Jonathan O. Hafen

Jonathan Hafen has been widely praised by clients and peers for his skilled and efficient approach to litigation.  As a trial lawyer, Mr. Hafen handles a wide variety of litigation, including cases in the areas of securities and investment law, employment law, breach of contract, property disputes, road and access cases, intellectual property, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, disputes over ownership and control of businesses, class actions, construction law, and legal malpractice defense.  Mr. Hafen also serves as legal counsel to a number of small, midsize and multinational companies, utilizing the significant resources available at Parr Brown to address the broad spectrum of legal challenges routinely confronting business leaders.

Mr. Hafen has been awarded an AV rating – the highest awarded by Martindale-Hubbell.  He has been repeatedly recognized as a top commercial litigator by Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA – America’s Leading Business Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation, and by Utah Business magazine as one of Utah’s Legal Elite.  Mr. Hafen was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Employment Law for Individuals (2015);  Labor Law – Union (2018), and (2020); and Litigation-Labor and Employment (2021) by Best Lawyers. He also continues to be recognized as one of the “Top 100” lawyers in the Intermountain area by Mountain States Super Lawyers.  Following a nomination, research and blue ribbon review process, Mr. Hafen was named one of the “Top 10” Lawyers in the Mountain States (Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming) by Super Lawyers Magazine for 2012 and “Top 100” for 2013, 2015 and 2016.

He graduated magna cum laude from BYU Law School in 1991, clerked for Monroe McKay, Chief Judge of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked at one of the nation’s most prestigious law firms, Sidley & Austin (Chicago) from 1992-95.

Mr. Hafen’s clients have enjoyed significant successes both at trial and in negotiated settlements.  Trial victories include a $15 million award in a road condemnation case, a jury award of over $2.2 million for defamation and tortious interference, an arbitration award dismissing a senior employee’s $330 million claim for breach of contract and fraud against a former employer, a judgment in excess of $600,000 in a breach of contract action, which was upheld on appeal, and a ruling that a disputed road leading to a 10,000 acre ranch in the Uinta Mountains was public, which also was upheld on appeal. Settlements include a $15 million recovery in a securities fraud class action against multiple domestic and foreign defendants, a $2 million mediated settlement in an accounting malpractice action, a $2 million mediated settlement in a product liability case, a $500,000 recovery for breach of a non- competition/non-solicitation contract, a high six-figure recovery for the plaintiff in a trademark case and numerous other significant victories for his clients.  In addition to these results for companies and individuals pursuing claims, Mr. Hafen has successfully defended many companies and individuals facing claims such as theft of trade secrets, securities fraud, breach of contract, employment discrimination, usurping corporate opportunities, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and shareholder oppression.

Mr. Hafen has represented major national corporations, including Zions Bank, Walgreens, Lloyds of London, and Merrill Lynch, as well as some of Utah’s leading companies, including Merit Medical and Franklin Covey.

Mr. Hafen has also defended a number of prestigious Utah law firms and lawyers facing claims for legal malpractice, as well as accountants and accounting firms facing similar claims.  Mr. Hafen’s clients have enjoyed significant success in such matters.  References are available upon request.

In recent years, a significant part of Mr. Hafen’s practice has been representing individuals and companies facing regulatory actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.  A notable victory was obtaining a first-of-its-kind ruling against the FTC dissolving a TRO and dismissing a receiver suggested by the FTC.  Mr. Hafen also has successfully negotiated numerous settlements with the FTC and SEC.

Mr. Hafen has represented many multi-level marketing companies in disputes with distributors and other MLM companies.  He also has represented distributors in disputes against MLMs, including a mediated settlement in favor of a distributor of nearly $1 million.

In addition to acting as an advocate, Mr. Hafen is available as a mediator. In that capacity, he favors an active approach, which includes assisting parties in recognizing the potential weaknesses of their claims and defenses.  Mr. Hafen employs strategic negotiation involving more than merely carrying offers from one party to another.  Mr. Hafen is also available to serve as an arbitrator for parties seeking to retain a private judge.

With years of experience dealing with companies facing claims of mismanagement and fraud, Mr. Hafen is qualified to serve as a private or Court-appointed Receiver in cases where a company has been compromised by actual or alleged misconduct of its owners or executives. He is available to conduct independent investigations of allegations of misconduct raised by shareholders of companies or members of limited liability companies.

Mr. Hafen is heavily involved in work for charitable organizations, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Tuacahn Center for the Arts and for Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts..  He supports numerous professional organizations, having held leadership positions with the Federal Bar Association, the Utah State Bar Litigation Section, BYU Alumni Association, BYU Law School Alumni Association, and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.  He has served for a number of years as the Chair of the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Mr. Hafen has published and lectured widely on a variety of topics, including investment fraud, antitrust law, professionalism and civility, legal ethics, employment law, securities law compliance, and litigation strategy.  He has authored or co-authored articles appearing in The Harvard International Law Journal, St. John’s Law Review, The Boston University Public Interest Law Journal, BYU Law Review, George Mason Law Review, and the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. 

IN THE NEWS:

• How the LDS Church and USU got tied up in an alleged Ponzi scheme, and now owe millions,
                The Salt Lake Tribune, July 25, 2021
• True Blue, Through and Through, BYU Magazine, Summer 2018