2013 CLE Conference
Utah Attorney General's Office
Judge Bruce Jenkins
Curtis M Jensen -
State Bar President
As a Bar Commissioner, Jensen represented the 5th Commission Division, which consists of the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Judicial Districts. He was liaison to the Utah State Bar’s Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee, Character Fitness Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, and Lawyer Referral Service Committee. “The Board of Commissioners devotes countless hours working for justice, and I am fortunate to be associated with such an energetic and dedicated group,” said Jensen.
Jensen graduated from SnowCollege (A.S., 1980), BrighamYoungUniversity (B.S. 1982), and University of Tulsa College of Law (J.D. 1995). He has been an Adjunct Professor at Dixie State College (1999-2002) and Southern Utah University (1999-2001).
Jensen is one of the founding partners of Snow Jensen & Reece, P.C. in St. George. He represents clients throughout the intermountain area in all aspects of real estate, construction, banking, business, and litigation. He is an advocate of implementing strong claim prevention methods and practices, and is very adept in resolving disputes without protracted litigation.
Jensen is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Utah State Bar, and the Southern Utah Bar Association. He is licensed to practice before the courts of Utah, the Federal District Court for Utah, and the United States Supreme Court.
Jensen has served on several local boards and associations, including Chairman of the Washington County School District Foundation, Chairman of the Santa Clara City Planning Commission, and member of the Habitat for Humanity Board for the Utah Southwest Chapter. He has served as a guest lecture for the Utah Contractor Board of Certification of Licensing of General Contractors (2006-07) and the Southern Utah University Department of Construction Management on “Contracts and Risk Prevention” (2007).
Bruce Sterling Jenkins is a United States Federal Judge. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Judge Jenkins served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946, and then received a B.A. from the University of Utah in 1949 and received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1952. He was in private practice in Salt Lake City, Utah from 1952 to 1965. He was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah in 1952, and a Deputy County Attorney of Salt Lake County, Utah from 1954 to 1958. He was a member of the Utah State Senate from 1959 to 1965.
In 1965, Jenkins became a Referee in Bankruptcy for the District of Utah, and from 1973 to 1978 he was a U. S. Bankruptcy Judge for that district.
On August 28, 1978, Jenkins was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah vacated by Willis W. Ritter. Jenkins was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 20, 1978, and received his commission on September 22, 1978. He served as chief judge from 1984 to 1993, and also taught as an Adjunct Professor, University of Utah from 1987 to 1988. He assumed senior status on September 30, 1994.
Commissioner Conklin was appointed as a Domestic Relations Commissioner in the Second District Court in April, 2007. Prior to her appointment she was an attorney practicing with the firm of Farr, Kaufman, Sullivan, Jensen, Medsker, Conklin, Olds, and Nichols from 2004. Prior to this she worked as an Adjunct Professor at Weber State University in the Criminal Justice Department. Commissioner Conklin received a Juris Doctor in 1996 from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English graduating magna cum laude from Weber State University
Judge Michael D. Lyon was appointed to the Second District Court in July 1992 by Governor Norman H. Bangerter, serving Weber, Morgan, and Davis Counties. He retired from the bench on September 1, 2013. He has twice served as Presiding Judge of the Second District Court. He has also served on the Utah Judicial Council as a member and chairperson of the Utah Board of District Judges, and the Governor’s Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee. He was founding president of the Rex E. Lee American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to promote ethics and professionalism within the legal profession. He is also the author of two articles that have appeared in the Utah Bar Journal. “The Source of Funds Rule – Equitably Classifying Separate and Marital Property,” August 1998, and “Practices of Successful Lawyers Appreciated by Trial Judges,” April 2003.
Prior to becoming a District Court Judge, he was the Justice Court Judge for South Ogden City and practiced law with the firm of Lyon, Helgesen, Waterfall, & Jones in Ogden, where his practice emphasized civil litigation. He is a former Clinton City Attorney and Deputy Weber County Attorney, a past member of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee and the Courts and Judges Committee of the Utah State Bar, and a former Weber County Bar President. He received his B. S., cum laude, from Weber State College and his J. D. from the University of Utah in 1971.
Commissioner
Catherine Conklin
Judge Michael D. Lyon
Presenter Bios
David Sonnenreich is an antitrust specialist with the Commercial Enforcement Division, who spends his days slowly suing very large corporations. He is currently suing Apple Corporation; he will be using a PC and PowerPoint for his presentation today.
