our team
Strachan, Strachan & Simon is home to a small team of dedicated attorneys with decades of experience.
Kevin J. Simon
partner | (435) 772-5072
Mr. Simon obtained his Bachelor’s degree in History in 1994 from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), graduating magna cum laude with membership in two honors societies - Phi Alpha Theta and Pi Gammu Mu. Upon obtaining his undergraduate degree, Mr. Simon scored a 173 (99.4%) on the National Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and gained admission to the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. Mr. Simon graduated from Boalt Hall in 1997 with honors in Contracts, Real Property and Antitrust Law and received the prestigious General S.K. Yee Boalt Hall Scholarship from 1994 through 1997.
In twenty (20) years of legal practice, Mr. Simon’s professional experience has been extensive, advising on a wide variety of different substantive areas of law such as the Sherman Antitrust Act, Clayton Act, Lanham Act, Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA), Federal Wiretap Act, Federal RICO Act, and §1983 civil rights actions. Mr. Simon is involved routinely as lead defense counsel in high profile, multimillion dollar litigation in areas including catastrophic personal injury claims, real estate development disputes and complex business litigation at the trial court level and on appeal. His appellate cases, in some instances, have been the subject of law review articles and cited in various federal practice treatises. See e.g. Christy Sports LLC v. Deer Valley Resort Company, 555 F.3d 1188 (10th Cir. 2009)
He has defended many cases to jury verdict as first and/or second chair successfully and, in some instances, as the only attorney for his client. As just one example, Mr. Simon defended a multi-million dollar case through trial for a large corporate client as not only lead counsel, but as the only attorney for his client. Despite almost certain liability against his client and millions of dollars in documented damages, Mr. Simon defended through trial, limiting plaintiff to a $1.00 final judgment. This case was profiled during the Utah Trial Lawyers Association’s (now known as the Utah Association of Justice) Annual Convention. Through the course of trying cases, Mr. Simon has drafted, opposed and/or argued hundreds of motions in limine addressing a wide array of evidentiary issues such as subsequent remedial measures, collateral impeachment, admissibility of prior criminal convictions and prior litigation, various Rule 403 issues, spoliation of evidence, admissibility of habit and character evidence, collateral source/health insurance contractual write-off issues, Daubert expert qualification and opinion issues, Rule 701 lay opinion issues, Erie Doctrine issues, and virtually every conceivable hearsay related issue.
Aside from trial work, Mr. Simon has also obtained summary judgment and the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of cases on numerous occasions for various clients, implicating many different substantive areas of law such as: federal antitrust issues, enforcement of restrictive covenants, intentional interference with economic relations, breach of contract, various equitable claims, scope of employment/vicarious liability, negligent training, hiring, retention and supervision, gross negligence, negligence per se, punitive damages, pre-injury release/exculpatory agreement issues, no duty issues, innkeeper liability issues, retained control doctrine issues, economic loss doctrine issues, temporary dangerous condition issues, and abnormally dangerous activity/common law strict liability claims. He has also obtained the Rule 12(b)(1) and (2) dismissal of several cases based on lack of federal subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction respectively, including a recent highly-publicized wrongful death case and has prevailed on dispositive motions before almost every federal district court judge in Utah, including Judges Benson, Campbell, Nuffer, Kimball, and Waddoups in the
recent past.
Mr. Simon is also involved in insurance defense litigation and is named “panel counsel” for several large insurers. These cases often involve matters serious enough to implicate excess coverage, sometimes even multiple layers of excess coverage in many different industries. He represents commercial general contractors, architects, engineers, and has taken a primary role in the defense of nearly every serious injury case involving Utah’s ski resort industry for many years.
Mr. Simon, from time to time, also provides legal representation to several prominent business and sporting figures on a variety of different legal issues and has helped form various 501(c)(3) and (c)(6) not-for-profit corporations in Utah. Some clients include the former Chairman of the Board of Columbia Pictures and former Olympic athletes.
Education
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), B.A. History 1994, magna cum laude
University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D. 1997, with honors.
