Lara A. Swensen

As a shareholder with James Dodge Russell & Stephens, P.C, Lara Swensen’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including intellectual property, trade secret, and antitrust issues. Ms. Swensen has represented both individuals and companies engaged in difficult, high-stakes disputes. Although her focus is resolving matters in litigation, she has also assisted companies with internal investigations, antitrust compliance training, and alternative dispute resolution. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Swensen also worked as a legal consultant for various large technology companies.

Additionally, Ms. Swensen has extensive experience preparing and challenging expert witnesses in civil litigation. Ms. Swensen’s practice includes working closely with experts on a wide variety of cases, including trade secrets, direct marketing disputes, software build-for-hire disputes, patents, software copyrights, spyware litigation, and antitrust class actions in the context of medical waste treatment. Previously, she served as managing director of Wasatch Economics, a litigation and damages consulting firm. She co-authored a treatise on intellectual property damages, and has taught several seminars on damages analysis and the expert witness’s role in complex civil litigation. 

Ms. Swensen is active in various community organizations. She currently serves as a panel chairperson of the Utah Supreme Court’s Ethics & Disciplinary Committee, which reviews, investigates, and hears all informal complaints charging unethical or unprofessional conduct by attorneys. She also is a member of the Judicial Council's Ethics Advisory Committee and President of the Antitrust Section of the Utah Bar. Ms. Swensen also previously served on the Executive Board for Women Lawyers of Utah and currently is an active committee member.

Ms. Swensen graduated with honors from the University of Chicago Law School where she was an active member of the Criminal Justice Project at the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic. She received her B.A. cum laude from Dartmouth College.