David graduated from the University of Utah College of Law a long time ago, with the usual assortment of honors, including serving on the Utah Law Review, working as a judicial intern to Justice I. Daniel Stewart of the Utah Supreme Court, graduating Order of the Coif, and yada, yada, yada, His ego is artificially inflated by a long standing Martindale-Hubbell AV peer rating and an attorney of the quarter award from our office which he shared with Phil Lott for their work on the Pelt v. Utah case.
David has extensive experience in complex litigation, having appeared in numerous federal courts and in state courts throughout Utah. He has tried civil and criminal case in bench and jury trials, as well as lengthy administrative hearings. He has argued before the Utah Court of Appeals and the Utah Supreme Court, but has always settled his cases before federal appellate courts prior to oral argument. He has been a partner in several law firms, and was the Commerce Section chief in our office in the early 1990s, where he mainly prosecuted securities fraud and white collar crime. He has worked in seemingly countless areas of law, including securities law, white collar crime, antitrust, construction defect, commercial torts, family law, professional licensing, real estate, personal injury, and commercial transactional work, among many others. His knowledge of the substantive law may be only "an inch deep, and a mile wide" - but he fakes it well. He actually really enjoys legal procedural issues, economic analysis and complex discovery in general. He handled some of the last great "paper document warehouse cases," including the aforementioned Pelt case in which he was responsible for working with expert forensic accountants to reduce some 750 banker boxes of evidence down to a 103 volume accounting report. He is currently learning to use cutting edge artificial intelligence in e-discovery in antitrust cases, including one against American Express. Misery loves company, and David is happy to share his bafflement at the rapidly changing areas of document preservation, location, discovery and analysis with you today in a lecture titled "O brave new world, that has such records in't!"
Judge Augustus G. Chin was appointed to the Holladay Justice Court, which serves the cities of Holladay and Cottonwood Heights, in August 2011. Judge Chin received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Utah College of Law 1995. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in Spanish from the University of Utah. Prior to attending law school he was a production controller - planner at the Tooele Army Depot. He worked as a law clerk-bailiff and law clerk for 3rd District Judge Tyrone E. Medley. Judge Chin also worked as a prosecutor for the Salt Lake City Prosecutor's Office and the Summit County Attorney's Office. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Chin worked for Wasatch Advocates and Rasmussen and Miner as a criminal defense attorney. Judge Chin served as president of the Utah State Bar from 2006 to 2007, as a Utah State Bar Commissioner from 2001 to 2008, as president of the Utah Minority Bar Association from 1998 to 1999, and as president of the Law-Related Education Board 2011-2013. Currently, he serves as president of the Utah Bar Foundation and is a member of the Utah Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Civility. He received the Minority Bar Association Lawyer of the Year Award in 2007, the Scott M. Matheson Award for Service to Law-Related Education in 2003, and the University of Utah College of Law Young Alumnus of the year Award in 2000.
David Sonnenriech
Judge Augustus G. Chin
Tom Brunker joined the Utah Attorney General’s office in 1993 and has worked in the Criminal Appeals Division that entire time. In 1999, he was assigned to be the Capital Case Coordinator.
Kyle Kaiser is an Assistant Attorney General in the Litigation Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, a position he has held since July 2011. Kyle’s practice focuses on defending claims of constitutional or civil rights violations brought against the State of Utah, its agents, agencies, and subdivisions. Prior to working for the Utah AG’s Office, Kyle was employed as a Staff Attorney for Justice Dale Wainwright of the Supreme Court of Texas, where he not only assisted Justice Wainwright in researching and preparing opinions and analyzing petitions for review, but was in charge of the Court’s law clerk program and annual hot pepper eating competition. Before that, Kyle was a litigation and intellectual property associate with the law firm of Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and served as a law clerk for Richard Dorr, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, in Springfield, Missouri.
Kyle received his J.D., with high distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2003, where he was Senior Managing Editor of the Iowa Law Review, was awarded the Hancher-Finkbine Medallion, and was inducted into Order of the Coif. Kyle received his Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Drake University, summa cum laude, in 2000.
Kyle has published and presented on the subjects of the constitutionality of “perp walks,” the defense of Utah’s liquor laws against antitrust challenges, the application of the Minnesota hearsay rules, the decisions of the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board, the usefulness of pretrial dispositive motions, and the practice of appellate courts’ per curiam opinions.
