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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
David Connors was appointed as a Utah District Court Judge by Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. and began his service in January 2008, after over 25 years of nationwide private practice experience as a commercial litigator handling complex civil litigation. He retired as a judge in March 2023. While a judge, he handled hundreds of mediations, arbitrations and trials, including Judicial Settlement Conferences (mediations conducted by a judge who is not the assigned judge on a case). In private practice, he was an early advocate of mediation and arbitration as efficient methods for settling high conflict disputes. Prior to his time on the bench, Judge Connors focused his practice as a business lawyer and commercial litigator for large national and international law firms.
In addition to his judgeship and private law practice, Judge Connors has a long history of public involvement, including service as a city council member and Mayor of Farmington, Utah, and service on various public committees, commissions and boards, such as the Davis County Council of Governments, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Davis Education Foundation, and Economic Development Corporation of Utah.
Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School (J.D. degree, magna cum laude)
Yale University (B.A., Political Science)
Interests include fly fishing, golf, spending time with four children and eleven grandchildren, and acting as roadie and amateur sound engineer for his wife, Cori Connors, who is a nationally and internationally recognized singer-songwriter.
Mr. Dunkelberger is a partner in the firm’s litigation section. James has many years of experience advising and advocating for businesses ranging from single-member entities and sole-proprietorships to national and multi-national companies with hundreds or thousands of employees. James’s practice also includes individuals in disputes regarding trusts and estates, real estate, government regulation, and torts, among other things. James also has significant experience in municipal law both in representing cities and towns and representing companies and individuals in matters involving permits, variances, and related matters.
Married, 5 children
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Newly joining the firm after moving from Texas to Utah, Ms. Jennings has 13 years of experience in oil and gas law, probate and estate administration, estate planning, real estate law, corporate law and governance, civil litigation as well as working in the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
California University of Pennsylvania (B.A. English, 2009)
You can find Ms. Jennings on her mountain bike, traveling, hiking, or being anywhere outdoors.