Document Retention and GRAMA: What We and Our Agencies Must Know! -

David Sonnenreich, Blaine Ferguson, Mark Burns, Laura Lockhart

 

 

David Sonnenreich

David Sonnenreich is the director of the Markets and Financial Fraud Division. David is an experienced antitrust litigator, a white collar crime prosecutor, and a former section chief of the predecessor to the current Mortgage and Financial Fraud Unit. He is also the chair of our Discovery Advanced Resource Team, which is spearheading an effort to unify our litigation holds strategy and to simplify the document retention schedules that pertain to our office. He is a member of the National Association of Attorneys General Antitrust Task Force; in July he helped to try United States v. American Express in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York (which is awaiting judgment by the trial court). He is a member of the Sedona Conference legal think tank, and is currently participating in a nationwide team addressing proportionality in discovery in light of the Judicial Council’s recent proposed changes to FRCP 26 and 37.

 

Blaine Ferguson

Blaine earned his law degree at B.Y.U. and has been practicing law for over 37 years. He started off with about 9 years in private practice, and then joined the Attorney General’s Office in 1986. He worked for about 9 years in the Child Support Section, and for about 19 years in what is now known as the Commercial Enforcement Division, serving as Division Chief from 2007 to 2014. In May 2014 Blaine became Government Records Counsel for the Office. As part of his new responsibilities he became Chair of the Office’s GRAMA Committee, a committee he was instrumental in organizing in 2008.

 

Blaine has been serving as a government attorney since before GRAMA became law. His practice has given him many opportunities to work with GRAMA. He is glad the Office finally made the decision to have a full-time GRAMA attorney position. He is working to help the Office meet its obligations under GRAMA and to serve as a resource on GRAMA matters.

 

Mark Burns

Mark Burns is the Director of the Highways & Utilities Division.  Mark’s principal agency assignment is the Utah Department of Transportation, which he advises on eminent domain and other real estate matters.  He has previously represented the Governor’s Office in extradition matters and advised other agencies on a variety of subjects including technology issues, public contracting, government records, unclaimed property, administrative law and public ethics.  Mark received advanced degrees in law and public administration from the University of Utah and his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

Laura Lockhart

Laura has a Biology degree from the University of Utah and graduated from Yale Law School.  After a judicial clerkship in Anchorage, Alaska, she became a staff attorney for the Utah Department of Health, Environment Division.  She has been working in the Environment Division of the Attorney General’s Office since 1989 and currently focuses primarily on water pollution and radiation control matters.

 

Laura has worked on GRAMA-related issues since the beginning of her work for the State of Utah. She was on the legislative task force that first prepared the legislation and on two subsequent committees appointed to consider changes to GRAMA.  She was also a member of the GRAMA Working Group convened in the aftermath of the near-simultaneous passage and repeal of HB 477 in the 2011 General Session.