Top Business Lawyers Near Me in Salt Lake City Area

Thanks for dropping by. I have over 25 years of legal experience in Utah and Washington, including a term as an elected prosecuting attorney. My practice focuses on real estate, business, and restructuring/bankruptcy. In my office the emphasis is on what YOU need, and I take the time to find out. I never forget that it's your life, your family, and your business. Call me at for quality legal advice at a reasonable price.

Stephen Christiansen tries jury and bench trials and litigates appeals in the state and federal courts. No subject matter is off limits. He represents companies and individuals as plaintiffs and defendants in securities, contracts, intellectual property, real estate, personal injury, property damage, eminent domain, commercial, corporate, LLC, partnership, products liability, insurance, criminal defense, negligent and intentional torts, energy, tax, employment, bankruptcy, and any other matter tried in the courts. He is recognized as one of the top lawyers in Utah and the Mountain States.

Spencer Critchett is an associate in the Durham Jones & Pinegar's Salt Lake City office. His practice focuses on business & finance. Mr. Critchett is admitted only in California, he is not yet admitted in Utah.

S. Robert Bradley is a member of the Durham Jones & Pinegar's Estate Planning and Business & Finance sections. Before entering the practice of law, he was a university professor of zoology for nine years. His practice focuses primarily on business planning, including acquisitions and other business transactions, structuring tax aspects of business transactions, formation of business entities, licensing, and distribution agreements, as well as sophisticated estate planning. Mr. Bradley maintains an “AV” rating with Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating awarded to attorneys for professional competence and ethics.

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.

Russell K. Smith is a shareholder and chair of Durham Jones & Pinegar's Business & Finance Section. Mr. Smith represents private companies in a broad range of industries and sectors, including venture capital, life sciences, software, internet, real estate, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and energy (including oil and gas).. Mr. Smith regularly advises start-up and emerging-growth companies from formation through liquidity event in matters including governance, debt and equity financing, equity incentive compensation, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Smith also represents venture capital firms, strategic corporate investors, and angel investors in their investments in start-up companies. Many of his clients are partnership and LLCs for whom he provides sophisticated management, capital strategy, and partnership tax advice.. Mr. Smith has been directly involved with LLC and partnership legislation in California and Utah. Most recently, Mr. Smith played a prominent role drafting and helping to pass Utah’s version of the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. The Business Section of the Utah Bar Associate honored Mr. Smith as the 2012-2013 Distinguished Business Law Practitioner of the Year.

Paul Durham was named Salt Lake City “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation – Real Estate for 2014 by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Durham began practicing law in 1980 and founded Durham Jones & Pinegar in 1991. He has helped grow the firm from two lawyers in 1991 to more than 90 lawyers today. Mr. Durham is recognized nationally as a leading attorney in the areas of real estate law, corporate law and litigation. Mr. Durham is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating awarded to attorneys for professional competence and ethics.

P. Christian Anderson is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Salt Lake City office. His practices focuses on M&A, Business and Finance, Private Equity, Securities, International and Life Sciences Technology.

Nora is a partner at Fabian VanCott, practicing primarily in the areas of business transactions, corporate management, and venture finance. She assists clients with entity formation, incentive equity arrangements, management structuring, buy-sell arrangements, corporate reorganizations, mergers & acquisitions, venture capital, debt and equity financing transactions, private placement offerings, and all levels of deal-making, from negotiation of the terms of a letter of intent through closing. She advises companies on all manner of commercial transactions, including the negotiation and drafting of licensing agreements, joint venture arrangements, and managed services arrangements. Nora counsels companies in a variety of industries but works regularly with biotechnology, logistics, managed services, and software companies. Her focus is on providing targeted, efficient legal counsel with the aim of avoiding unnecessary litigation and maximizing company value. Nora graduated summa cum laude from the University of Utah law school, where she founded and served as president of the Business Law Society and was Managing Editor of the Utah Law Review. She currently sits on the board of directors of Fabian VanCott.

