Find Lawyers in Salt Lake City, Utah for Commercial Litigation
Practice Area Overview
Litigation increasingly occurs in various venues, from state and federal courts to private arbitrations and administrative hearings. Proceedings can involve business-to-business disputes or any number of government agencies. Understanding the motivations and outlook of each of the litigation participants is important for determining weak points to exploit and strong points that will persuade the audience in question. During the past decade, commercial litigators have seen a dramatic uptick in multidistrict and inter-disciplinary litigation, making the stakes higher, the cases more complex, the parties more numerous and the discovery more complicated and unwieldy. Firms that are able to develop and implement a creative legal approach to each individual problem, efficiently focus on the key legal and factual issues, and master and manage the various aspects of these complex matters will be the busiest in the years to come.
In the current challenging economic climate, commercial litigators are under increasing client pressure to keep costs in check, which has both sides testing the efficacy of alternative fee arrangements and the scope of reasonable discovery. Whether the “death of the billable hour” is ultimately realized, the keys to a commercial litigator’s success will continue to be strong client relationships, thought leadership, practical management skills, deep experience, and personal commitment.
Robert Clark has extensive experience in complex litigation, representing local and national companies with respect to securities, class actions, trade secrets, antitrust, corporate governance, intellectual property, shareholder derivative actions, etc. He has extensive experience representing clients in state and federal courts including trials, arbitrations, appeals, and settlements. Mr. Clark has served as President of the Utah Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He received a Bachelor...
Joseph Covey concentrates his practice on corporate bankruptcy, reorganization and workouts with broad experience representing Chapter 11 corporate debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, bondholders, and unsecured creditors’ committees. He has represented large commercial lenders and secured bondholders in numerous multi-million dollar commercial real estate workout, foreclosure and state receivership matters. Mr. Covey also represents lenders, borrowers and real estate developers in...
When real estate and construction projects fall into dispute, the administration of an estate becomes contentious, or business partnerships implode, commercial litigator Douglas Farr finds resolution for project owners, entrepreneurs, investors, and other commercial clients. He has prevailed for clients in bench trials and jury trials, including a recent week-long trial involving a business divorce between real estate investors. Additionally, Doug achieves favorable outcomes in arbitration, m...
Jonathan Hafen has extensive experience representing clients in federal and state courts. He has been widely praised by clients and peers for his skilled and efficient approach to litigation. As a trial lawyer, Mr. Hafen handles a wide variety of litigation, including cases in the areas of securities law, employment law, breach of contract, land disputes, road disputes, intellectual property, disputes over ownership and control of businesses, class actions, and construction law. Mr. Hafen&rsq...
Stephen Hale’s practice includes commercial and tort litigation. He has represented clients in industries such as telecommunications, heavy and light manufacturing, automotive wholesale and retail, software development, construction, and commercial and residential development. He is admitted to practice before the Utah Supreme Court and all state and federal courts in Utah, and the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Hale received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounti...
Gregory Hess concentrates his practice on intellectual property law, including intellectual property identification and protection, licensing and transfer, and dispute resolution. He regularly assists clients with a wide variety of intellectual property agreements, including license agreements, technology agreements, Internet agreements, OEM, distribution and reseller agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, manufacturer and supply agreements, and transfer agreements. He als...
Michael Hoppe specializes in assisting clients in complex business and commercial litigation matters. He has broad experience representing clients in a wide range of complex litigation matters, including contract, construction, bankruptcy, and other general business disputes. He has particular expertise in construction litigation, representing both large general contractors and owners in a variety of matters in several states involving defending or pursuing claims for construction defect, del...
Jeffrey Hunt practices in the area of commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on First Amendment, media, and intellectual property law. Mr. Hunt has more than 20 years’ experience litigating complex commercial cases involving a wide variety of industries and legal issues, including copyright, trademark, and patent enforcement actions; injunctions; securities litigation; enforcement of non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure covenants for employers, foreign litigati...
