Kirton McConkie

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Kirton McConkie
Kirkland & Ellis
No. of offices3 (2022)[1]
No. of attorneys135 (2022)[1]
RevenueUS$54.5 million (2017) [1]
Date founded1964; 60 years ago (1964)
FounderWilford 'Bill' Kirton Jr. and Oscar W. McConkie Jr.
Websitewww.kmclaw.com

Kirton McConkie is an American law firm headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the largest law firm in Utah,[2] and it has long served as the external legal counsel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was ranked the 300th largest law firm in the United States in 2022 by the National Law Journal.[1]

History[edit]

The firm was founded by Wilford "Bill" Kirton Jr. and Oscar W. McConkie Jr. in 1964.[3][4] Later it added partner B. Lloyd Poelman and for a brief time became known around 1990 as Kirton McConkie & Poelman.[5] In October 1990, the firm grew to 51 attorneys, and moved to a larger space from 330 South 300 East to the 17th and 18th floors of Eagle Gate Tower in downtown Salt Lake City.[5]

In 2012, due to its status as the LDS Church's law firm, Kirton McConkie was given the first option to lease the lone office building in the newly constructed City Creek Center, the $1.5 billion mixed-use development of the LDS Church.[2] At the dedication ceremony, the Church's general counsel Lance B. Wickman noted that "it's not really the building we're dedicating, it's . . . us, in our devotion, in our service, giving the best that we have to give in our professional capacity, realizing that in doing so we are not just representing another client, but we are representing the church of Jesus Christ himself."[2]

Notable cases and actions[edit]

Kirton McConkie building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Dedicated in 2012 by LDS Church apostle Dallin H. Oaks.[2]
  • 1975 policy on LDS Church employment of mothers - Prior to 1975, the LDS Church had a policy that a woman's employment was terminated upon the birth of her first child. Kirton McConkie formed a legal opinion that the LDS Church would not win a case if challenged on its policy, that contributed to a change in policy, with a few exceptions for some religious education positions which were maintained until 2014.[6][7]
  • 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry, Inc. – A United States district court decision on the subject of deep linking and contributory infringement of copyright. Kirton McConkie, representing the LDS Church, argued that a critical website could not post internet links to other websites that had text from its copyrighted material. The district court issued a permanent injunction that forbid the website from displaying the copyrighted material and from posting internet links of any websites that hosted any of the material.[8]
  • 2001 Leonard Arrington papers - Upon his death, former LDS Church historian Leonard Arrington left his papers and diaries to Utah State University.[6] The LDS Church through Kirton McConkie filed an injunction, saying that the LDS Church had "ironclad" ownership of 400,000 of 710,000 documents.[9] This sparked a broad controversy in the academic community that the LDS Church was attempting to suppress embarrassing historical documents.[10]
  • 2018 Utah Medical Cannabis Act initiative - The LDS Church released a seven-page memo compiled by Kirton McConkie with thirty-one reasons the Church opposed the ballot initiative.[11]
  • 2019 LDS Church resignation intermediary - Between 2015 and 2019, members of the LDS Church who wished to resign their membership without direct church interaction were using a website called QuitMormon, run by a lawyer who acted as an intermediary. In 2019, the LDS Church changed its policy and now requires notarized resignation requests be sent through Kirton McConkie due to what Kirton McConkie says were "fraudulent requests."[12]
  • 2021 James Huntsman fraud lawsuit - Disaffected LDS Church member James Huntsman file a federal suit accusing the LDS Church of misleading its members in spending donations meant for charitable causes on commercial enterprises. Kirton McConkie represented the LDS Church, and the suit was thrown out, but then appealed in February 2022.[13][14][15]
  • 2021 Lori Daybell alleged misrepresentation - The attorney for Lori Daybell, accused of murdering her children, alleged that Kirton McConkie received a phone call from Daybell and misrepresented his position, giving the impression that she had attorney client privilege. Daybell's attorney allege that a Kirton McConkie attorney then called prosecutors and divulged information that Daybell felt was shared in confidence.[16][17]
  • 2022 LDS Church sex abuse hotline - The Associated Press reported that Kirton McConkie operates a helpline that local ecclesiastical leaders are required to call before reporting abuse to law enforcement. Victims of abuse have sued the LDS Church, asserting that Kirton McConkie too often counsels ecclesiastical leaders to not report abuse to law enforcement due to being more concerned with avoiding costly lawsuits than the wellbeing of victims.[18] The LDS Church disputed the accusation that their policies discourage helping victims.[19]
  • 2022 Barre Seid political donation - Kirton McConkie was one of three law firms that facilitated one of the largest, if not the largest single contribution ever made to a politically focused non-profit. To enable the transfer of $1.6 billion, a 501(c)4 organization named the Marble Freedom Trust was created to allow for a tax free transfer.[20]

