Our law firm has represented hundreds if not thousands of clients in divorce and related family law matters. During the past several years there is one question I routinely ask clients once their divorce decree is signed and their case closed. That question is simply this, “if you could go back to when you were just starting the divorce process,…
If you are convicted of felony, either a state or federal felony charge, you lose certain rights going forward including the right to own firearms. The felony gun ownership laws in Utah are very harsh. The question then arises, what happens to your firearms in the event you are convicted of a felony. Can you sell them? Trade the firearms?…
What is a Cooperation Agreement? In criminal cases prosecutors will often charge a notable defendant with count after count of felonies in order to persuade that defendant to help the state get to bigger fish. They threaten the smaller fish with a lifetime of...
Below is the Dillon Taylor Shooting Video captured from the officer’s body cam responsible for shooting and killing Dillon Taylor in Salt Lake City Utah. Dillon Taylor was unarmed but the officer described facts concerning why he believed he was justified in using his weapon. District Attorney Sim Gill’s office reviewed the case and have determined the shooting was justified. You…
Entering a guilty plea to a crime can have immigration consequences. Recently the Utah Court of Appeals addressed whether an attorney was deemed to have given ineffective assistance of counsel to a non-U.S. citizen. In State v. Aguirre-Juarez, the defendant plead guilty to one count of attempted identity fraud, a class A misdemeanor. She had allegedly used a fake green card,…
The Mark cases you can’t consider adultery in determining an alimony award. The simple answer to this question is, no one knows anymore. It used to be a pretty straight forward “yes” for year until the Utah Court of Appeals decided the decision Mark v. Mark, 2009 UT App 374 a few years ago. In that case the Court of…
The Utah Supreme Court recently held that a preliminary hearing is not required to grant district court’s jurisdiction over a defendant’s entering a guilty plea. State v. Smith – District Court’s Jurisdiction not Conditioned on Preliminary Hearing The Utah Supreme Court recently handed down an interesting decision in State v. Smith, 2014 UT 33. The issue in that case was whether a…
Ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft are coming under intense scrutiny in Salt Lake City over the past couple months. Taking their regulations to a whole new level, Salt Lake City Police recently conducted sting operations, scheduling rides with Uber and Lyft drivers, then dishing out ride share fines to the tune of $6,500.00. This insane fine amount is per…
Last month was officially the first month where a limited use medical marijuana in Utah license could be obtained by a few select patients in the state. So how many medical marijuana cards were issues in July? Only 11 total licenses were obtained. Compare these number to other states such as California, Nevada, and other western neighbors and it is easy…
I read an interesting article today posted in the divorce section of the Huffington Post. The author posted an explanation of the 6 most important lessons learned from a divorce. The author is not listed as male or female so the perspective seems to be mostly gender neutral. The 6 lessons learned from a bad marriage shared by the author in…
