J. Craig Smith

J. Craig Smith, Esq., is a founding member of the Salt Lake City firm of Smith Hartvigsen, PLLC, where he practices in the areas of water law, land use, and redevelopment law. He has argued more than 30 appeals before the Utah Supreme Court. Mr. Smith is listed in Utah Legal Elite, Superlawyers and Best Lawyers publications. Major accomplishments include, lead counsel for the development of the Amangiri Resort in southern Utah and obtaining the passage of federal legislation to obtain water rights for Duchesne City. He was a law clerk for the Hon. J. Robert Bullock for the 4th District of Utah, and an assistant city attorney for Park City, Utah. Mr. Smith has written “Local Government Regulation and Bankruptcy: To Stay or Not to Stay,” Urban Lawyer 151-176, Volume 21, Number 1, Winter, 1989; “Bankruptcy and Development Regulations,” Urban Land, April 1991; “Ethics and the Government Lawyers,” Utah Bar Journal, Volume 6, Number 2, February 1993; “Basic Utah Water Law,” Utah Bar Journal, Volume 7, Number 2, February 1994; and “A Preference for Domestic Use in Utah: A Relic of The Past?” ABA Water Resources Committee Newsletter, Volume 12, No. 1, Fall 2009. He earned his A.S. degree, with high honors, from the College of Eastern Utah, and his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, and J.D. degree, cum laude, from Brigham Young University. Mr. Smith is a member of the American Bar Association and the Utah State Bar’s Sections on Urban, State and Local Government Law, Natural Resources and Litigation. In 2004 the Utah State Bar, Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Law Section recognized him as Lawyer of the Year