Russell C. Skousen
Russell C. Skousen was born in Fontana, California in 1962. In 1988, Mr Skousen received his B.A. degree, cum laude, in Political Science from Brigham Young University. He then received his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University in 1991. He is admitted to practice law in the states of Utah and California.
While in law school, Mr. Skousen served as the Executive Editor of the BYU Journal of Public Law. Mr. Skousen also co-authored a law review article with Professor Cole Durham entitled, "The Law of Computer Related Crime in the United States," 38 AMJ. of Comp. L. 557 (1990). Also, during law school, Mr. Skousen won the "Founding Fathers Freedom Award."
In 1991, Mr. Skousen joined the law firm of Wood Spendlove and Quinn, and participated in Utah's abortion law defense against the ACLU. Mr. Skousen worked with this law firm, which was eventually named Wood Crapo, LLC, until the fall of 1998. During his tenure at Wood Crapo, LLC, Mr. Skousen was involved in a number of notable cases. He also served as the managing editor of the Utah Employment Law Letter. He worked primarily in commercial litigation and business transactions with substantial experience in such areas as employment, contract, real estate, banking, redevelopment, water law, environmental, intellectual property and constitutional law, including numerous efforts before state and federal appellate courts.
Upon leaving Wood Crapo, LLC, Mr. Skousen entered private practice and served as general counsel for a resort development company. In 1999 he co-founded the law firm of Thompson Hazen & Skousen, LLC that later merged practices with Mackey, Price, Thompson & Ostler. There he concentrated his practice in business, corporate law, real estate, franchise and distribution law, trademarks, state and local government law, litigation and products liability. In 2009, Mr. Skousen partnered with Mr. Fred Penney and founded the law firm of Skousen & Penney, LLC. Then in 2015 he founded Skousen Law, PLLC.
Mr. Skousen has also been an active participant in local and state government and community associations. In 2000, he was elected as Salt Lake County's first County Councilman from Council District 4. He has also served on the Unified Fire Authority's Board, the Clark Planetarium Board, the Utah Association of Counties Executive Board, the Salt Lake Boundary Commission, the Parley's Rails, Trails and Tunnels Board of Directors, the Salt Lake County Board of Equalization, the Salt Lake County Redevelopment Agency, and the Salt Lake County Association of Community Councils. Mr. Skousen was also the policy director for Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr's first campaign for governor and later served as the Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce. He is active in politics on both the state and local level.
Mr. Skousen currently resides in Highland, Utah with his wife, Debbie and four children. He enjoys running, swimming, cycling, snowboarding, golf, martial arts, books (especially biographies), old movies and political philosophy.
E-mail:rskousen@skousenlawfirm.com