Heidi E. C. Leithead is a shareholder at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless in Salt Lake City. She focuses her practice on employment law, representing employers and management in counseling and training as well as complex litigation-related issues before federal and state trial and appellate courts and administrative agencies. She has substantial civil rights and constitutional law experience in areas relating to employee policies and agreements, unlawful discrimination and harassment (Title VII,...
Catherine Maness is Special Counsel in the Firm’s Salt Lake City office and a member of the Intellectual Property practice group. Ms. Maness’ practice focuses on Intellectual Property litigation, with an emphasis on patent and trademark litigation. In her legal practice, she has worked on a wide range of disputes and technical areas. She has litigated in diverse venues, including New York, California, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Utah, and in front of the USPTO.
David Reymann is a commercial litigator with experience in numerous areas of the law, including First Amendment, media, intellectual property, appellate, network marketing/direct sales, contract disputes, and environmental litigation. Over the past 16 years, Mr. Reymann has argued cases at all levels of Utah’s state and federal courts and has served as counsel in high-stakes litigation for local, national, and international clients alike. Mr. Reymann is a tenacious and tireless advocate...
Michael F. Skolnick is an AV peer review rated attorney. His practice emphasizes professional malpractice defense, commercial litigation, product liability law, personal injury law and general civil litigation. Mr. Skolnick has been consistently named by his peers as one of the top business litigation attorneys in the state of Utah, in annual surveys published in Utah Business magazine. He is also regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Mountain States Super Lawyers. Representativ...
J. Craig Smith, Esq., is a founding member of the Salt Lake City firm of Smith Hartvigsen, PLLC, where he practices in the areas of water law, land use, and redevelopment law. He has argued more than 30 appeals before the Utah Supreme Court. Mr. Smith is listed in Utah Legal Elite, Superlawyers and Best Lawyers publications. Major accomplishments include, lead counsel for the development of the Amangiri Resort in southern Utah and obtaining the passage of federal legislation to obtain water r...
Sarah Elizabeth Spencer Willson is a dedicated commercial litigator and appellate advocate, licensed in Utah and Colorado. She holds admission rights before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal circuit courts of appeal. With two decades of experience, she focuses on complex legal disputes, including breach of contract, fiduciary duties, corporate governance, fraud, trusts, real property disputes, business torts, product liability, and professional liability. Sarah has secured significan...
Terry Welch handles litigation matters of all types in federal and state courts. He has broad experience in complex litigation, representing companies of varied size and type with respect to intellectual property and patent litigation, antitrust, product liability, insurance and bad faith disputes, manufacturer/distributor relations, and cases of tragic injury. He has handled signi?cant trademark and Lanham Act matters including issues of infringement, trade dress and false advertising. He pr...
Austin is a member of the firm’s commercial litigation practice group. He earned his J.D. from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2021, where he was Associate Article Editor of the Utah Law Review and a CALI Awards and William H. Leary Scholar recipient, Order of the Coif. He received his B.A. from Brigham Young University in Political Science in 2018. Prior to joining Parr Brown Austin interned with The Honorable Scott M. Matheson, Jr. at the 10th Circuit Court of Ap...
Claire is a member of the firm’s litigation practice group. In 2020 she earned her J.D., from S.J. Quinney College of Law graduating with High Honors. While in law school Ms. McGuire had the honor of representing the University as a member of the national moot court team and was recognized as one of the best oralists in the region. Her peers also elected her to represent the law school as a Senator in University wide student government. In 2014 Ms. McGuire received her B.S. with honors ...
Garrett Messerly is an associate and member of the Litigation Practice Group in the Salt Lake City office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he represents and advises clients in a variety of white collar and regulatory defense matters. Garrett also represents clients during workplace investigations for discrimination and fraud, and in trial for complex civil, commercial, or criminal matters. Garrett also conducts internal investigations on behalf of clients. Garrett is an experienced trial at...
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