Kyle is licensed to practice law in Utah, Texas and Minnesota. Away from work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Pearl, and their cat, Annie, competing in pub trivia events, playing percussion with the local community band and piano in the privacy of his own home, traveling, and judging mock trial competitions
Tom Brunker
Kyle Kaiser
Tanji Northrup has 25 years of experience working in health insurance in both the public and private sector and is currently the Assistant Utah Insurance Commissioner. As Assistant Commissioner, she is responsible for the implementation of state and federal health care insurance reform efforts. She represents the department on legislative issues, task forces, and committees in addition to health insurance committees at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Ms. Northrup is a key advisor to the Insurance Commissioner, the Governor’s Office, as well as members of the Utah Legislature regarding health insurance related issues. Since 2010, she has assisted with the development of Utah’s SHOP exchange, Avenue H.
Ms. Northrup received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with an emphasis in finance at Westminster College. She has been happily married for 20 years and is the proud mother of two daughters. The family enjoys the outdoors and volunteering their time.
Christopher Ballard has worked in the Criminal Appeals Division since he joined the Utah Attorney General’s office in 2000. He graduated from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. He loves taking his children to watch the Cougars play.
Tanji Northrup
Chris Ballard
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Bryon Benevento’s practice is focused in the areas of intellectual property litigation, products liability defense, and commercial litigation. He currently serves as national counsel for clients in the automotive and healthcare sectors. He has extensive commercial litigation experience including breach of contract, business torts, shareholder disputes, ERISA, anti-trust and other complex commercial matters. His intellectual property litigation experience includes patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secrets, and copyright infringement matters. Bryon’s product liability experience includes wrongful death and personal injury due to defective design, manufacturing defects, and/or inadequate warnings. Bryon has trial experience at all levels of the court system and in varied jurisdictions. He is licensed in the states of Utah and Washington, and has appeared via pro hac vice in 29 states. He has tried cases to verdict in Utah, California, New Mexico, Washington, Idaho and Texas. He is a frequent presenter on a wide range of legal issues including legal ethics, intellectual property and civil procedure.
Bryon Benevento
Alan Bachman
Robert S. (Rust) Tippett is a partner at Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere in Salt Lake City. His practice focuses on all aspects of estate planning, including trusts, probate, estate and gift taxation and conservatorships. Mr. Tippett is also an Adjunct Professor at BYU Law School, where he teaches the Wills & Estates course.
Mr. Tippett holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates, a comprehensive online legal reference treatise. He was also the author of Utah’s new asset protection trust law, which became effective this past May.
Federal Magistrate Judge Evelyn J. Furse became the newest magistrate judge for the U. S. District Court for Utah June 22, 2012. She was a senior attorney for Salt Lake City Corporation where among other things she defended the city’s proposed soccer complex bond. Before joining the city, Judge Furse clerked for Utah Supreme Court Justice, Christine Durham and then worked for several local law firms. She is a past president of the Women Lawyers of Utah and chaired its initiative on the Advancement and Retention of Women Attorneys. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public policy analysis from the University of North Carolina in 1993. She attended law school at New York University School of Law in 1996. Magistrate judges conduct preliminary hearings in criminal cases and also handle other criminal and civil matters as assigned by District Judges.
Judge Deno Himonas
Rust Tippet
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Judge Kimberly K. Hornak was appointed to the Third District Juvenile Court in October 1994 by Gov. Michael O. Leavitt. She serves Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele counties. Judge Hornak received a law degree from Gonzaga University College of Law in 1983. From 1984 to 1985, Judge Hornak was a staff attorney with Utah Legal Services in Ogden. From 1985 to 1986, she was a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society. Judge Hornak was Assistant Attorney General from 1986 to 1988, and Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney from 1988 until her appointment to the bench. She has taught in the Trial Advocacy Program at the University of Utah College of Law and for the paralegal program at Westminster College. She has served on the Court Improvement Committee, the Law Related Education Board, the Standing Committee on Judicial Education, the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, the Standing Committee on Judicial Outreach, and the Board of Juvenile Court Judges. Judge Hornak served as the Presiding Judge in Third District Juvenile Court from 2004 through 2007. She has served on the Sentencing Commission and currently serves on the Utah Judicial Council. In addition, Judge Hornak presides over two Drug Courts.