Naz Scott is an associate attorney at Richards Brandt Miller Nelson with experience across several areas of law including business and commercial litigation, entity formation, real estate law, family law, trusts, and estate planning. Ms. Scott earned her law degree with honors from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Her previous work includes serving as a fellow at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Center where she researched commercialization opportunities for a surgical device used by breast cancer surgeons and as a legal intern in the Misdemeanors Division at the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Office. Naz's legal experiences range from family law matters, state/local/federal regulatory law, real estate transactions, estate planning, contracts, licensing, permission and representation agreements, and more. Naz was published in the University of Denver Sports and Entertainment Law Journal in Fall 2013 where she discussed Copyright Termination rights that began taking effect in 2013. Naz is also extensively involved in the community, serves on the board of the Utah Lawyers for the Arts, Utah Cultural Alliance and is the founding chair of the Emerging Legal Leaders Board of And Justice For All.Prior to her legal career, Naz worked professionally in the marketing, broadcast and events industries. Naz's experiences have given a variety of skills including working with various parties, address their differing needs and working toward a goal. She is excited about any future opportunities that await her.

Nathan Morris joined Eisenberg, Gilchrist & Cutt in 2017. Nathan is an experienced trial attorney with a diverse personal injury practice and a background that includes both plaintiffs and defense work. Nathan has recovered six and seven figures for his clients both in settlements and verdicts and in matters ranging from wrongful death and trucking accidents, to dram-shop claims and “bad-faith” claims.. Until 2015, Nathan was a defense lawyer and board member at Richards Brandt Miller Nelson where he served as lead counsel in numerous trials including cases for complex canal flooding cases, a catastrophic oil-field injury case which was tried in Wyoming Federal Court, and a two-week medical malpractice case arising from a fatal methadone overdose. His defense experience has given him invaluable insight into the aggressive tactics often employed by insurance companies and corporate America during litigation and when evaluating your claim. This detailed understanding allows him to help navigate your case and maximize your recovery through experience possessed by few other attorneys in Utah.. Nathan received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During his study there he was the moot court chairperson and a member of the UALR Law Review. Nathan has been recognized for his professional excellence and dedication to his clients by Mountain States Super Lawyers and has been named to the Utah Business Magazine Legal Elite.. Nathan is happily married to his wife of 20 years, Kristen, who together have five wonderful children. He enjoys golf, cooking for his family, reading historical biographies, and is currently serving as an LDS Bishop.

Ms. Boettcher works on a variety of corporate and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, entity formations, debt and equity financings, corporate governance, and other general matters of business law.

Mr. Reutzel, a partner in the firm, represents clients in complex civil litigation, including securities, real estate, construction, partnership, trademark, and trade secret litigation.. In recent years, Mr. Reutzel has successfully prosecuted securities related claims, involving public companies, resulting in favorable judgments totaling several million dollars. Mr. Reutzel is also experienced in defending securities fraud claims, and has reached favorable results on securities fraud and related claims in state and federal courts from California to Utah to Florida.. In addition to his securities litigation practice, a significant portion of Mr. Reutzel’s practice involves real property and construction issues.  He has a proven record of successfully litigating construction and real estate disputes, including disputes involving real property transactions, local municipalities, construction defects, payment bonds, and mechanic’s liens.  Mr. Reutzel also regularly advises real estate developers and contractors on entitlement, finance, and development issues and transactions.  As a result of Mr. Reutzel’s success, he has been recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star.

Mr. Rawson assists companies with financings, recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other business transactions and agreements.  In addition, he assists early stage companies with formation, structure, strategic relationships, venture capital financings, and other financings.

Mr. Jones is a founder of Durham Jones & Pinegar and serves on the firm’s Board of Directors. His high-energy, intense representation of his clients is unsurpassed. Mr. Jones’s practice concentrates on corporate and securities matters, although he was a dynamic litigation attorney in earlier days. He regularly represents public and private companies in a broad range of matters, including:. Mr. Jones maintains an “AV” rating with Martindale/Hubbell, which is the highest rating awarded to attorneys for professional competence and ethics.

