Email:[email protected]
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 three 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.
Mr. Beatty assists companies, investors, and entrepreneurs with a wide range of complicated business transactions, including commercial real estate matters such as sales, purchases, leasing, and development, as well as securities offerings and regulation, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate and compliance work. Mr. Beatty previously practiced as a capital markets attorney with a national firm focusing on public and private securities offerings and SEC and regulatory compliance.
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada
Married, four children
Interests include woodworking, soccer, reading, camping, and fishing.
Associate Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney, LLP (2020-2024)
Associate Attorney, Holley Driggs Walch Fine Puzey Stein & Thompson (2017-2020)
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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: [email protected]
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
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 such 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.
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.
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.
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.
John is an income partner and a member of BTJD’s corporate and business law group, with an emphasis on equity financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions. He represents clients at all phases of an entity’s lifecycle, from bootstrapping start-ups dealing with organizational matters and contract drafting issues, to growth stages involving venture capital financings and then eventually exits. John advises on various corporate and business matters, including entity restructures, drafting, reviewing and negotiating SaaS and license agreements and other commercial contracts.
John graduated magna cum laude with a J.D. from J. Reuben Clark Law School in 2017 and has been with BTJD since then. In law school, he was an Executive Editor of the BYU Law Review and Managing Editor of Administration of the BYU Journal of Public Law. John also participated in various extracurricular activities, including fifth grade mentoring.
During his undergraduate studies at California State University, Long Beach, John served in the Long Beach Courthouse’s Self-Help Legal Access Center for self-represented individuals in litigation matters, providing information about court procedures and filings as well as on-on-one assistance.
Born and raised in Antioch, California 1988 Married, two children Interests include home improvement projects, technology and software development, cooking, and musical theater.
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.
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 real estate matters, including boundary issues. 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, one child, two dogs, one cat. Interests include skiing/snowboarding, hiking, fly fishing, camping, horseback riding, gardening, baseball, photography, plants, and generally anything outdoors.