One of the most active trial lawyers at Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas Mortensen, Alan W. Mortensen has been the lead attorney on numerous cases – including product liability, aviation and truck accidents as well as insurance bad faith claims – that have been closely followed throughout the nation as well as in Utah. Most recently, Alan obtained a wrongful death jury verdict of $25,000,000, which shattered the Utah record. He also obtained the largest single plaintiff personal injury settlement in Utah of $36,750,000.
Alan was on the steering committee of the Asiana Air Disaster at San Francisco, and a multi-million dollar result from the Utah Supreme Court against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ United Effort Plan Trust followed by a $16,000,000 verdict. He also was the lead attorney in a Guatemalan Air disaster in which several service missionaries from Utah, Illinois and Guatemala were killed and injured in a Cessna Caravan that had a defective Pratt & Whitney PT6 Engine. He has spent an extensive amount of time across the world investigating and litigating other aviation disasters, including cases in Honduras, Peru and Oregon.
Mr. Mortensen also was one of the lead attorneys in the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster case. He has also tried and litigated diverse semi-truck disasters, including representing victims against such companies as Merit Trucking, Marten Trucking, Knight Trucking, Fed Ex, JB Hunt Trucking, Werner Trucking, Swift Trucking, Central Refrigerated Trucking, H&R Transport and Utility Trailers.
Mr. Mortensen also tries and litigates motor vehicle accidents, mining accidents, sexual abuse, civil rights, workplace injury, product liability, medical negligence, construction defect, forfeiture, employment, and insurance bad faith and coverage cases in the state and federal courts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Several of these cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts. He has also successfully appealed cases to the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah Court of Appeals, the Wyoming Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The utmost meticulous attention to every detail of complex litigation is essential to Mr. Mortensen’s work. As one client described:
"Alan was very thorough and made me feel confident and comfortable. After our initial discussions he put together a folio on me personally, and the injury, that showed a great deal of footwork involved. He was thorough with details, responsive (and quick) when I had questions or concerns. I was able to email him or text him whenever I thought of things rather than try to recall them at a meeting time. This was particularly great and made me feel he was always involved with my case. It was my first experience with an attorney and the experience was completely successful in every way."
He a member of ABOTA and is part of the Mountain States Super Lawyers list, an honor awarded to only five percent of attorneys in Utah each year. He is in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers of The American Trial Lawyers, is a platinum member of The Verdict Club for Premier Trial Lawyers and is a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum for having both verdicts and settlements in the eight-figure range. For several years, he has been selected as one of Utah's Legal Elite, as recognized by Utah Business magazine.
Mr. Mortensen is active in many professional organizations. He is a past President of the Utah Association for Justice, he also is a member of the American Association for Justice. He is a member of the Utah State Bar and the Salt Lake County Bar Associations, as well as the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. He is a Barrister in the David K. Watkiss-Sutherland II (American Inns of Court). He also is sought periodically for interviews in the national media regarding his legal expertise.
An alumnus of Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and the University of Wyoming’s College of Law, Mr. Mortensen is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Mexico and Guatemala. He has gained an expertise in the civil codes of Latin America and their application to Courts in the United States and has authored articles that have appeared in several legal journals, including the Utah Trial Journal. He is a frequent lecturer and has given several seminar presentations to his peers. He lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife, Robyn. They have five children. When Mr. Mortensen is not busy practicing law, he is an avid BYU football fan and a member of the BYU Cougar Club. An arts advocate, he sat for many years on the board of directors at Centerpoint Legacy Theater, which he and his wife continue to support.
