LET US REPRESENT YOU WITH OUR DIVERSE AREAS OF PRACTICE
Email:aalton@btjd.com
Mr. Alton primarily works with the firm’s business transactions group. He advises clients on a variety of business law matters including entity formation; corporate restructuring; corporate governance and strategic relationships; private equity, venture capital, and debt financing; recapitalizations; mergers and acquisitions; and commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Alton also works with the firm’s estate planning and taxation group (with a focus on estate planning) and assists the firm’s litigation group with complex commercial litigation matters from time to time.
Mr. Alton developed a broad range of legal experience prior to joining the firm. He practiced at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, a preeminent international law firm, in Frankfurt, Germany and New York City (where he practiced in the areas of international capital markets and global disputes and investigations) and Beus Gilbert McGroder PLLC, a premier litigation and commercial real estate boutique in Phoenix, AZ (where he practiced in the area of high stakes commercial litigation, including disputes for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, professional malpractice, patent infringement, and other intellectual properties disputes).
Mr. Alton is married with two children. Mr. Alton was born and raised in California and his wife was born and raised in Brazil. As a family, the Altons have lived in California, Utah, Brazil, Germany, New York, New Jersey, and Arizona. Mr. Alton is fluent in Portuguese and speaks some German. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, baking, hiking, exploring national parks, and choral singing.
Email:sbennett@btjd.com
Mr. Bennett serves as an advisor to numerous entrepreneurs and various sized business enterprises. He serves on the board of trustees of various charitable and philanthropic organizations. Mr. Bennett was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1990. He is the founding partner of Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere.
Mr. Bennett was the principal draftsman of the Utah Limited Liability Company Act. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, 1963 Married, 5 children and 3 grandchildren Interests include hunting, boating, snow skiing and snowmobiling
Email:crbird@btjd.com
Chalyse R. Bird works in the firm’s business section. She assists companies with formation, structure, financings, private offerings, recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions and other commercial transactions.
Born in Murray, Utah Married, 3 children Interests include music, dancing, reading, sports, spending time with family, traveling, and HGTV.
Email:rbishop@btjd.com
Mr. Bishop is an associate in the firm’s corporate, general business transactional, and estate planning groups. Mr. Bishop assists clients with various business law matters, including formation, structure, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, contract drafting, and other business transactions.
Mr. Bishop also practices in the firm’s estate planning section, where he assists clients with various estate planning matters, including wills, trusts, and probate proceedings.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Foreign Languages: Spanish Married, 4 children Interests include baseball, basketball, music, reading, movies, spending time with his family, and comedy.
Email:sdearing@btjd.com
Mr. Dearing works with the firm’s real estate, corporate and general business transactional groups. Mr. Dearing’s practice focuses on commercial real estate, finance, mergers, acquisitions, and other complex business and real estate transactions. In addition, Mr. Dearing joined the firm after practicing as a litigation attorney for a short time with a focus on complex business and real estate disputes.
Email:mdeere@btjd.com
Mr. Deere assists mid-stage and mature companies with financings, recapitalizations, acquisitions, divestitures, mergers and other commercial transactions and agreements. He also assists early stage companies with formation, structure, strategic relationships and venture capital and other financings.
Foreign language: Spanish Married, 4 children Interests include running, biking, history
Email:afine@btjd.com
Mr. Fine works with the firm’s business transactions group. He advises clients in a variety of business law matters including entity formation, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, finance, venture capital funding, service contracts, and other transactions and agreements.
Married, 1 daughter, 2 cats Born in Provo, Utah; raised in Mesa, Arizona Foreign language: Spanish
Email: jfors@btjd.com
Mr. Fors works with the firm’s business transactions group. He advises clients on a variety of different business law matters. He represents acquirors and targets in structuring, negotiating and documenting mergers and acquisitions. He also assists early stage companies with formation, structure, strategic relationships, equity financings, convertible debt financings, and other financings.
Foreign language: Spanish
Email:mgiles@btjd.com
Mr. Giles works with the estate planning and taxation groups with a focus in the areas of federal and state taxation, estate and gift tax planning, probate and trust administration and guardianship and conservatorship law. He develops complex estate planning strategies and assists clients in implementing and administering their customized estate plans. He represents individual and entity taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and Utah State Tax Commission regarding income, estate and employment tax issues. Mr. Giles also advises businesses and their owners regarding the tax implications of entity choice, operations, and acquisition transactions of all sizes.
Born in Taylorsville, Utah Married, 5 children
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:bhawkins@btjd.com
Mr. Hawkins serves as a trusted point of contact for all matters that touch on transactional law, from formation to financing to sale, and all important strategic agreements in between. In that capacity, he serves as a relationship partner and a consultant to clients and connects them to the right resources at BTJD in areas just as tax, benefits, labor, licensing, real property, executive compensation and litigation, as well as other resources outside his firm. He draws from his experience serving virtually every industry and vertical of companies in the Intermountain West to bring a practical and business-oriented approach to client needs. He has special focus and expertise on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, venture capital and emerging company work, technology licensing and joint ventures, corporate governance, and executive compensation.
Married, 4 children Sometimes skier, canyoneer, and mountain biker.
