Professional Biography
D.
Scott Crook concentrates his practice in the areas of
employment and labor, land use, water, commercial
litigation, and appellate practice. He has spoken on or
written articles about employment issues, jury selection,
boundary law, road and access law, law firm management, and
appellate practice.
An active member of the Utah
State and Idaho State
bars, he is the former chair of the Appellate Section of the
Utah State Bar.
He received his juris doctor degree from
Brigham Young University
in 1996, graduating magna cum laude in the top 10% of his class, and was elected a member of the Order of
the Coif.
While attending law school, he received numerous
awards and distinctions, including the Foundation Press
Award for excellence in constitutional law and the Scholarly
Writing Award.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in political science
with a minor in Asian studies from Weber State (1993),
graduating summa cum
laude. He is
a former editor of the Brigham Young University Law
Review and the B.Y.U. Journal of Public Law.
Additionally, Mr. Crook
was a law clerk to Judge Norman H. Jackson, Utah Court of
Appeals and to Judge William H. Woodland, Idaho Sixth
Judicial District Court, in Pocatello, Idaho.
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Employment Practice
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Mr. Crook is a skilled employment lawyer who has been
recognized by his peers.
Since 2005, Mr. Crook has annually been recognized as
among the Utah Legal Elite for Employment and Labor Law by
Utah Business Magazine.
Additionally, he has instructed employers and their
employees on such topics as employment discrimination and
sexual harassment and his peers in the legal profession in
continuing legal education seminars regarding such topics as
conducting workplace investigations, overtime regulations,
regarding employment issues, establishing employee
handbooks, and record retention.
Mr. Crook's employment practice is very diverse.
He has assisted private and public employers in
developing and auditing workplace policies, such as drug
abuse and discrimination policies, handbooks, employment
applications, and legally compliant human resources forms.
He has assisted in the development, drafting, and
negotiation of severance agreements, noncompetition
agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and collective
bargaining agreements.
Additionally, he has independently investigated
employee complaints against employers, and shepherded his
clients through administrative agency investigations of all
sorts, including employment compensation issues and
discrimination claims.
Mr. Crook is also a skilled litigator who has
successfully defended and prosecuted claims on behalf of his
clients in state and federal administrative and court
proceedings.
Because Mr. Crook has significant experience assisting local
political subdivision with their employment concerns, he is
particularly helpful to Smith|Hartvigsen's many public
employer clients.
Commercial Litigation
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Mr. Crook's skills as a commercial litigator have
likewise been recognized by his peers.
In 2006, he was recognized as among the Utah Legal
Elite for Business Litigation by
Utah Business Magazine.
Mr. Crook has successfully represented employers and
employees, contractors, homeowners, businesses, political
entities, real estate agents and brokers, landowners, family
trusts, lessors, and lessees, and others in state and
federal administrative and courtroom settings in Utah and
Idaho. He has
represented clients in disputes arising out of insurance
agreements, business agreements, real property transactions,
contracts, breaches of duties to clients, water rights
transactions, and other commercial interests.
In law school, he published State
v. Davis:
Peremptory Strikes and Religion--The Unworkable
Peremptory Challenge
Jurisprudence, 9
B.Y.U.J. Pub. Law 309 (1995), an article detailing the
exclusion of witnesses based upon their religious beliefs.
Appellate Practice
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Mr. Crook's vast experience as an appellate lawyer
has helped many firm clients as they have defended and
pursued appeals of lower court cases.
As a former law clerk to the Honorable Norman H.
Jackson, a former judge on the Utah Court of Appeals, and
the past Chair-Elect and Chair of the Appellate Section of
the Utah State Bar, Mr. Crook is able to view with an
experienced eye the important issues that will be of
significance to appellate judges and how to present those
issues in a way that benefits his clients.
Mr. Crook has eleven published cases, including cases
he briefed or argued at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals,
Utah Court of Appeals, and the Utah Supreme Court.
He wrote Affirming
the Untested-Affirming a Trial Court Based on Issues Raised
Sua Sponte, Utah Bar Journal, Oct. 2001, at 10, an
article detailing the problem of appellate courts affirming
lower court decisions based on issues that have never been
argued or briefed.
Land Use
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Mr. Crook has also been successful in assisting
clients in negotiating the zoning and land use approval
process and in litigating issues that arise out of the
process. Mr.
Crook has also litigated significant real property boundary
and access issues.
He is a frequent speaker on such topics, having been
an instructor of the Continuing Legal Education Seminar,
Roads and Access Law in Utah: How to Research and Resolve
Access Disputes sponsored by the National Business
Institute.
Additionally, he instructed at a Continuing Legal
Education Seminar entitled Easement and Boundary Issues
in Utah sponsored by Lorman Education Services.
Water
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As a member of a highly regarded water rights law
firm, Mr. Crook has also been successful in assisting
clients in their litigation over water rights.
He has assisted clients in prosecuting and defending
the right to use water, the overuse of water, flooding
problems, and access to water.
Because Mr. Crook has experience with the
administrative processes of the Utah Division of Water
Rights, he is able to realistically counsel clients about
their water problems and the best possible solutions to
resolving those water issues.
Additionally, Mr. Crook assisted
in the negotiations with Ute Indian Tribe and
Department of the Interior over a century-old water dispute,
and was instrumental in preparing the documents that were
presented to members of the United States Congress to
encourage the passage of a private law deeding century-old
water rights from the Indian Irrigation Service to the law
firm's client.
