Experience

The rules are different in appellate courts, and a panel of appellate judges is a unique audience. Zimmerman Booher is a unique law firm that focuses on appeals because we understand those rules and work with them to produce the best possible result for our clients. Our attorneys have the specific skills and experience necessary to maximize your chances of success in the appellate court.

Based in Salt Lake City, our attorneys have briefed, argued, or authored opinions in over 2,000 appeals. Our emphasis is in the Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Court of Appeals, but our attorneys have handled appeals in courts across the country, including the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, the California Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeals, and the Nevada Supreme Court.

Below are just a few examples of oral arguments and briefs that demonstrate our work. Please contact us for additional examples and/or to discuss your case.

 

Representative Cases

  • Cook Martin Poulson v. Smith (2021)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses a contempt ruling based in part on plain error.

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  • Ellis v. La Val Enterprises, Ltd. (2022)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses the entry of summary judgment in a dispute over the ownership of real property.

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  • State v. Salazar (2022)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses a criminal conviction based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

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  • Boynton v. Kennecott (2021)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses the entry of summary judgment on asbestos claims based on take-home exposure.

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  • HP Investments v. iLux Capital Management (2021)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses an award after a bench trial based on the failure to deliver stock.

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  • Croft v. Morgan County (2021)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses the dismissal of a petition to place a referendum on the ballot.

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  • Truman v. Orem City (2021)

    United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the dismissal of a 1983 claim based on prosecutorial misconduct.

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  • Shree Ganesh v. Weston Logan (2021)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses the entry of summary judgment in a dispute over the purchase of a hotel.

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  • Southern Utah Wilderness v. San Juan County (2021)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses the dismissal of a claim under the Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act.

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  • In re Gray and Rice (2021)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses district court order refusing to allow sex designation changes under Utah law.

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  • Brown v. Brown (2020)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses and clarifies law regarding separate premarital property.

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  • Bright v. Sorensen (2020)

    Utah Supreme Court adopts the rule that a response to an affirmative defense need not be included in a complaint, requiring most affirmative defenses to be raised in motions for summary judgment.

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  • Cook Martin Poulson PC v. Smith (2020)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses an order holding a party in contempt under plain error review because the order violated did not forbid the party’s conduct.

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  • In re Foreclosure 1107 Snowberry (2020)

    Utah Court of Appeals clarifies that deeds need not be reformed when, read as a whole, the documents identify the grantee even where some references are incorrect.

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  • McDonald v. Fidelity (2020)

    Utah Supreme Court clarifies that for a union trust to recover under a construction bond the benefits it seeks must go to the employees, not the union itself.

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  • UDOT v. Target (2020)

    On certiorari, Utah Supreme Court clarifies that a land owner may recover severance damages caused by any aspect of a construction project as long as government takes part of the owner’s land for the project.

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  • Mackley v. Openshaw (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court vacates order permitting alleged father to rescind denial of paternity.

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  • Olguin v. Anderton (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court affirms order denying mother's motion to dismiss alleged father's paternity petition.

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  • Castro v. Lemus (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses order dismissing alleged biological father's petition to establish paternity.

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  • Amundsen v. University of Utah (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court affirms the dismissal of medical malpractice claims on the ground that they were untimely.

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  • WDIS, LLC v. Hi-Country Estates Homeowners Association (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses the dismissal of a quiet title claim on the ground that it was a true quiet title action that was not subject to the statute of limitation.

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  • Matthew Thomas v. Lyle Hillyard and Hillyard, Anderson & Olsen, P.C. (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court reversing the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim and clarifying that the statute of limitation begins after all appeals have been exhausted in the underlying case.

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  • LeFevre v. Mackelprang (2019)

    Utah Court of Appeals reversing district court decision regarding petition to modify parent time.

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  • In the Interest of C.C.W. (2019)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses juvenile court decision in a private termination of parental rights case because the juvenile court improperly considered the impact of father-on-mother domestic violence.

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  • Yolanda Vega v. Jordan Valley Medical Center, LP (2019)

    Utah Supreme Court declaring unconstitutional the affidavit of merit requirement for medical malpractice cases.

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  • Evans v. Utah Department of Transportation (2018)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses the district court’s refusal to allow a billboard near an interchange under the Utah Outdoor Advertising Act.