Awards
Voted by peers as one of Utah’s Legal Elite™ for 2007, 2008 and 2009 as published in Utah Business Magazine
Named Mountain States SuperLawyer™, Rising Star, 2009 (only 2.5% of lawyers per jurisdiction (Utah) are named to the Rising Star list)
Named Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society peer nominated process - less than 1/2 of 1% of American lawyers are members), 2015-Present
Appointed to AM Best’s National List of Recommended Insurance Attorneys for Utah and Wyoming (insurance client nominated process), 2012-2016
Memberships
Member, American Mensa
Member, Federal Bar Association, Utah Chapter, Litigation Section
Master of the Bench, Aldon J. Anderson Inn of Court
Adjunct Professor, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
Appointed, American Heart Association Heart Ball Committee, 2013
Appointed Judicial Committee Chairperson, United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation,
National Governing Body for the Olympic sports of bobsled and skeleton, 2008-2013
Appointed Member, Basin Open Space Advisory Committee (BOSAC), 2011
Appointed by Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham as an NTLA Supervising Mentor to new Utah attorneys under Utah’s revised mandatory Continuing Legal Education reporting guidelines, 2010
Appointed to the Model Utah Jury Instruction (MUJI) Sub-Committee on the Inherent Risk of Skiing Act, 2012
Elected Board Member/Appointed Executive Comm. Member, Park City Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Bureau, 2009-present (Board Chair, 2012-2013)
Elected Board Member, Ski Utah, 2009-present
Adam Strachan
owner and managing partner
Adam Strachan’s practice is concentrated on trial and appellate work. Adam has defended nearly every ski resort in Utah, along with many other clients, in a wide variety of cases. Adam has tried numerous cases before both judges and juries, and argued before both the Utah Court of Appeals and the Utah Supreme Court. Past notable results include a defense verdict for a resort in a wrongful death case arising out of an in-bounds avalanche, and a $2 million recovery for a resort in a contract dispute between the resort and a neighboring homeowners association.
Education
University of Southern California (B.A. 1998)
University of Utah (J.D. 2002): Executive Editor, Journal of Land, Resources, and Environmental Law
Professional Background
Associate: Duane Morris, LLP (formerly Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft, LLP) (2003-2006)
Judicial Clerkship (2002-2003): Hon. Lawrence J. Block, United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C.
Judicial Clerkship (2000): Judges Lee A. Dever and Roger Livingston, 3d District Court of Utah
United States Senate Judiciary Committee (1997)
Presentations and Articles
Panelist at National Ski Areas Association conference on inbounds avalanche litigation (2014)
Regular panelist and speaker at Intermountain Ski Areas Association conferences
Regular panelist at National Ski Area Association seminars on ski safety
Article: When does a skier become a trespasser? Utah Bar Journal, July/August 2007, Co-author
Article: Special Events: Shift the Risk to Promoters & Participants, Ski Area Management Magazine (May, 2006)
Law Review Article: Concurrency Laws: Water as a Land Use Regulation, 21 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 435 (2001)
Law Review Article: The Ripeness Doctrine in Regulatory Takings Litigation, 22 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 19 (2002), Co-author
Trade Publication: Park & Pipe Instructor’s Guide, Professional Ski Instructors of America (2005), contributing author
Civic Activities & Memberships
Former Chairman, Park City Planning Commission 2007-2017
Former President, Association of Ski Defense Attorneys
Board Member: Mountain Trails Foundation
Member: Utah Bar Association, Park City Bar Association, California Bar Association (inactive) San Francisco Bar Association (inactive), Association of Ski Defense Attorneys
Gordon C. Strachan
retired
Gordon Strachan's law practice was concentrated in complex litigation. He successfully defended the Park City Mountain Resort, Solitude Ski Area, Deer Valley Ski Resort, and the Utah Ski Association in antitrust cases. The Attorney General of the State of Utah retained Gordon as special independent counsel to defend the Executive Director of the Department of Corrections in a Section 1983 civil rights case. Gordon successfully represented Park City Municipal Corporation as special litigation counsel in a $16.5 million dollar Fifth Amendment "takings" case concerning the largest piece of undeveloped property in Park City, Utah. He also successfully litigated cases in California, Montana, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin and Idaho. He holds the Martindale-Hubble highest rating, "A.V.," as determined by other attorneys in the state of Utah.
Alpine Meadows of Tahoe, Inc., the former parent corporation of the Park City Ski Area, retained Gordon to defend against a lawsuit filed by the United Park City Mines Company, formerly controlled by New York’s Loeb family interests. Other parties included Deer Valley Resort Company, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, Atlantic Richfield Co., and Fidelity Bank of Philadelphia. After three years of discovery on the 88 page complaint asserting civil racketeering, breach of lease and contract claims, the trial court granted the motions to dismiss and for summary judgment filed by Gordon. The Utah Supreme Court unanimously affirmed.
Gordon served as General Counsel to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association which is the National Governing Body for the United States skiing and snowboarding teams. Throughout his career. Gordon regularly defended ski resorts in personal injury litigation, including Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Ski Resort, The Canyons, and Snowbird; and served as special counsel to Sun Valley, and litigation counsel to Vail.
Gordon Strachan did legislative work representing the ski industry, telecommunications companies, the Park City School District, Park City Municipal Corporation, and the Park City Chamber of Commerce. Ski industry legislation advanced by Gordon includes Utah's Inherent Risks of Skiing Statute, the Ski Resorts Capital Investment Incentive Act, and various tax code and technical clarifications. He worked with former Governor Jon Huntsman to reform Utah's liquor laws by eliminating private clubs in 2009.
Before forming his own law firm in Park City, Gordon was managing partner of Prince, Yeates & Geldzahler, a 40 lawyer firm in Salt Lake City. Gordon also served as General Counsel to the United States Information Agency and on the White House Staff of President Richard M. Nixon. He began practicing law in 1968 with the Wall Street law firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie and Alexander.
Education
University of Southern California (B.A., 1965)
University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (J.D., 1968)
Civic Activities & Memberships
Member, Board of Trustees, Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Organizing Committee (2002)
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Utah Athletic Foundation
Vice Chairman, Board of Alcohol Beverage Control Commission
Park City Municipal Corporation Board of Adjustment
Member, Summit County Governance Study Commission
Member, Utah Governor Michael Leavitt's Transition Team for the Utah Travel Council,
Co-Chairman, Governor Jon Huntsman’s Transition Committee
Chairman, Summit County/Park City Economic Development Committee,
Chairman, Board of Trustees, KPCW (Park City's non -profit community radio station)
Member, Board of Directors, Park City Chamber of Commerce
Member, Board of Directors, Utah Ski Association
Chairman, Utah Alcoholism Foundation
President, Park City Rotary Club.
Articles
Release and Indemnity Agreements: Tips for Avoiding the Legal Hazards of Special Events (NSAA Journal, Oct/Nov 2005, Gordon Strachan)
Possible Defense Responses to Plaintiff’s “Experts” (Utah Bar Journal , Volume 17 No.6, Aug/Sept 2004, Gordon Strachan)
The Ripeness Doctrine in Regulatory Takings Litigation (Journal of Land, Resources, and Environmental Law, 2002, Gordon C. Strachan, Adam Strachan)
The Political Action Disclosure Act (Utah Bar Journal , January, 1989, Volume 2, No. 1, Gordon Strachan and Gary R. Thorup)
"Antitrust Issues Facing the Ski Resort Industry: The Company Town Revisited," Vol. 4 Utah Law Review, 1985 (Gordon C. Strachan and James A Boevers)
Author: "Justice in Shanghai: A Trial in the People's Republic of China," Vol. 22 Trial No. 1, January, 1986
Kristine Strachan
retired
Education
University of Southern California (B.F.S., 1965)
University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (J.D., 1968) Order of the Coif.
Civic Activities & Memberships
Dean, University of San Diego School of Law (1989-97)
Visiting Professor, University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
Visiting Professor, University of California at Hastings, School of Law
Professor of Law, University of Utah, 1973-1989
American Law Institute, Life Member
Books
Co-Author: "Evidence: Teaching Materials for An Age of Science and Statutes," Fourth Edition, 1997
Co-Author: "Modern Remedies: Cases, Practical Problems and Exercises," 1997. 1989-1997