Kara M. Houck

As a member of Parr Brown’s Litigation practice group, Kara Houck has represented a wide range of plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in the areas of legal malpractice defense, estate planning and probate litigation, wildfire litigation, intellectual property/trade secret matters, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, landlord/tenant contracts, and disputes over ownership and control of businesses. She manages cases of various sizes from start to finish.  Clients appreciate her ability to effectively and efficiently resolve disputes and her dedication to their cases. She is committed to advocating on behalf of her clients with civility and integrity. Notable representations include defending and successfully reaching an out of court resolution of a multi-million dollar legal malpractice claim; representing hundreds of victims of the 2012 Wood Hollow fire in central Utah and achieving millions of dollars of recovery; representing high tech and manufacturing companies to protect their intellectual property; securing possession of a development site for property owners facing a challenge to their rights so that a commercial development could be constructed; and litigating and obtaining out of court resolutions for both plaintiffs and defendants in highly contentious probate disputes between family members.

Ms. Houck received a Bachelor of Science in Resource Conservation with a minor in Political Science from The University of Montana, as a University Scholar, Honors Program, in 1996.  After working for the U.S. Forest Service, in 2000 she received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University Chicago, magna cum laude.  She spent a year in Portland, Maine where she served as a judicial clerk for Justice Howard Dana, Jr. at the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. In addition, Ms. Houck has served as senior litigation counsel in-house at Zions Bancorporation, N.A. where she assisted with managing the bank’s national litigation and participated with the business groups in building pre-litigation strategies.

Ms. Houck has been awarded an AV rating – the highest awarded by Martindale-Hubbell.  She has been recognized by Mountain States Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in 2008 and 2012-2014 and by Utah Business magazine as a Legal Elite in 2015 and 2022 for civil litigation and in 2021 for banking/financial. She was recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America ^® for commercial litigation. Ms. Houck has served on the Executive Committee of the Salt Lake County Bar Association and the Board of Directors for Art Access, a non-profit organization that serves to build an inclusive arts community in Utah. Ms. Houck is currently honored to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake.