Sean D. Reyes, Attorney

Sean Reyes is a shareholder in the firm's Litigation department and has practiced with the firm since 1997.  In 2008, Sean was recognized as the first ever National Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year by the American Bar Association. In the same year, he was further honored as: one of the Fifty Outstanding Asian Americans in Business in the United States (as highlighted in the New York Times), one of the Twenty Most Influential Hispanics in Utah Business and the inaugural winner of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Brigham Young University.  Sean has experience in complex commercial litigation, as well as specialties in defamation, personal injury and insurance law. He is also a member of the firm's employment law department where he has experience defending employers against claims of wage and hour violations, harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, wrongful termination and defamation. Additionally, he has defended employers against liability resulting from agent, registered representative or employee misconduct.

He has successfully litigated scores of cases and is experienced in alternative dispute resolution and settling cases as well as taking them to trial. He was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1997 and serves as a small claims judge Pro Tempore in the Third District Court of Utah. Sean graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1994 with a bachelor of arts in English. He received his J.D. degree in 1997 from the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was an executive board member of the Asian Law Journal (the nation's first published journal dedicated to legal issues involving the Asian/Pacific Island community) and a member of the Cal men's volleyball team.

Sean is active in the legal and general business community. He was honored as the Young Lawyer of the Year by the Utah State Bar in 2006. In the same year, he was recognized as one of the 40 most influential businesspersons in Utah under the age of 40 by Utah Business magazine. He has been selected multiple times as one of Utah's "Legal Elite" by his peers and serves on the Governor's Judicial Nominating Commission for the Third District of Utah.  In 2008, he was also honored as Business Professional of the Year by the Asian Chamber of Commerce.   

As a result of Sean's tenure as president of the Utah Minority Bar Association, that organization received unprecedented awards from the Utah State Bar and the American Bar Association. Sean served as an ex-officio member of the Utah State Bar Commission, the governing body of the Utah Bar. Sean has also been an officer and member of the Utah Young Lawyers Division Executive Council where he served as a state delegate to the American Bar Association.

Sean is a past officer, counsel, and current board member of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and vice-president of the Utah Hispanic Business Leadership Foundation. He sits on the advisory board for the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce as well. Sean belongs to the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly and was selected to serve on the Utah Hispanic/Legislative Taskforce. He is on his firm's recruiting committee and volunteers much time mentoring law students and undergraduate students along the Wasatch Front. Sean supervises training in a service program for the LDS Church teaching English to thousands of immigrants throughout the greater Salt Lake area. Sean sits on numerous other boards and committees for his clients, his church, and the community.

Related Activities and Skills:

• Fluent in Spanish
• Judge Pro Tempore (1999 - present): 
  Third Judicial District Court of Utah
• Governor's Judicial Nominating Commission for the Third District of Utah (2007 - present)
• Best Lawyers Under 40 (2009):
  National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
• National Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year (2007):
  American Bar Association
• Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award (2008):
  Asian American Business Development Center 
• Outstanding Young Alumni Service Award (2008):
  Brigham Young University
• Outstanding Businessperson of the Year (2008):
  Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce  
• Utah Legal Elite (2006, 2007, 2008): 
  Utah Business Magazine
• Young Lawyer of the Year (2006): 
  Utah State Bar
• Forty Under Forty Most Influential Businesspersons in Utah (2006): 
  Utah Business Magazine
• Past Officer, Current Member of Board of Directors, Chair of numerous Committees (2001 - present): 
  Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Current Vice-President and Member of Board of Directors (2004 - present): 
  Utah Hispanic Business Leadership Foundation
• President (2004 - 2005), President-elect (2003 - 04): 
  Utah Minority Bar Association (winners of 2005 - 2006 State Bar Award of Excellence and ABA National Partnering Award)
• Utah Young Lawyers Executive Council and ABA Delegate (2003 - current)
• Utah Young Lawyers Treasurer (2005 - present)
• Daily Dose Training Supervisor (2005 - present): 
  LDS Hispanic Initiative
• Board of Advisors (2006 - present): 
  Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce
• Board of Advisors (2006 - present): 
  First Utah Bank International Branch 
• Board of Advisors (2006 - present): 
  Chinyere International Talent
• Editor/Contributor (2006 - present): 
  Connect Business Magazine