Judge Kimberly Hornak
Judge James T. Blanch
Kirk Torgensen was appointed Chief Deputy Attorney General in January of 2001 and oversees the criminal divisions, plus child protection, child support and commercial enforcement divisions, for the Utah Attorney General’s Office. In that role, Torgensen has focused on stopping white collar crime in Utah. He organized several statewide summits involving hundreds of law enforcement officers, business and financial institution leaders. He also oversaw the creation of IRIS—Identity Theft Reporting Information System—the nation’s first website that allows victims to send identity theft complaints directly to the proper law enforcement agency and get a checklist of things to do to resolve credit problems.
Torgensen has also been highly involved in setting up management training courses for the Attorney General’s Office to help provide better mentoring and supervision for attorneys and staff. For those efforts he was given the Nelson Kempsky Award by the Conference of Western Attorneys General as Outstanding Leader and Manager of the Year for 2005-06. He was also named one of Utah’s top lawyers in 2009 by his peers and received by the Outstanding Contributor to Law Enforcement Award from the Utah Police Chief’s Association.
After graduating from the University of Utah Law School in 1986, Torgensen joined the United States Air Force and served as a Judge Advocate in Germany. His work primarily involved criminal prosecution and criminal defense work, including more than 40 jury trials throughout Europe. After leaving the Air Force in 1990, Torgensen began working at the Utah State Attorney General ’s Office in the Criminal Appeals Division where he was promoted to Section Chief over the Civil Rights section. During that time he worked with another Assistant Attorney General named Mark Shurtleff. He also supervised the state’s first money laundering and racketeering unit and tried two death penalty cases resulting in convictions.
In 1998, Torgensen was appointed by Governor Michael O. Leavitt to be the Director of the Adult Probation and Parole, where he was oversaw more than 500 employees, a 35 million dollar budget and provided supervision for more than 15,000 offenders.
For more than 16 years Torgensen has been an instructor for Police Officer Standards and Training, Utah Narcotics Officers Association and Utah Prosecution Council. He is also an adjunct professor for both Weber State University and the University of Utah, teaching Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice classes.
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Kirk Torgenson
Evelyn J. Furse
John E. Swallow was elected as Utah Attorney General in November 2012 with 65 per cent of the statewide vote. He plans to focus on protecting children from abuse and sex trafficking, stopping financial fraud and preserving state’s rights. Swallow had been serving as Chief Deputy Attorney General since December 2009 and was overseeing the civil divisions and all litigation involving the state of Utah. Under his leadership, the A.G.’s Office filed a lawsuit with 26 states over health care reform and instigated litigation over the federal Wild Lands policy. He helped double the size of the public lands litigation team and hired an attorney to research constitutional issues related to federalism and state’s rights.
Swallow graduated with a BS and law degree from Brigham Young University and was a member of the Brigham Young University Law Review. He started as an associate and later became a partner with the commercial litigation firm Scalley & Reading. Swallow was also appointed as a Judge Pro Tem for the Third District Court and served as Chairman of the Business Section of the Utah State Bar.
Swallow was elected to the Utah House of Representatives for three terms from 1997 through 2002. He served on the committees for Revenue and Taxation, Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Standing and Administrative Rules Review and was the chairman of the Public Utilities and Technology Standing Committee. He was also the Regional Whip for the Majority Party.
While in the Utah House of Representatives, Swallow was named the Taxpayer Advocate of the Year by the Utah Taxpayers Association for sponsoring and passing legislation giving Utah one of the largest tax cuts in state history. He sponsored a bill to expand Drug Courts statewide and was honored by the Utah Association of Chiefs of Police for creating a task force to help local police departments develop crime reduction plans. Swallow was also recognized by the Utah Association of Realtors, National Federation of Independent Business and the Utah Food Industry Association and other industry groups for his service on behalf of the business community.
In 2002 and 2004, Swallow was the Republican Party nominee for Utah’s Congressional District but narrowly lost to Congressman Jim Matheson in both races. He is fluent in Spanish and helps coach youth sport teams. Swallow is married to Suzanne M. Seader and they are the parents of five children.
Brian L. Tarbet, Major General (Ret), has served his country and the state of Utah in varying capacities since beginning his career as both a member of the United States Army and as a lawyer.
In a military career spanning nearly 40 years, General Tarbet served as Adjutant General of Utah from 2000 – 2012. During this time, he was responsible for 7,500 soldiers and airmen of the Utah National Guard. He formerly served on the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee of the Secretary of the Army.
His service in the Army as a career intelligence officer allowed General Tarbet to receive many accolades and honors, including the Distinguished Service medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service medal and Armed Forces Reserve medal. General Tarbet has also been recognized by the State of Utah for his service and has been awarded the Utah Medal of Merit, Utah Joint Staff Medal of Merit, Utah Achievement Ribbon, State Partnership Award and Utah Service Ribbon. Internationally, Major General Tarbet has been awarded the Wissam al-Istihkak al-Askari (Order of Military merit) by the Kingdom of Morocco.
