Jenifer Tomchak

Jenifer Tomchak

Jenifer L. Tomchak
Rated by Super Lawyers


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Languages

Spanish

Practice Areas

Education

2004, J.D., University of Utah, Order of the Coif, Utah Law Review
2004, M.B.A., University of Utah
2000, B.A., Utah State University, magna cum laude, Political Science and certificate in International Relations

Bar Admissions

2004 Utah
U.S. District Court, District of Utah

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
Leadership Academy, Co-Chair
Litigation Section, Immediate Past President
Federal Bar Association, Chair-Elect Younger Lawyers Division
Salt Lake County Bar Association
Utah Center for Legal Inclusion, Policies Committee Member
Utah Chapter of Federal Bar Association, Past President and Government Relations Committee
Utah Minority Bar Association
Utah State Bar, Annual Convention 2018, Co-Chair
Utah State Bar, Bar ReView, Co-Chair
Utah Young Lawyers Division, Past President, Past Chair Community Service
Women Lawyers of Utah, Career Advancement Chair

Clerkships

2005, Justice Durrant, Utah Supreme Court

Jen Tomchak is a passionate and skilled advocate for her clients. She spent thirteen years practicing at one of the best commercial law firms in Salt Lake City, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless. There she gained extensive experience representing clients in a wide variety of commercial litigation matters before opening her own firm. She continues to represent clients, large and small, in commercial disputes. She is well recognized and admired by other Utah lawyers for the quality of her work. She is an excellent writer and an accomplished oral advocate, regularly handling hearings in both federal and state courts. Her background in business administration also gives her added insight into the operations of her clients and the ability to provide practical business advice in connection with the clients’ legal options. Clients appreciate her dedication to their cases and trust her to provide sound advice on how to resolve their legal issues. Ms. Tomchak has been praised by her clients for her efficient and effective approach to litigation. She serves as legal counsel to a number of small, midsize, national, and international companies.

Since early in her career, Ms. Tomchak has been recognized for her skilled representation of clients in litigation. Since 2008, Ms. Tomchak has been recognized in Mountain States Super Lawyers as a “Super Lawyer” or “Rising Star,” a distinction bestowed on only 5% of attorneys in the Mountain States who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. In April of 2009, she was recognized by Utah Business magazine as one of “Utah’s 30 Women to Watch.” She has also continuously been listed in Utah Business magazine as one of Utah’s Legal Elite in business litigation.

Education

A graduate of Utah State University, Ms. Tomchak received her B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, a minor in Spanish, and a Certificate in International Relations. She interned in Washington, DC for U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, and then earned both her M.B.A. and J.D. in 2004 from the University of Utah, Order of the Coif. After graduating from law school, Ms. Tomchak clerked for Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant.

Practice Areas

Professional and Legal Malpractice Liability Defense: Ms. Tomchak has significant experience defending individual attorneys, law firms, and other professionals against claims alleging malpractice, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence. She has been able to substantially limit the defense costs and risk of exposure for national and regional law firms and their attorneys by effectively using dispositive motions and discovery techniques to narrow the claims and potential damages asserted against them. These attributes are exemplified by her recent cases, including successfully resolving claims filed against a regional firm in the firm’s favor on a motion to dismiss; and successfully resolving claims filed against a regional firm and its attorneys in their favor on a motion for summary judgment. In a recent case, a claim for tens of millions of dollars was resolved in a nominal walk-away settlement for her client after many of the claims were dismissed on a motion for summary judgment.

Commercial Banking and Equipment Finance Litigation: Ms. Tomchak has extensive experience representing clients in litigation relating to commercial banking and equipment finance laws. She has represented international banks and companies in connection with enforcing their rights under equipment leases and loans through litigation and collection efforts. She has also represented clients in a wide variety of commercial banking litigation, including in cases with issues relating to depository and payor/drawee bank and lending liability under the Utah Uniform Commercial Code and the Truth in Lending Act. In both a recent arbitration and a recent trial, Ms. Tomchak’s clients received a defense verdict for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Securities and Investment Litigation: Ms. Tomchak has experience both pursuing and defending securities-related claims. She has represented numerous investors in litigation against promotors and others involved in perpetrating investment fraud through Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent conduct. She has also defended large companies and officers from derivative actions and claims by minority shareholders.

Employment Law: Ms. Tomchak handles a wide variety of employment law issues. She has significant experience with employment litigation, including trade secret disputes, enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, employee fraud, enforcement and defense of severance and ERISA claims, and other types of wage and discrimination claims. As part of her employment practice, Ms. Tomchak regularly advises clients with respect to employment contracts, policies, and their employment-based immigration needs, including temporary and permanent work visas and worksite enforcement. On a recent motion for summary judgment, Ms. Tomchak not only got the claims against her client dismissed, but also received an award of nearly $200,000 for her client. 

Appeals: Ms. Tomchak has successfully handled appeals for her clients on a wide variety of legal topics in both the state and federal courts of appeals.

Personal

Ms. Tomchak, an Idaho native, grew up helping her father on his cattle ranch. She earned money for college tuition by working in spud harvest and working two jobs at the administrative offices of her local mall and as a night supervisor for Dairy Queen. She is a first-generation college graduate, who understands the value of hard work.

Ms. Tomchak is as fearless in her personal life as she is in zealously representing her clients. Her favorite pastime is to travel the world with her husband and two young sons. She has traveled to over 50 countries on every continent except Antarctica. She also enjoys mountain-biking, rock climbing, skiing, and reading historical fiction.

Professional Associations and Awards

Ms. Tomchak makes significant contributions to her profession and community. For this she has been recognized as Utah Business Magazine’s 30 Women to Watch, a 2016 recipient of the Utah Hearts and Hand Award, and the 2016 recipient of the Litigation Section’s Litigator’s Cup (the Stanley Cup for litigators practicing in Utah). She was also honored in 2020 as the recipient of the prestigious Dorothy Merrell Brothers Award. This award is presented by the Utah State Bar to one female attorney each year.

Ms. Tomchak is a well-recognized leader in the Utah legal community. She has served on and led a number of professional associations. She is a Past President of the Utah Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Utah Litigation Section, and Utah Young Lawyer’s Division. She continues to serve on both the local and national boards of the Federal Bar Association. She is the Chair-Elect of the National FBA’s Younger Lawyer’s Division. She is the immediate past president of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar, the Chair of the Career Advancement Committee of Women Lawyers of Utah, and a Co-Chair of the Utah State Bar’s Leadership Academy. In 2018, she served as the Co-Chair of the Summer Convention for the Utah State Bar. She was an organizing member of the Books from Barristers Program for the Utah State Bar. She continues to work on diversity issues, having served a Fellowship with the Multi Cultural Legal Center and as a current member of the Utah Minority Bar Association. She also serves as a committee member of Utah Committee for Legal Inclusion, for which she drafted many proposed policies for firms to adopt to advance diversity in the workplace. In each of these roles, she seeks to increase access to justice, improve diversity in the legal profession, and increase awareness of domestic violence issues.

Recent Presentations

How to Avoid Malpractice, USB Annual Convention, July 2018
Best Practices for Promoting Diversity, FBA, Moderator, March 2018
How Not to Lose Your Appeal at Trial, FBA, Moderator 2017
Expert Discovery, Trial Academy, Fall Forum 2016
Ethics and Etiquette in Federal Practice, Moderator, June 2017 and 2018
Social Media Discovery: Authentication, Spoliation, Preservation and Other Obstacles, BLI Institute, Jan. 2016
Tips and Tricks all Practitioners Should Know to Practice in the Third District, annually since 2014