Email:ejeppsen@btjd.com
Mr. Jeppsen is an attorney in the firm’s business section, where he assists companies with formation, structure, asset protection, trademark registration, and contract drafting. Mr. Jeppsen also practices in the firm’s litigation section, with a particular emphasis on securities litigation and trademark infringement.
Email:pjohnson@btjd.com
Paul Johnson’s practice is concentrated on assisting individuals and entities with the negotiation and documentation of real estate acquisition, development, financing, and disposition matters, as well as various other types of debt financing and commercial transactions. He assists clients of various types, from institutional lenders to real estate developers to small businesses, in structuring debt financing, joint ventures, and other business relationships and transactions. In addition, Paul’s practice includes assisting clients with business acquisitions and dispositions, the formation and structure of limited liability companies and other entities, and commercial leasing transactions.
Previously, Paul practiced with the corporate and estate planning department of a law firm in Provo, Utah.
Married, 8 children Interests include hiking, camping, fishing, and the outdoors generally.
Email:jmatson@btjd.com
Mr. Matson represents privately held companies, investors, and entrepreneurs in complex business transactions, with particular focus in business formation corporate restructuring, private equity and venture capital transactions, securities offerings and regulation, intellectual property licensing, corporate governance and compliance work, trademark and other general business, commercial and contractual matters.
Mr. Matson’s practice also encompasses all aspects of real estate law, including sales, purchases, leasing, financing, development and redevelopment, easements, CC&Rs, owner’s associations, development agreements, due diligence review for title and survey matters and associated agreements.
Born in Ogden, Utah Foreign Languages: Norwegian Married, 5 children Interests include reading, running, basketball, softball, golf, and spending time with family.
Email:rrawson@btjd.com
Mr. Rawson is a partner at the firm practicing corporate and general business law. Mr. Rawson assists companies with financings, mergers, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and other business transactions and agreements. In addition, he assists early stage companies with formation, structure, strategic relationships, venture capital financings, and other financings.
Foreign Language: Mandarin Chinese Interests include basketball, reading, golf, and other sports.
Email:jsellers@btjd.com
Mr. Sellers joined Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere as a law clerk in 2016 and was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 2017. Mr. Sellers is currently an associate at the firm practicing corporate and general business law.
Mr. Sellers assists clients with various business law matters, including entity formation for early-stage companies, restructuring, corporate governance, venture capital financings, private mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions. He also prepares various contracts for clients based on their specific needs, including SaaS and other software license agreements.
Born in Antioch, California 1988 Married, two children Interests include technology and software development, cooking and musical theater.
Email:tumblin@btjd.com
Mr. Tumblin works in the firm’s business transactions group. Prior to joining the firm, he was a partner in both a large New York-based firm and a large Chicago-based firm. Mr. Tumblin has broad experience in many types of business transactions, including real estate, energy, finance, transactional and general business counseling. He has represented both public and privately-held clients, many of whom have relied on his counsel for over 25 years. He has been a member of the board of directors of a Fortune 500 company, and has appeared on behalf of clients in the United States Supreme Court and other appellate courts.
Email:hturner@btjd.com
Ms. Turner has been with the firm since 2016 and works with the firm’s corporate and estate planning groups. Among many things, Ms. Turner’s experience includes work relating to corporate formation and governance, transaction closings, estate plan preparation and funding, trust and estate administration, and charitable solicitations compliance. Ms. Turner was one of the first to be commissioned as a Remote Notary in the State of Utah and maintains such commission as a convenient option for the firm’s clients.
Married, two dogs, one cat, twenty-six fish. Interests include skiing/snowboarding, hiking, fly fishing, camping, horseback riding, gardening, baseball, photography, plants, and generally anything outdoors.
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:jjones@btjd.com
Mr. Jones is a business litigation attorney 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 collecting hot sauces, traveling the world with his wife and kids, and finding mountain biking trails just wide enough to pull his kids’ trailer up.
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: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: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: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: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: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:hbosserman@btjd.com
Mr. Bosserman is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on general civil and commercial litigation, including contract, real property, and construction disputes. Mr. Bosserman also has experience in municipal law, administrative practice, and appellate work.
Foreign Language: Tagalog Mr. Bosserman is married and has three children. He enjoys basketball, indoor soccer, sports radio, and classic cars.
Email:jdunkelberger@btjd.com
Mr. Dunkelberger is an associate in the firm’s litigation section. Areas of practice include Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Real Property Law, Employment Law and Collections.
Married, 5 children
Email:chall@btjd.com
Mr. Hall has represented cities and towns for more than four decades while serving as an in-house city attorney and privately with the firm.
Areas of practice includes litigation, real estate, government entity representation including police & fire departments, public utilities and interlocal agencies
Born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, 1950 Married, 4 children Interests including boating, skiing hiking and youth activities
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: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: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: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: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.
Email:jgorringe@btjd.com
Mr. Gorringe is a partner in the firm’s litigation department. His practice is focused on general civil and commercial litigation, including contract disputes, business torts, construction defect, insurance coverage, partnership disputes, and probate and trust litigation.