Now retired from the Army, General Tarbet was appointed as General Counsel in the Utah Attorney General’s office in January 2013. He brings more than 20 years of legal experience to this position, including prior service in the Utah Attorney General’s Office as the Division Chief of the Tax and Revenue Division. During that time, General Tarbet was honored as Tax Practitioner of the Year in 1998 by the Tax Section of the Utah State Bar. General Tarbet also currently lectures in USU’s Political Science Department and teaches a course called “Law, Politics and War.”
General Tarbet is a Utah State University graduate, having earned a BA in Political Science with Business Administration and German in 1973. He furthered his education at the University of Utah where he earned a Juris Doctor in 1977. In 1998-1999 he earned a certificate as a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
General Tarbet’s wife, Mary, is a USU alumna who graduated in special education in 1977. The couple has five children and eight grandchildren.
John Swallow
Brian Tarbet
Nate Checketts is the Health Reform Coordinator at the Utah Department of Health. He has recently been working on the Medicaid Expansion Options Community Workgroup, the State Innovation Models Grant, and the Governor’s Health Innovations Summit. Nate was previously an Assistant Division director where he helped oversee Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) activities related to eligibility policy, financing, claims payment, and Indian Health. Nate has formerly been the director of CHIP, a budget analyst in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, and a senior auditor for the California State Auditor’s Office. Nate has a master’s degree in public administration from Brigham Young University.
Nate Checketts
Brent has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah for over 26 years. He has been the Section Chief of the Civil Appeals Section in the litigation division and currently serves in the Civil Appeals Division. He teaches in the Paralegal program of Salt lake Community College and has taught CLE classes for several groups, including the Utah State Bar, the Utah Attorney General’s Office, the Statewide Association of Public Attorneys, and the Statewide Association of Risk Managers.
Brent Burnett
Laura Dupaix joined the Utah Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division in 1996 and currently serves as Division Chief. She has handled over 200 appeals in the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Court of Appeals. Before joining the Criminal Appeals Division, Laura served for two-and-a-half years in the Attorney General’s Child Protection Division, Clearfield Office.
Laura graduated in 1981 from BYU with a Bachelor’s degree in History. She completed her first year of law school at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law, but then transferred to the University of Utah School of Law, where she served on the Utah Law Review. She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Utah School of Law in 1988. Laura was admitted to the Utah State Bar in May 1988. For the following three years, she practiced as a sole general practitioner in Kaysville, Utah with an emphasis in family law and estate planning.
From 1991 to 1994, Laura served as a law clerk to Justice I. Daniel Stewart, former Justice on the Utah Supreme Court.
Laura has been a member of the Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure since 1999, and currently serves as chair of that committee.
Laura Dupaix
Craig Barlow graduated from the University of Utah in 1974 cum laude with a B.A. in English. He attended and graduated from the University of Utah School of Law with a Juris Doctorate in 1977 and was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1977. He has been an Assistant Attorney General with the State of Utah since 1993. He is a member of the Child Fatality Review Committee and the Supreme Court Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Mr. Barlow currently serves as the Division Chief of the Children’s Justice Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office.
Craig Barlow
Ms. Jones graduated from the University of Utah College of law in 1996, where she served as Articles Editor for the Utah Law Review, After a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Judith M. Billings on the Utah Court of Appeals, Ms. Jones worked in private practice for five years, specializing in complex litigation, including multi-district products liability litigation.
Ms. Jones has been an Assistant Attorney General with the Utah Attorney General’s Office since 2001, and has been Chief of the Civil Rights Section for the past seven years. As Section Chief, she oversees civil rights litigation seeking money damages against the state, its agencies, and employees. Ms. Jone’s practice includes litigation in First Amendment, Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment issues.
Joni Jones
Robert S. (Rust) Tippett is a partner at Bennett, Tueller, Johnson & Deere in Salt Lake City. His practice focuses on all aspects of estate planning, including trusts, probate, estate and gift taxation and conservatorships. Mr. Tippett is also an Adjunct Professor at BYU Law School, where he teaches the Wills & Estates course.
Mr. Tippett holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates, a comprehensive online legal reference treatise. He was also the author of Utah’s new asset protection trust law, which became effective this past May.