Email:dbrough@btjd.com
Mr. Brough is a partner in the firm’s litigation department. He maintains a general civil litigation practice with substantial experience in both federal and state courts. His practice emphasizes general commercial litigation, corporate and business litigation, employment litigation (including enforcement of restrictive employment covenants), and construction litigation. He has successfully litigated requests for expedited remedies, including requests for prejudgment writs, temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions. He also maintains an appellate practice and has briefed and argued appeals before the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah Court of Appeals, the Idaho Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Brough has been named a Mountain States Super Lawyer from 2011-2017.
Mr. Brough previously served as a member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct and on the Utah Appellate Roster. He is a Barrister with the A. Sherman Christensen Inns of Court- I.
Email:egoodrich@btjd.com
Mr. Goodrich is a partner in the firm’s litigation department whose practice focuses on representing employers in state and federal court and before administrative agencies such as the Utah Labor Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division, and other governmental agencies. Mr. Goodrich has represented numerous large and small Utah businesses in litigation matters involving claims for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, overtime and wage issues, workplace safety citations, covenants not to compete, arbitration agreements, and related issues. While Mr. Goodrich’s primary focus is litigation, he also counsels and assists employers regarding Title VII, state and federal wage and hour laws, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, USERRA, classification of employees, terminations, separation agreements, employee handbooks, and other employment issues. Mr. Goodrich endeavors to help his clients implement effective strategies and best practices for avoiding costly and unnecessary claims wherever possible.
In addition to his employment practice, Mr. Goodrich also represents clients in business and commercial matters, including insurance coverage litigation, contract disputes, construction liens, payment bonds, and real property matters.
Born in Vernal, Utah Married, five children Foreign language: Spanish Interests include mountain biking, running, canyoneering, backpacking, skiing, politics, and sports.
Email:kchooker@btjd.com
Mr. Hooker is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on commercial litigation, including contract disputes, construction litigation, trust and estate matters, and appeals.
Mr. Hooker is married and has two children. Outside the office, he enjoys meditating, playing music, swimming, reading, and spending time with his family.
Email:jinouye@btjd.com
Areas of practice include commercial litigation, including litigation of partnership and internal company disputes, employer-employee disputes, trademark disputes, real estate disputes, creditor-debtor disputes, “claw-back” actions initiated by trustees or receivers, and bankruptcy disputes. Mr. Inouye has experience helping companies to resolve issues with state regulatory agencies involving laws governing telemarketing as well as experience in working with companies to comply with and defend against lawsuits brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He has repeatedly been named as a “Rising Star” by Mountain States Super Lawyers magazine and has been voted by his peers as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite.”
Two-time member of US Ski Mountaineering Team. Speed Record ski ascent and descent of Grand Teton, ski descent of Mt. McKinley. Soccer coach. Competitive skier, runner, and biker.
Email:tjaussi@btjd.com
Mr. Jaussi is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on general civil and commercial litigation, including contract and real property disputes. Mr. Jaussi also has experience in creditor rights work. Mr. Jaussi is a member of the Utah and Oregon State Bars.
Foreign Language: Spanish Married, two children. Interests include basketball, golf, and spending time with family.
Email:bjohnson@btjd.com
Mr. Johnson is one of BTJD’s founding partners. He started BTJD with a couple of college buddies after each of them had commenced their careers with large, elite law firms. They have grown BTJD to over 35 lawyers. It is a full service commercial firm. BTJD is highly regarded for its stable of top-notch lawyers—lawyers who know how to achieve the best possible results for their clients.
At BTJD, Mr. Johnson serves on the firm’s management committee. He routinely advises the firm and other firms on law firm management, conflicts of interest, and ethics issues. He also leads BTJD’s commercial litigation section. Managing and trying cases—particularly jury trials—is what he enjoys most about his job. For nearly thirty years, he has successfully managed complex, high-stakes disputes involving a wide array of subject matters: partnership disputes, creditor/debtor disputes, class actions, securities fraud cases, employment disputes (including disputes relating to the enforceability of restrictive covenants), trade secret litigation, real estate development disputes, construction defect litigation, and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy cases.