Michael S. Malmborg is a shareholder of Durham Jones & Pinegar and a member of the firm’s Trust, Wills and Estate Planning and Litigation sections.. Mr. Malmborg has extensive experience representing clients with respect to tax and estate planning, asset transfer and preservation planning, probate, trust, and estate administration, guardianship, and business administration, succession, and transfer planning. Mr. Malmborg represents individuals, families, business owners, charitable foundations, and business entities in a wide variety of complex legal matters.. Mr. Malmborg also has experience representing clients in business and contract disputes, probate litigation, real estate litigation (including boundary disputes and foreclosure), collections, mechanic’s liens, and landlord/tenant disputes, in both state and federal courts.. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Malmborg served as a law clerk to Associate Chief Justice Michael J. Wilkins of the Utah Supreme Court.

Leonard W. Burningham (AV). Leonard has over 54 years of legal experience involving securities laws and merger and acquisition transactions, and has been instrumental in the completion of well over 200 mergers or acquisitions involving publicly-held companies, while also serving as a consulting lawyer to a substantial number of other lawyers across the United States that were involved in similar securities transactions.  His expertise in rendering legal opinions on the resale of “restricted securities” of publicly-held companies is widely known and respected in the legal community and the broker-dealer and stock transfer agency industries, including Rule 144 legal opinions and Section 4(a)(1) legal opinions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).  Leonard graduated from Westminster College, a private university in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1967, where he served as Student Body President in the Fall Semester of 1966; he went on to graduate from the University of Utah College of Law in 1970, before entering private practice.  In 1971, he was named the youngest partner in the law firm of Moffat, Welling, Taylor and Paulsen, a successor to the long established and highly respected law firm of Moffat, Iverson and Taylor, before returning to a private practice in 1978. From 1978 to the present, Leonard has limited his legal practice solely to matters involving securities laws, rules and regulations, primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and legal opinions regarding the resale of restricted securities.  He was admitted to the Utah State Bar Association in 1970, and is authorized to appear in all Utah courts, as well as the United States District Court for the District of Utah (1970) and the United States Supreme Court (2011), from which he resigned on May 13, 2024, in protest of the reversal of the Dobb's decision and the court's ruling on "Presidential Immunity." During his legal career, Leonard has served: (i) as an Arbitrator of securities disputes for the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (now known as the “Financial Industry Regulatory Authority”); (ii) as an Expert Witness in state and Federal courts on matters relating to “reverse mergers,” securities law registration exemptions and the application and construction of federal and state securities laws in various situations and transactions; (iii) as a member and panelist of the Utah State Bar Association’s Securities Subsection; and (iv)  as the co-Chairman of the Bar’s Fall Forum on the use of wireless and paperless technologies (2004).  In his early years of litigation practice, he was trial counsel in the often quoted cases of Kerbs v. Fall River Industries, Inc., 502 F. 2d 731 (10th Cir. 1974) and Zabriskie v. Lewis, 507 F.2d 546 (10th Cir. 1974), which respectively held “Moreover, one who aids and abets a fraudulent scheme may be held accountable even though his assistance consists of mere silence or inaction” (p.741); and while favorably citing the language of Kerbs on aiding and abetting, found that the short term promissory note delivered in Zabriskie was a “security” that was not exempt from registration under the Securities Act, and that the issuance of the promissory note constituted a sale or disposition of a security in violation of 15 U.S.C. 78(c)(14) of the Securities Act.. Leonard served in the U.S. Military during 1961 and 1962 as a member of the Utah National Guard, which was called to active duty during the “Berlin Crisis,” when the Berlin Wall was built overnight on August 13, 1961.  He was honorably discharged in 1962.. He has been especially fortunate in having the continuing opportunity to practice law with two of his sons, Branden T. Burningham, Esq. (since 1994) and Bradley C. Burningham, Esq. (since 2003 [Bradley has presently taken an inactive status with the Utah Bar and is pursuing other business activities]).. Leonard was also the founder of the Utah Bar Association’s Annual Food and Clothing Drive for the Homeless and less fortunate members of our society in 1990, serving as its  Chairman for over 31 years, and continues to serve as its co-Chairman today.

