Jason D. Boren

Partner

Salt Lake City

Tel 801.517.6827
Fax 801.531.3001

Jason D. Boren is the Managing Partner of the firm's Salt Lake City office. He is an experienced litigator at both the trial and appellate levels. His litigation practice focuses on complex civil and business litigation disputes involving a wide variety of matters including corporate governance and control, employment, breach of contract, real estate and construction, receivership litigation, intellectual property and false affiliation claims. He also has successfully handled GRAMA appeals and public procurement litigation for the Utah Communications Authority against unsuccessful vendors.

Jason has unique experience with protests under the state procurement code and related litigation of public records requests and decisions. Jason secured a winning outcome on issues of first impression before the Utah Supreme Court.

Jason also has extensive experience with corporate governance disputes and dissenter's rights cases. Jason has represented officers, directors, corporations and shareholders in cases involving breaches fiduciary duty, breaches of contract, conversion, conspiracy, dissolution and appraisal of shares pursuant to the Utah dissenter's rights statute. Jason is one of a few lawyers in Utah who has handled a dissenters' rights appraisal proceedings through trial.

Jason's employment practice includes representation of employers in actions involving age discrimination, sexual harassment, failure to accommodate, trade secrets, retaliation, FMLA, breach of non-solicitation, noncompetition and non-disclosure agreements, wrongful discharge, employment tort claims, including claims for defamation and emotional distress, and employee benefits and disputes arising under ERISA.

Jason's real estate litigation practice includes representation of clients in disputes involving construction, condemnation, landlord/tenant, zoning, premises liability, easements, developer liability, real estate broker and agent liability, foreclosure, and quiet title actions.

Jason represents clients in state, federal, and appellate courts and defends them against administrative charges before the Utah Labor Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He also represents clients before the Utah Public Service Commission, the Utah Division of Real Estate, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing and the Utah Insurance Division.

Jason serves as outside general counsel for Utah to a large medical professional liability insurance company.

Since 2005, Jason has been recognized annually as one of Utah's "Legal Elite" in litigation in Utah Business magazine.

At Ballard Spahr, Jason has served in various leadership roles including hiring partner for the Salt Lake City office, and a member of the firm’s Allocation Committee.

Services

Experience

Representative Matters

State Procurement and GRAMA

Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Utah Communications Authority et al., 2019 UT 66
Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Utah Communications Authority, et al., Case No. 190901673, Third Judicial District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah
Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Utah Communications Authority, et al., Case No. 190903675, Third Judicial District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah

Centurylink Communications, LLC v. Utah Communications Authority, Case No. 180909522, Third Judicial District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah

Corporate Governance / Control

Software Forensics LLC v. Thompson, et al. (Fourth District, Utah) Case No. 130401037 (represent dissenting shareholders in fair value appraisal lawsuit)
Thompson et al. v. Software Forensics, Inc. et al., Case No. 2:12-cv-338RJS (represented minority shareholders in case involving claims for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and conspiracy)
MAGE Hertzberg GmBH v. TRA-MAGE, Inc., (Fourth District Utah) Case No. 110402161(represented company in case seeking claims for, among other things, judicial removal of directors, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional interference with contractual relations, judicial dissolution and breach of contract)
Chorn v. Thomas, (First District Nevada) Case No. 100C00345 (represented partner of company in which claims were asserted for, among other things, breach of contract, dissolution, accounting and breach of fiduciary duty)
Footer v. New Moon Media, LLC et al. (Third District, Utah) Case No. 080926276 (represented client in dispute involving claims for expulsion of limited liability company member, removal of management authority, conversion, and breach of duty)