In the course of his practice, Mr. Johnson has tried, arbitrated, mediated, and successfully settled hundreds of cases. His forte is trial advocacy and oral argument. Clients, judges, jurors, and colleagues routinely note Mr. Johnson’s courtroom prowess and efficacy. He is known to strike the perfect balance of passion and reason, while making complex issues simple and easy to understand. One Utah trial judge noted Mr. Johnson’s expert advocacy by stating in a written ruling that “counsel in the case [were] some of the best and most proficient litigators this court has had the pleasure of watching work.”
Mr. Johnson has been a member of the Utah State Bar since 1992. He is admitted to practice law in Utah state and federal courts, the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He has repeatedly been selected by his peers as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite.”
Mr. Johnson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Brigham Young University in 1988. He received his Juris Doctorate degree and graduated cum laude from Willamette University School of Law in Salem, Oregon. There, he won the first year moot court competition and served as Articles Editor for the Willamette University Law Review.
When not practicing law, Mr. Johnson enjoys being outside and active. He has trained for and run thirty-five marathons, and he loves to mountain bike and hike peaks. He has qualified for and run the Boston Marathon. He has climbed Mt. Whitney—the highest peak in the continental United States—twice. And twice he has completed the vaunted forty-six mile Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trek across the Grand Canyon—once in 20 hours and once in 15 hours. Mr. Johnson’s more relaxing hobbies include boating, skiing, and wake surfing.
Mr. Johnson is active in his church and community, devoting 15 to 20 hours a week to such service. He and his wife, Tonya, reside in Alpine, Utah. They have six children and three grandchildren. Their family is their greatest source of happiness and joy.
Email:bradley.johnson@btjd.com
Mr. Johnson is an attorney in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on commercial litigation, including contract disputes, employment litigation, construction litigation, and trust and estate disputes.
Mr. Johnson is married and has one son.
He enjoys watching and playing basketball, mountain biking, trail running, and spending time with family.
Email:jjones@btjd.com
Mr. Jones is a business litigation attorney and partner with the firm whose practice focuses on intellectual property and competition-related disputes.
Concentrating primarily on the technology industry, Mr. Jones helps individuals and companies fight for and protect what matters most—their business and livelihood. Mr. Jones has obtained results for clients both inside and outside the courtroom. And in working with him through their complex and high stakes disputes, clients have thanked Jarom for his “professionalism,” “responsiveness,” and “attention to detail.” As put by one client, Mr. Jones was a “lifeline in a bad situation.”
In recent years, Mr. Jones has successfully helped clients prosecute and defend claims for trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of employee non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure contracts. He also advises and counsels clients on employment matters and best business practices to prevent litigation in the first place.
Mr. Jones was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. Outside of the office he enjoys backcountry skiing, traveling the world with his wife and kids, and finding mountain biking trails just wide enough to pull his kids’ trailer up.
Email:skeppner@btjd.com
Mr. Keppner is a partner of the firm and practices in the areas of commercial litigation, including collections, land lord-tenant disputes, and creditor representation. He has experience with qui tam cases, copyright infringement, construction, and employment litigation.
Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho 1972 Married, 3 children Interests include basketball, football, military history.
Email:dkono@btjd.com
Mr. Kono is a partner in the firm’s litigation department. His primary area of practice includes general civil litigation, with an emphasis on employment law and real estate litigation. Other areas of practice include personal injury, commercial litigation, construction litigation, and commercial collection work. Mr. Kono has repeatedly been voted by the legal community as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” in the areas of personal injury and/or business litigation, as reported in Utah Business Magazine. He has also been named a “Rising Star” in business litigation by Mountain States Super Lawyers magazine.
Married, four children Foreign languages: Spanish
Email:jlee@btjd.com
Mr. Lee is a partner in the firm’s litigation department, with an emphasis in commercial litigation and real estate disputes. Other areas of frequent practice include post-employment restrictive covenant disputes, appeals, collections, and landlord-tenant disputes.