Karma French is a licensed Utah attorney who brings knowledge, creativity, and compassion to her pactice of law. Ms. French specializes in business law, real estate law, estate planning, and probate. Outside of her law practice, Ms. French enjoys volunteering at the SJ Quinney College of Law Legal Clinics, yoga, hiking, and snowboarding.

Jonathan W. Heaton joined Heaton Fontano in April 2017 and started the firm’s Salt Lake City office. Having grown up in Las Vegas and attended school in Provo, Jon has spent most of his life between Nevada and Utah and enjoys many friendships and associations in both states.

Joe was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 2013 after graduating from the University of Nebraska College of Law. His practice focuses on business law and litigation, real estate, and employment.  During law school, Joe was a finalist in the Allen Moot Court Competition, and participated in the College of Law Civil Clinic Program representing low-income individuals in civil and administrative matters.

Jeanene Patterson is a business and securities attorney admitted to practice in Utah, Delaware and New York.  Her practice involves the representation of corporations and limited liability companies in their formation and operation, contract review and negotiation, mergers and acquisitions, sales and purchases of assets or stock, venture capital transactions, corporate finance transactions, and general Delaware and Utah business entity matters.. Ms. Patterson’s securities experience includes private placements of debt and equity securities, periodic SEC filings, registered debt and equity offerings, initial public offerings, exchange offers, tender offers, consent solicitations and corporate restructurings.

I  practice in the areas of Business and Corporate Governance, Trademark and Copyright, Cybersecurity, Media law, Nonprofit law, Technology law, and Real Estate. I represent and advise clients in the areas of high tech, construction, healthcare, non-profit, the arts, advertising, technology, publishing, hospitality, and retail, among others. I have negotiated, drafted, reviewed, and revised scores of business and personal contracts and related agreements, including corporate and LLC documents, purchase contracts, assignments, commercial leases, HOA documents, technology licenses, IP agreements, service contracts, and loan documents, among many others. As a former communications professional, I focus on accessibility and providing exceptional personalized service to each client.. I began my career as a journalist and magazine editor.  As such, I had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions.  That background provides me with invaluable experience in carefully listening to clients as a means of seeking to understand their issues. I have also been a small business owner, which gives me insights into the issues entrepreneurs face as they attempt to juggle multiple responsibilities, including management, employee relations, intellectual property and trade secrets, and regulatory requirements.. I seek  to collaborate with clients and remain in close contact as we undertake a project.  By working together, we can effectively identify issues and weigh possible solutions. I have found that when a client is fully informed and has an opportunity to consult with his or or her lawyer, some of the anxiety  that the legal system inspires dissipates and problems seem less overwhelming. I'm also a firm believer in the old adage that the only stupid question is the one left unasked.. My hobbies include hiking and backpacking with my wife, daughter, and two golden retrievers, collecting first edition books about the Southwest, and playing bluegrass music on the guitar and dobro.

I specialize in real estate transactions, development and financing, commercial leases, landlord and tenant, guarantees (collection and defense) eviction, foreclosure, defense of challenges to trust deed foreclosures, wrongful liens, condominium and time share, real property title issues, commercial transactions, appeals and alternative dispute resolution. I have been Chairman of the Real Estate Section of the Utah State Bar, Chairman of the Environmental Control Committee, and served as a Bar Examiner for the Utah State Bar.. My real estate practice has included representing landlords, developers, and negotiating leases with Albertson’s, Inc., Wendy’s, Big 5 Sports, and others. I have represented lenders and borrowers.

I focus on estate planning, trust administration, probate administration, business organization set up and succession planning, tax planning and asset protection planning. I enjoy working with families to ensure their estate planning goals are met and properly administered.

I am an accomplished litigator and trial attorney with nearly twenty years of litigation and business experience.  I have worked for and with both small businesses and large companies in the banking, sales, and service industries.. Over the course of my legal career, I have successfully represented clients in product liability matters, antitrust matters, commercial matters, contract disputes, business disputes, eminent domain proceedings, and civil appeals.. I work with a diverse set of clients including high tech companies, manufacturers, distributors, financial institutions, insurance companies, real estate investors, small businesses, and individuals.. I am admitted to practice in California and Utah, as well as numerous Federal Courts across the United States.