Employment

Coleman v. Utah State Charter School Bd, (10th Cir. Dec. 16, 2016)
Ovard v. Summit County, (D. Utah Dec. 2, 2013))
Utah Communications Authority v. Patricia Nelson et al., Case No. 160901578, Third Judicial District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah. Successfully obtained and collected judgment against employee who embezzled funds.
Successfully obtained summary judgment on former employee's claims of age, race/national origin discrimination, retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and retaliation in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. (Cruces v. International Down & Feather Testing Laboratory, 956 F.Supp.2d 1299 (D. Utah 2013), 119 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 48; 2012 WL 3756867 (D. Utah August 28, 2012)
Successfully represented defendant in a 10th Circuit appeal affirming summary judgment on claims of promissory estoppel, fraudulent inducement, and negligent misrepresentation. (Rohr v. Allstate Financial Services, 529 Fed.Appx. 936 (2013)
Successfully represented defendant employer against unlawful termination claim by in-house counsel (Pang v. International Document Services, 2015 UT 63, 2008 UT 87)
Successfully represented hospitality client in trial before the Utah Labor Commission for claims of employment discrimination on the basis of national origin, age, retaliation, and disability. (Besic v. Ocean Properties (Marriott)) Utah Labor Commission, Adjudication Division, Case No. 8000205, January 31, 2012)
S&S Worldwide, Inc. v. Rohwer et al., Case No. 140100100 (First District, Utah). Successfully obtained preliminary injunction restraining former employee from disclosing confidential and trade secret information
Routinely obtain temporary restraining orders and injunctions for companies whose employees violate confidentiality, non-solicitation and noncompete provisions in their employment contracts

Real Estate / Construction

N.Y. Ave. LLC v. Harrison, 2016 UT App 240
Young Resources v. Promontory Landfill, 2018 UT App 99
Successfully represent real estate brokers, real estate agents and developers in connection with claims asserted by purchasers of real estate for alleged negligence, fraud and non-disclosure. See Stanley v. Slifer Smith & Frampton Par City, Inc. et al. (Fourth District, Utah) Case no. 110500423
Regularly represent commercial property owners/landlords in connection with tenant disputes, unlawful detainer and related matters
Represent clients in connection with condemnation proceedings and successfully obtain orders of immediate occupancy with respect to land sought to be condemned
Represent clients with respect to property boundary disputes and quiet title actions
Successfully represented client in obtaining dismissal premises liability claims for slip and fall accident
Successfully represent clients in foreclosing on property (both judicial and non-judicial) used to secure loans
Represent clients with respect to mechanics' liens and construction claims

Professional Highlights

Professional Activities

Utah State Bar

Utah Trial Lawyers Association

Salt Lake County Bar Association

Team leader, "Tuesday Night Bar," a volunteer program providing free legal advice, 2000

Former Judge Pro Tempore, Third Judicial District Court, where he heard small claims court matters

Recognition & Accomplishments

Chambers USA, Labor and Employment Law, (Utah), 2017, Litigation: General Commercial, (Utah) 2018-2024

The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation (Salt Lake City), 2024, 2025, Litigation - Construction (Salt Lake City), 2024, 2025, Litigation - Labor and Employment (Salt Lake City), 2024, 2025, Litigation - Real Estate (Salt Lake City), 2024, 2025

Utah Business, "Legal Elite," 2022, 2023

Speaking Engagements

Performance Management and the Employee Experience Focused Workplace, Ballard Spahr/Mercer Annual Utah Fall Employment Law Seminar, Jason D. Boren and Kelly Esselman (November 13, 2019)

Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants: Keep Your Secrets Safe and Your Employees Honest Jason D. Boren and Scott A. Wiseman, Ballard Spahr Annual Utah Fall Employment Law Seminar, November 7, 2018

Speaker, "Before You Hit Send - The Perils of Email," Ballard Spahr's Seventh Annual SLC Fall Employment Law Seminar, November 1, 2017

Related Insights

Credentials

Education

University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law (J.D. 1997)
Staff Member, Journal of Energy, Natural Resources & Environmental Law; Member, Order of the Coif (awarded to top 10 percent of class); Recipient, William H. Leary Scholar; legal writing teaching assistant

University of Utah (B.A. 1994), cum laude)

Languages

Spanish

Admissions

Utah

U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit