Alan W. Mortensen

Personal Injury / Litigation / Trials & Appeals / Aviation Disasters / Trucking Collisions

One of the most active trial lawyers, Alan W. Mortensen has been the lead attorney on numerous cases – including aviation and truck accidents as well as insurance bad faith claims – that have been closely followed throughout the nation as well as in Utah, including his record setting $25,000,000 product liability wrongful death jury verdict in Utah and Elko, Nevada bus tragedy case.

These cases have also included being on the steering committee of the Asiana Air Disaster at San Francisco, and a multi-million-dollar result from the Utah Supreme Court against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ United Effort Plan Trust. He also was the lead attorney in a Guatemalan Air disaster in which several service missionaries from Utah, Illinois and Guatemala were killed and injured in a  Cessna  Caravan  that had a defective Pratt & Whitney PT6 Engine. He has spent an extensive amount of time across the world investigating and litigating other aviation disasters, including cases in Honduras, Peru and Oregon.

Mr. Mortensen also was one of the lead attorneys in the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster case. He has tried and litigated diverse semi-truck disasters, including representing victims against such companies as Merit Trucking, Marten Trucking, Knight Trucking, Fed Ex, JB Hunt Trucking, Werner Trucking, Swift Trucking, Central Refrigerated Trucking, H&R Transport and Utility Trailers.

Mr. Mortensen also tries and litigates motor vehicle accidents, mining accidents, sexual abuse, civil rights, workplace injury, product liability, medical negligence, construction defect, forfeiture, employment, and insurance bad faith and coverage cases in the state and federal courts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Several of these cases have resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements or verdicts.  He has also successfully appealed cases to the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah Court of Appeals, the Wyoming Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Mortensen is a member of American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and Litigation Counsel of America. He is part of the Mountain States Super Lawyers list, an honor awarded to only five percent of attorneys in Utah each year. He is in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers of The American Trial Lawyers, is a platinum member of The Verdict Club for Premier Trial Lawyers and is a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum for having both verdicts and settlements in the eight-figure range. For several years, he has been selected as one of Utah’s Legal Elite, as recognized by Utah Business magazine.

Mr. Mortensen is active in many professional organizations. A past President of the Utah Association for Justice, he also is a member of the American Association for Justice. He is a member of the Utah State Bar and the Salt Lake County Bar Associations, as well as the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. He is a Barrister in the David K. Watkiss-Sutherland II  (American Inns of Court). He also is sought periodically for interviews in the national media regarding his legal expertise.

An alumnus of Brigham Young University, the  University  of  Utah and the University of  Wyoming’s  College of  Law,  where he was published and edited for The Wyoming Law Review. Mr. Mortensen is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Mexico and Guatemala. He has  gained working expertise in  the civil codes of Latin America and their application to Courts in the United States and has authored articles that have appeared  in  several legal journals, including the Utah Trial Journal. He is a frequent lecturer and has given several seminar presentations to his peers. He lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife, Robyn. They have five children and five grandchildren. When Mr. Mortensen is not busy practicing law, he is an avid Westminster volleyball fan, Brigham Young University football fan and a member of the BYU Cougar Club. An arts advocate, he sat for many years on the board of directors at Centerpoint Legacy Theater, which he and his wife continue to support.

Significant Cases & Trials

• 2021 $25 MILLION JURY VERDICT: Mahe v. Century Blinds, Inc.

• 2021: $36.75 million single plaintiff settlement of a case involving a brain injured victim.

• 2017 $16 MILLION VERDICT: Wall v. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Warren Jeffs

• 2016 $2.75 MILLION SETTLEMENT: Wall v. United Effort Plan Trust, Appeal to Utah Supreme Court

• 2013: Peruvian Chinook Helicopter in Pucallpa, Peru, confidential settlement

• 2011: Asiana Air Flight 214 Air Disaster in San Francisco, Steering Committee, confidential settlement

• 2011 $2,009,173 VERDICT: Jefferies v. Earnshaw

• 2008: Guatemala Cessna Gran Caravan Crash, confidential settlement

• 2007 HIGHEST MINE WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT IN US HISTORY: Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster in Huntington, Utah

• 2005 $10,515,720 VERDICT: Safeway Inc. v. Alarm Control

• 2004 CONFIDENTIAL SEVEN FIGURE SETTLEMENT: John and Jane Doe v. LA Catholic Diocese Sex Abuse Scandal

Licenses & Admissions

• Admitted Utah State Bar (1993 to present).

• Admitted Wyoming State Bar (1994 to present).

• Admitted Colorado State Bar (1994 to present).

• Admitted 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (1994 to present).

• Admitted to United States Supreme Court (2013).

• Admitted Pro Hac Vice in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Alabama, Ohio, Florida.

Honors & Awards

• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

• AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated Martindale-Hubbell 2006 to present.

• Best Lawyers in America 2009 to present.

• Mountain States Super Lawyer Super Lawyers 2012-18.

• Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum 2009 to present.

• The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers for Utah.

