Former University of Utah President Michael K. Young has joined the Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie and will head the practice’s newly formed Center for International Dispute Resolution. Young is president emeritus and professor of law and public policy at Texas A&M University and former president of the University of Washington. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School and a former law clerk to the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court.
“We are so honored to have Professor Young join the firm,” said Robert Walker, Kirton McConkie president and shareholder. “His international arbitration experience; careers in government, private practice, and legal education; and leadership at three of the country’s most renowned institutions of higher education will help make our new Center for International Dispute Resolution a unique service to businesses in need of effective conflict resolution.”
Walker said Kirton McConkie’s Center for International Dispute Resolution offers arbitrator and mediator services and representation in international arbitration and litigation matters worldwide. Kirton McConkie lawyers have represented clients from more than 150 nations and every U.S. state and are fluent in over 20 languages. “Our team drafts dispute resolution provisions, delivers mediation and arbitrator services, provides representation before arbitral tribunals and mediators, enforces awards and judgments and works with clients to devise and implement strategies to achieve their goals and successfully resolve international disputes,” he said.
Several Kirton McConkie attorneys will work alongside Young in the Center for International Dispute Resolution, including Tim Anderson, Joseph Brubaker, Adam Wahlquist, Qiwei Chen, Shawn Gunnarson, Cliff Blair, Cameron Hancock, Scott Isaacson and Yangzi Jin.
“We look forward to becoming the premier international dispute resolution program in the region,” said Young. “The thriving business landscape throughout the Intermountain West needs highly skilled assistance and representation to manage its diverse international legal needs. I am thrilled to be joining a team that provides a collaborative approach to dispute resolution.”
Young has arbitrated multiple disputes throughout his career. Notably, he sat as president in the arbitration of Glamis Gold Ltd. V. The United States of America, an arbitration under the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has also arbitrated disputes administered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.