Notable attorneys and alumni[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Kirkland & Ellis LLP". Law.com. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Jared Page, Elder Dallin H. Oaks dedicates new home of Utah’s largest law firm. Deseret News. 13 April 2012
  3. ^ Gib Twyman, "Law partner Wilford 'Bill' Kirton Jr. dies at 78" Deseret News. July 25, 2000
  4. ^ Ashley Fredde, Prominent Utah legal figure and leader Oscar W. McConkie Jr. dies at 94. KSL, 04 November 2020
  5. ^ a b Staff Writer Law Firm Moves to Eagle Gate, Deseret News, October 29, 1990
  6. ^ a b Prince, Gregory A. (2016). Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-1-60781-479-5.
  7. ^ Peggy Fletcher Stack, New change allows young moms, divorced members to teach Mormon seminary. Salt Lake Tribune. 14 November 2014
  8. ^ November 30, 2000 Permanent Injunction and Judgment and Settlement Stipulation
  9. ^ Peggy Fletcher Stack and Kirsten Stewart, “Church Calls Its Claim to Papers of Late USU Professor ‘Ironclad,’” Salt Lake Tribune, October 26, 2001
  10. ^ Kirsten Stewart, “Documents Debate May Go to Court,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 2, 2001.
  11. ^ Luke Ramseth, Mormon church releases a list of ‘legal issues’ with Utah’s medical marijuana initiative . Salt Lake Tribune, 2018 May 12.
  12. ^ Matt Canham, The LDS Church adds a new step for members using QuitMormon.com to resign, complains of fraud, The Salt Lake Tribune, 4 August 2019
  13. ^ Michelle Boorstein, In federal lawsuit, James Huntsman, of prominent Utah family, accuses Mormon Church of fraud, Washington Post, 23 March 2021
  14. ^ Tony Semerad, Here’s why James Huntsman may have filed his LDS tithing lawsuit in California, Salt Lake Tribune, 26 June 2021
  15. ^ Ben Winslow Huntsman appeals lawsuit against Latter-day Saint church over tithing money, Fox 13 News, 05 Feb 2022
  16. ^ Emily Ashcraft, Lori Daybell's attorney claims clinician manipulated case by asking her to call church lawyers. East Idaho News. 2021 October 29
  17. ^ Adam Herbets Hospital employee accused of manipulating Lori Vallow case. Fox 13 News. 28 Oct 2021
  18. ^ Michael Rezendes "Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen", Associated Press, 4 Aug 2022
  19. ^ Tad Walch Church responds to AP story on abuse of a child and reporting hotline, Deseret News, 6 Aug 2022
  20. ^ Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher. An Unusual $1.6 Billion Donation Bolsters Conservatives, New York Times. 22 Aug 2022.
  21. ^ Associated Press, Former Stake President Bryan Lloyd Poelman pleads guilty in prostitution case The Daily Spectrum, St. George Utah, 04 Dec 1994
  22. ^ Poelman, B. Lloyd (1986) "Response of B. Lloyd Poelman," Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy: Vol. 12 : No. 1 , Article 5.
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