Married, 3 children. Interests include running, guitar, mountain biking, snowboarding, reading, and hiking.
Email:rmerriman@btjd.com
Mr. Merriman is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. His practice emphasizes general commercial litigation involving contract disputes, securities, real property, and commercial landlord-tenant disputes. Mr. Merriman also has experience in administrative practice and appeals.
Mr. Merriman is married and has two children. He enjoys basketball, distance running, and reading about American history and politics.
Email:jreutzel@btjd.com
Mr. Reutzel is a seasoned and aggressive litigator. He zealously advocates his clients’ positions, takes a comprehensive view of his clients’ legal challenges, and implements legal strategies to achieve his clients’ desired outcomes. He is, first and foremost, a problem solver.
Mr. Reutzel has been successful in courts and tribunals across the country—from California to Utah to New York. He routinely defends clients in complex and high-stakes litigation, represents clients in administrative proceedings, and obtains judgments and settlements for millions of dollars.
In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Reutzel is heavily involved in alternative dispute resolution. In certain circumstances, a client may be better served by mediation or arbitration. Mr. Reutzel is expert in these processes and employs them, as necessary, to achieve his clients’ goals. He also regularly helps his clients design and implement dispute resolution provisions for use in their written agreements.
Mr. Reutzel is a partner in the firm. As a result of his success, he has been recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine as a “Rising Star” and by Utah Business Magazine as “Legal Elite” in the category of Civil Litigation.
Mr. Reutzel enjoys anything that involves his family or the outdoors, including whitewater rafting, mountain biking, climbing, canyoneering, skiing, hiking, and backpacking. In recent years, Mr. Reutzel has coached a local junior high school mountain bike team. He takes great satisfaction in coaching and watching his team members improve and compete.
Email:jtracy@btjd.com
Mr. Tracy has extensive experience representing clients in federal and state courts. His civil litigation practice includes a heavy emphasis in trust and estate litigation, complex commercial litigation, banking litigation and construction litigation. He works closely with Robert S. Tippett, the author of the The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates and one of the foremost trust and estate planning attorneys in Utah, on trust and estate matters. Mr. Tracy has represented several major financial institutions in banking litigation matters. Mr. Tracy has been awarded the Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® Rating, the highest rating awarded by Martindale-Hubbell to attorneys for professional competence and ethics. He has also been named to Utah Legal Elite. Prior to joining Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere, Mr. Tracy worked with the international law firm of LeBouef, Lamb, Greene & MacRae (headquartered in New York City) and the national law firm of Chapman and Cutler (headquartered in Chicago). Mr. Tracy is a member of the Utah, Colorado and Idaho State Bars.
Mr. Tracy was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho where he worked on local dairy and potato farms as a youth, and graduated from Ririe High School. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Haiti Port-au-Prince and speaks French and Haitian Creole. He is married and the father of six children. He has been active as a leader in his local church congregation and the Boy Scouts of America for over 25 years. His hobbies include spending time with his family, cheering for the Utah Jazz, attending college athletic events, coaching youth sports, camping, and gardening.
Email:tweaver@btjd.com
Mr. Weaver is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on general civil and commercial litigation, including contract and real property disputes. Mr. Weaver also has experience in creditor rights work, municipal and government litigation, and construction disputes.
University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law (J.D., 2022)
University of Utah (BMus., Piano Performance, 2017, cum laude)
Outside of work, Mr. Weaver enjoys canyoneering, hiking, running, and cooking homemade meals and desserts with his wife.
Attorney, Plant Christensen & Kanell, 2022-2023
Judicial Extern, Judge Jill M. Pohlman, Utah Court of Appeals, 2020
Research Assistant, Jorge L. Contreras, Utah Real Property Treatise, 2020
Email:cmontoya@btjd.com
Ms. Montoya has been with the firm for 13 years. She has worked primarily with the firm’s litigation section on a variety of case types. She has also attended and assisted our attorneys during multi-day bench and jury trials, and hearings.
Married, 2 children. Ms. Montoya enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, reading, crafting and decorating.