[Updated] Candidates for Utah Attorney General: Sean Reyes

December 5, 2013 by Daniel Burton

[Updated 2:30 PM 12-11-2013]: Added American Lands Council 2013 Questionnaire Attorney General Candidates Transfer of Public Lands Responses by Sean Reyes (embedded below).

[Updated 9:45 AM 12-9-2013]: Reyes forwarded me his priorities for the Utah Attorney General’s office. I’ve included them below after his convention speech and you can find them here, also (see below).

Sean Reyes is a candidate for appointment by Governor Gary Herbert to replace former Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who resigned December 3. This is the fifth of a series of brief profiles on those who are known to be considering or have filed to run for the AG spot. As information on each individual comes out, I’ll update the profiles here.

One of the first names to emerge to replace John Swallow, Sean Reyes has quickly become a serious contender for one of the nominees the Republican State Central Committee sends to Governor Gary Herbert for appointment to fill the vacant Attorney General office.

And, because Reyes ran a statewide campaign for Attorney General last year, he has started the race with a strong grasp of the issues, a broad volunteer and supporter network, good name identification, and a thorough vetting by Republican state delegates and primary voters and the Utah press.

Will it be enough to win one of the three spots forwarded to the Governor?

A distinguished and successful attorney from early in his career, Reyes has maintained an “AV” rating, the highest ranking for skill and integrity as determined by peer review. Among other honors, Reyes was named one of America’s Top Asian Business Leaders, Mountain States Super Lawyer and a Utah Legal Elite for seven consecutive years. He was also spotlighted as the Utah Young Lawyer of the Year, one of Utah’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential Business Leaders and was the first recipient of BYU’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. Reyes was also named the first-ever National Outstanding Young Lawyer by the American Bar Association

Reyes graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University and from U.C. Berkeley Law with honors. He practiced fourteen years at Parsons Behle & Latimer, the largest law firm in Utah, focusing on technology disputes and white-collar fraud cases. Reyes served over a decade as a judge pro tem in Utah’s Third District and spent two years on the governing body of Utah’s State Bar.

In addition to legal work, Reyes was appointed by two Utah governors to serve as one on the Third District Judicial Nominating Commission and also spent several years on a National Commission initiated by President George W. Bush and continued by President Barack Obama.

Currently, Reyes is of counsel with the law firm Pia Anderson Dorius Reynard & Moss and a general partner with Accelerate Ventures, a Utah consulting and venture fund that handles funding and business development for clients such as sports celebrity Leigh Steinberg.