• The Verdict Club for Premium Trial Lawyers.

• Legislative Titan for the Utah Association for Justice, 2013-2017.

Published Decisions

• MJ v. Wisan, 371 P.3d 21 (Utah 2016).

• Fire Insurance v. Blacker, 285 P.3d 802 (Utah App. 2012).

• Nielson v City of South Salt Lake, 2009 WL 3562081 (D. Utah 2009).

• Allstate Ins. Co. v. Worthington, 46 F.3d 1005 (10th Cir. 1995).

• State of Utah v. $73,130, 31 P.3d 514 (Utah 2001).

• Lieber v. ITT Hartford Ins. Center, Inc., 15 P.3d 1030 (Utah 2000).

Publications

• Case Note, The Marriage of Strict Liability and Comparative Negligence Left Waiting at the Altar? XXVII Land and Water Review 223 (1992).

• Comment, Wyoming Fetal Rights — Why the Abortion Albatross is a Bird of a Different Color: The Case for Fetal Federalism XXVIII Land and Water Review 627 (1993).

• Employees Further Forced to Bear Burden of Boss’s Neglect, Utah Bar Journal (1996).

• What Every Plaintiffs Lawyer Should Know in Avoiding Workers Compensation Immunity with Public Employers, Sherwood v. Oklahoma County, 2002 WL 1472197 (10th Cir. 2002), Utah Trial Journal (2003).

• Litigating Aircraft Product Liability Cases: Avoiding the General Aviation Revitalization Act’s Statute of Repose, Utah Trial Journal, Volume 35, No. 2 (Winter 2012).

• The Case of “Jet Skis,” “Personal Watercraft, Wikepedia and the Investigator Son, Utah Trial Journal, Volume 36, No. 1 (Winter 2013).

• The Exception to the “Presence Rule” for Parents’ Recovery Under a Theory of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress in Childhood Abuse Cases, Utah Trial Journal, Volume 38, No. 3 (Fall 2015).

• Should I Buy New Or Used? What Is a “New” Part, a “Rebuilt” Part, and a “Used Part” Under the General Aviation Revitalization Act, and Why Does it Matter? Utah Trial Journal, Volume 40, No. 4 (Fall 2017).

Presentations

• SMU Air Law Symposium, Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Should I Buy New Or Used? What Is a “New” Part, a “Rebuilt” Part, and a “Used Part” Under the General Aviation Revitalization Act, and Why Does it Matter? March 30-31st, 2017, Dallas, Texas.

• Utah Association for Justice, Objective Before and After Witnesses from Social Services, February 26, 2016, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah State Bar Mid-Year Convention, Is Facebook Your Friend? Using Social Media to Build Your Case, March 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, What the NFL and Helmet Litigation has Taught Us About Handling Brain Injury Cases Involving Repeated Concussions, March 9, 2014, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• National Business Institute, Judicial Forum of Advanced Discovery and Trial Practice, May 11, 2012, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Ten Myths About the TBI Case, March 5, 2010 Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Focus Groups on a Dime, April 10, 2009, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• National Business Institute, Utah Bad Faith Primer, May, 2009, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Preparing the Mild to Moderate TBI Case Using Lay Witnesses, March 21, 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Using Effective Medical Evidence in Court, December 11, 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Preparing the Mild to Moderate TBI Case, March 9, 2007, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Finding Expert Witnesses for the Brain Injury Case, March 7, 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Preparing the Mild to Moderate TBI Case, November 29th-30th, 2007, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, How To Successfully Resolve Automobile Injury Cases, November 29-30, 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• National Business Institute, Trucking Litigation and DOT Regulations In Utah, March 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Brain Injury in the Medical Malpractice Case with Ruth Renlund, March 9, 2007, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• National Business Institute, Basics of a Medical Malpractice Case in Utah, March 2003, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Getting the Most Value for the Least Dollar – Focus Groups, September 17, 1999, Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Utah Association for Justice, Trial Lawyers University, “Window Blind Strangulation”, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 17, 2022.

• Utah Association for Justice, Auto-Spectacular Mid-Year Seminar, “Anchors Aweigh – Not Anchoring Down Your General Damage Case”, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 22, 2022.

ASSOCIATIONS

• Utah Association for Justice

  • 2017 President

  • Life Time Member Award

• Litigation Counsel of America

  • Member, Trial Law Institute

  • Member, Diversity Law Institute

  • Barrister, Order of Centurions

  • Advocate, Order of Certus

• Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association.

• Barrister in the David K. Watkiss-Sutherland II American Inns of Court.

• American Association of Justice.

  • Aviation Law Section Member

  • Professional Negligence Section

  • Railroad Law Section

  • Product Liability Section

  • Toxic Tort Section

  • Motor Vehicle Section

  • Child Sex Abuse Section

  • Council of Presidents

• American Bar Association.

  • Aviation Section Member

• The National Trial Lawyers.

  • Aviation Section Member

  • Construction Accident Section Member

  • Medical Malpractice Section Member

  • Motor Vehicle Section Member

  • Products Liability Section Member