Gov. Gary Herbert has nominated three lawyers to become new 3rd District Court judges in Salt Lake County: Linda Jones, Patrick Corum and Amber Mettler.
“They are each of the highest character and are committed to the rule of law and the highest principles of justice,” Herbert said.
Jones is current a partner in the firm of Zimmerman Jones Booher, representing clients in appellate matters and in district court. From 2009 to 2016, she was an adjunct professor at the S. J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.
From 1995 to 2011, she was an appellate lawyer with the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association. She has been a fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers since 2011.
“I am humbled and honored to be appointed, and if confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to serving,” Jones said.
Corum is a trial attorney and supervisor with the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, where he previously served as assistant director.
He has been an adjunct law professor at the University of Utah. Since 1999, he has served in the Viaduct/Pioneer Park Legal Clinic, where he counsels low-income and homeless clients.
“If confirmed, I will work diligently each and every day to validate the trust the governor has placed in me and serve the people of Utah with integrity, respect and fairness,” he said.
Mettler has been an attorney at Snell & Wilmer since 2007 and a partner since 2015. She handles a variety of disputes, including breach of contract, fraud, antitrust, land use, intellectual property and leases.
She has argued before the Utah Court of Appeals, the Utah Supreme Court and the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. She was previously an associate at the Washington, D.C., firm of Williams & Connolly.
“If confirmed, I am committed to serving the court and the citizens of Utah to the best of my ability,” Mettler said.
If confirmed by the Utah Senate, the trio would fill vacancies created by the retirements of Judges Robert Adkins, Bruce Lubeck and Ann Boyden.