Foreign Languages: Mandarin Chinese Interests include football, basketball, coaching lacrosse, and spending time with his two children.
Email:smcneill@btjd.com
Ms. McNeill’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and appeals. Her commercial cases include shareholder litigation, breach of contract, fraud, trade secrets, dissolution, etc. Ms. McNeill’s tort practice has included matters involving automobiles, automobile liability, premises liability, heavy duty tractors, and construction. Ms. McNeill’s family law practice includes divorce, custody disputes, modifications, orders to show cause, and protective orders. Ms. McNeill also appears regularly in matters relating to probate litigation, including the appointment of guardians and conservators.
Email:JenniferA@btjd.com
Ms. Archibeque recently joined the firm and has over 30 years of experience. She works primarily with the firm’s litigation section on a variety of cases. She has attended and assisted at bench and jury trials and hearings in State and Federal court.
Married, 3 children, 3 grandchildren. Ms. Archibeque enjoys traveling, spending time with family and being active in the Basque community.
Email:kdunn@btjd.com
Ms. Dunn has a decade of experience working in the legal field. She has grown since joining BTJD in 2015 and has earned herself a position in the paralegal department.
Interests include music, reading, spending time with family and working on home projects.
Email:dparkinson@btjd.com
Mr. Parkinson focuses on Estate Planning, Probate, Elder Law, Guardianships, Contested Estates, and Tax and Business Planning.
Mr. Parkinson served as President of the Mountain States Pension Conference (1985-1987), Chairman of the Tax Section (1985-1986), as Chairman of the Elder Law Section of the Utah State Bar (2019-2020), and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Outdoor Resources Foundation of Utah (1988-2007). He is currently serving as a Board member of the Elder Law Section of the Utah State Bar and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Holladay Community Messiah Foundation. He also serves as a member of the Probate Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the Utah Supreme Court on the Rules of Civil Procedure.
Married, 5 children Interests: Backpacking, fishing, running, pioneer history.
Email:ksmith@btjd.com
Ms. Smith is an associate in the firm’s litigation department. Her practice is focused on commercial litigation and appeals. She also does trust and estate litigation.
Outside of work, Ms. Smith is an avid reader of all genres, and she especially likes to read classics and literary fiction. Ms. Smith also likes to do various DIY projects, keep a garden, and spend time with her family.
Email:rtippett@btjd.com
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. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and is a member of ACTEC’s Asset Protection and Legal Education Committees.
Mr. Tippett holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. From 2003 to 2008 he served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Brigham Young University (BYU) J. Reuben Clark School of Law.
Mr. Tippett was the principal author of Utah’s asset protection trust statute, which was signed into law by the Governor on March 28, 2013.
Mr. Tippett has appeared on the Court Roster of Approved Mediators for the State of Utah, and is a member of the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution. He is available to mediate probate and trust disputes.
Mr. Tippett was selected as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” by Utah Business Magazine in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
In addition to authoring The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates (a comprehensive 700-page legal reference treatise) and other materials available at www.utahestateplanning.org, Mr. Tippett has published and presented many articles and papers in the trust and estate field.
Email:rbraithwaite@btjd.com
Ryan is a partner in the firm’s litigation department where he has focused on construction law for over 20 years. Ryan is a trusted adviser and advocate for developers, contractors, suppliers and design professionals in commercial, residential and industrial construction. Ryan’s construction law experience allows him to expertly counsel with construction professionals as they navigate the situations unique to the industry. Ryan has repeatedly been voted by his peers as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” in construction law, as reported in Utah Business magazine. He has also been recognized as one of the top-rated construction lawyers in the Mountain States Super Lawyers, an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys who are chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria. When not practicing law, Ryan enjoys baseball and family activities.
Email:ben.johnson@btjd.com
Mr. Johnson is a partner in the firm’s litigation department. Areas of practice include commercial litigation, construction law, property law, creditor’s rights, insurance law, and homeowner and condominium association law.
Interests include traveling, biking, reading, and music.
Email:amendenhall@btjd.com
Ms. Mendenhall is a real estate professional. Her practice focuses on the defense of real estate licensees facing investigative or enforcement actions at the Utah Division of Real Estate. She provides consultation services to real estate brokers and agents to ensure their compliance with state statutes, administrative rules, ethical obligations, and industry standards. She is a particularly strong advocate for real estate agents or brokers who face civil lawsuits or Professional Standards hearings at their real estate boards that arise from alleged unprofessional conduct.
Ms. Mendenhall has been a Realtor® for over 15 years and a licensed broker since 2005. She became a recognized leader during the foreclosure crisis and continues to be an active member of the Utah Association of Realtors and the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. Her extensive real estate industry knowledge is invaluable when working with real estate agents and brokers, appraisers, and mortgage professionals – whether defending an agency action, criminal charges, or allegations of unethical conduct for her clients.
Ms. Mendenhall brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in real estate contracts, language, and financial transactions to her litigation practice. This gives her a matchless ability to examine evidence and understand individual cases. In addition, Amanda counsels private attorneys as a trial expert/case consultant. She brings a unique perspective to trial work and has a proven ability to select a pro-client jury.
Married, two children. Interests include traveling, board games, and University of Utah football.