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  • Hosking v. Chambers (2018)

    Utah Court of Appeals affirms divorce decision regarding cohabitation.

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  • Gregory & Swapp, PLLC v. Jodi Kranendonk (2018)

    Utah Supreme Court vacating a jury award of $2.75 million in noneconomic damages and an award of $1.7 million in attorney fees in a legal malpractice case.

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  • Mounteer Enterprises, Inc. v. HOA for the Colony at White Pine Canyon (2018)

    Utah Supreme Court vacates jury award of $578,000 and attorney fee award of $326,000 by enforcing an anti-waiver provision in a contract, and awarding appellant attorney fees on remand.

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  • LeGrand Johnson Construction Company v. Celtic Bank Corporation, et al. (2018)

    Utah Supreme Court vacating various awards of prejudgment interest and attorney fees totaling more than $400,000 under the mechanic’s lien statute.

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  • Jillian Scott v. Bradley Scott (2017)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses a finding of cohabitation that had vacated a $6,000 per month alimony award and had resulted in a judgment of more than $200,000.

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  • Butt v. State (2017)

    Utah Supreme Court vacates conviction for dealing materials harmful to minors because the material was protected by the First Amendment.

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  • In re Abraham Bates (2017)

    Utah Supreme Court affirms lesser attorney sanction imposed by trial court because Office of Professional Conduct failed to meet burden of proof required to impose higher sanction.

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  • Stichting Mayflower Mountain Fonds v. United Park City Mines (2017)

    Utah Supreme Court affirmed the entry of summary judgment on a claim that a public road had been established in the Nineteenth Century.

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  • Smith v. Smith (2017)

    Utah Court of Appeals affirming decision regarding terms of family trust.

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  • Colosimo v. Gateway Community Church (2016)

    The Utah Supreme Court affirms a summary judgment on the ground that a landowner does not owe a duty to protect a trespasser under the attractive nuisance doctrine.

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  • USA Power v. Pacificorp (2016)

    Utah Supreme Court affirmed a judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the ground that there was no evidence that the acts of an attorney caused any harm to the former client.

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  • Benda v. Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City (2016)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses dismissal of parents’ lawsuit and adopts a cause of action for loss of filial consortium.

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  • Meinhard v. State (2016)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses denial of post-conviction DNA testing of crime scene evidence.

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  • Gordon v. State (2016)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses denial of post-conviction DNA testing of crime scene evidence.

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  • Helf v. Chevron (2015)

    Utah Supreme Court reverses summary judgment dismissing employee’s tort claim against Chevron based upon an industrial accident and interpreting Utah’s Worker’s Compensation Act.

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  • Robinson v. Taylor (2015)

    Utah Supreme Court vacates medical malpractice verdict because evidence of prior criminal convention was inadmissible under rules 608 and 609.

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  • Sawyer v. Department of Workforce Services (2015)

    Utah Supreme Court reversing administrative decision regarding teacher’s employment benefits.

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  • Butler v. Corporation of President of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (2014)

    Utah Supreme Court confirms that an interlocutory order must be final before it is eligible to be certified as a final judgment under rule 54(b).

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  • Carlos v. Department of Workforce Services (2013)

    Utah Court of Appeals reversing administrative determination and concluding that bail bond agents were “insurance agents” within the meaning of the Utah Insurance Code.

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  • Simmons Media Group v. Waykar (2014)

    Utah Court of Appeals affirms judgment declaring breach of a option agreement in an outdoor advertising lease and awarding lost profits damages.

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  • Wolf Mountain Resorts, LC v. ASC Utah, Inc. (2011)

    Utah Court of Appeals reverses summary judgment on the ground that mistakes as to the legal effect of words used in a contract or deed can require reformation.

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  • State v. Charles (2011)

    Utah Court of Appeals vacates murder conviction based upon trial counsel’s ineffective assistance.

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  • Egbert v. Nissan Motor Co. (2010)

    Utah Supreme Court clarifies that the jury must apportion fault in crashworthiness cases and rejects constitutional challenge to comparative fault statute.

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  • State v. Clopten (2009)

    Utah Supreme Court vacates murder conviction on the ground that the trial court should have allowed expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identifications.

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