his time at Vermont Law School, Ben served as Town Liaison for the Student Bar Association, a position that focused on pairing law students with community-led initiatives in order to build closer ties between the two. Ben is an active proponent of immediate climate action and has been honored to serve as the assistant to the Active-Observer to the Green Climate Fund, as well as an observer-delegate to Myanmar at the 25th Conference of the Parties in Katowice, Poland. He hopes to continue working on regional adaptation in a private capacity.
Ben was heavily involved in student life and served as a Student Ambassador, Co-President of the Vermont Law Outdoors Club, Co-Captain of the Ultimate Frisbee team, and still plays on the Vermont Law School hockey team. He is an Albert Sweitzer Fellow for Life for his work with aquaponic systems and environmental education.
Prior to law school, Ben worked as a primate conservationist and wildlife researcher with Colobus Conservation in Diani, Kenya. He researched human-wildlife conflict and mitigation strategies. Accordingly, his first client-facing role was representing troops of yellow baboons against the farmers and hotel owners they were antagonizing. Following that, nearly any human client is welcome.
Outside of work, Ben enjoys tabletop games, skiing, paddling Vermont’s waterways, beach volleyball, and mountain league softball.
Client Testimonials
“Immediately after my son’s injury at work, he was treated poorly. Over the course of the next few days it became even worse, so I called Mike and he and Crystal have been absolute lifesavers during the process. Mike is not your typical stuffed suit lawyer who only cares about the bottom line he genuinely cares about his clients and his assistant Crystal is beyond amazing! My thanks to you both!”
LUKE PARMENTER
“I could never ask for a better attorney, to fight for me, to believe in me, and have faith in me, than what I found in Mike Sabbeth, He doesn’t treat you like a client, he treats you as if you are one of his own family members, He will fight for you, with all he has, and is ALWAYS up front and honest with you about everything!”
SANDRA DRUGE