PROFESSIONAL
MEMBERSHIPS
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Utah State
Bar, 1996
Past Chair,
Appellate Practice Section
Litigation Section
Employment
and Labor Section
Energy,
Natural Resources and Environmental Law Section
Young
Lawyers Section
Idaho
State Bar, 1997
Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals, 2003
United States Supreme
Court, 2000
COURTS AND AGENCIES IN WHICH
APPEARED
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Courts
Utah State District Courts
Utah
Court of Appeals
Utah
Supreme Court
Idaho State District Courts
Federal District Court for the District of Utah
Federal District Court for the District of Idaho
Utah
Bankruptcy Court
United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
Administrative Agencies
Utah Air National Guard
Utah Anti-Discrimination and Labor Division
Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining
Utah Division of Water Rights
Utah Public Service
Commission
Utah State
Tax Commission
Arizona
Department of Water Resources
Army Corps of
Engineers
Equal
Employment Opportunity
Commission
Federal
Aviation Administration
Federal
Bureau of Land Management
Merit Systems
Protection Board
National
Labor Relations Board
National
Transportation Safety Board
United State
Air Force
United States
Department of the Interior
United States
Department of Labor
Legislatures
United States House of
Representatives
United States Senate
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
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2008 Mountain States Super Lawyers, Rising
Star
2008 Utah
Business Magazine,
Utah
Legal Elite, Employment and Labor
2007 Utah
Business Magazine,
Utah
Legal Elite, Employment and Labor
2006 Utah
Business Magazine,
Utah
Legal Elite, Business Litigation and
Employment and Labor
2005
Utah
Business Magazine,
Utah
Legal Elite, Employment and Labor
PUBLICATIONS
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Author,
State v. Davis:
Peremptory Strikes and Religion--The Unworkable
Peremptory Challenge Jurisprudence, 9 B.Y.U.J. Pub. Law
309 (1995).
Author,
Affirming the Untested-Affirming a Trial Court Based on
Issues Raised
Sua Sponte, Utah
Bar Journal, Oct. 2001, at 10
COURSE INSTRUCTION
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Instructor, Continuing Legal Education
Seminar, Boundary Disputes: Trial Preparation and
Litigation, National Business Institute (February 8,
2008)
Instructor, Continuing Legal Education
Seminar, Roads and Access Law in Utah: Successfully Handling Disputes,
National Business Institute (November 7, 2007)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar,
The Nuts and Bolts of
Workplace Investigations, National Business Institute
(October 3, 2007)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar, The Nuts and Bolts
of Workplace Investigations , National Business Institute (April 5, 2007)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar,
Small Office
Management for the Legal Professional, National Business
Institute (November 3, 2006)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Secrets to a Legally
Compliant Human Resource Recordkeeping System, National
Business Institute (January 9, 2006)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Easement and Boundary
Issues in Utah, Lorman Education Services (June 23,
2005)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Roads and Access Law
in Utah: How to Research and Resolve Access
Disputes, National Business Institute (March 9, 2004)
Instructor,
Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Roads and Access Law
in Utah: How to Research and Resolve Access
Disputes, National Business Institute (January 16, 2003)
Teaching
Assistant, American
Heritage, Brigham Young
University (1994-95)
REPORTED CASES
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Dixon v. Pro Image, 987 P.2d 48 (Utah
1999)
Southland Construction v. Semnani, 2001 UT 6, 20 P.3d
875 (Utah 2001)
SME
Industries, Inc. v. Thompson, Ventulett, Stainbeck &
Associates, Inc., 2001 UT 54, 28 P.3d 669 (Utah 2001)
Guardian
Title Co. v. Mitchell, 2002 UT 63, 54 P.3d 130 (Utah
2002)
Green
River Canal Company v. Thayn, 2003 UT 50, 486
Utah
Adv. Rep. 34 (Utah 2003)
Bradshaw
v. Wilkinson Water Co., 2004 UT 38, 94 P.3d 242 (Utah
2004)
Swan
Creek
Village
Homeowners Ass'n v. Warne, 2006 UT 22, 134 P.3d 1122
(Utah 2006)
Newton
v. Federal Aviation Administration, 457 F.3d 1133 (10th
Cir. 2006)
Wayment v. Howard, 2006 UT 56, 144 P.3d 1147 (Utah 2006)
Radakovich v. Cornaby, 2006 UT App 454, 147 P.3d 1195 (Utah Ct. App.
2006)
Ellsworth v. American Arbitration Ass'n, 2006 UT 77, 148 P.3d 983
(Utah 2006)
EDUCATION
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Juris Doctor Degree, J. Reuben Clark Law School,
Brigham
Young
University, 1996
Magna Cum
Laude
Top 10%
Order of
the Coif
Brigham Young
University Law Review
Staff Member 1995-96
BYU Journal of
Public Law Associate Editor 1994-95
Law School
Scholarly Writing Award 1996
Foundation
Press Award for Excellence in Constitutional Law 1995
Law School
Scholastic Award 1995
Bachelor of Arts Degree, Weber State
University, 1993
Summa Cum Laude
Phi Kappa Phi
Political Science Outstanding Academic Achievement Award
1993
Languages
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Korean |