Jennie Budge Garner

Jennie Budge Garner

Attorney

Ms. Garner specializes in commercial litigation, including securities and derivative litigation, bankruptcy adversary proceedings, contract disputes, business torts, and real estate matters. While her practice focuses on litigation, she also has significant experience in transactional matters, including negotiating and documenting commercial real estate sales agreements and leases, development agreements, corporate contracts, and business formation documents.

Prior to coming to Smith Hartvigsen, she worked at Dorsey and Whitney LLP and at two small law firms representing clients in civil rights, medical malpractice, intellectual property, contract and real estate matters. In addition, she served for over two years as corporate counsel to Iomega Corporation, the manufacturer of Zip drives and disks, working mostly with sales and marketing and corporate compliance.

Other Philanthropy

Ms Garner likes to get involved with community programs of the Utah State Bar, such as Wills for Heroes and Candy Cane Corner. She has also worked with Girl Scout troops in underserved communities through Women Lawyers of Utah. She is on the board of the Women in Law section of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Salt Lake City Chapter, promoting and supporting women lawyers in both their professional and private lives. In her church, she teaches adult Sunday School and plays the organ for worship services.

Education

She grew up in Ogden, Utah, graduating from Ogden High in 1976 and later being graduated from Weber State College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and English. Ms Garner received her Juris Doctor from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1989 and earned her J.D. as a single mother of two toddlers – which was a pretty rigorous education in and of itself.

Hobbies & Family

Now that her children are grown with lives of their own, her new husband (19 years) and she love to travel. We have visited many countries in Europe, Asia, Central America and South America. They enjoy scuba diving, hiking, and watching American football. They also love backpacking and wilderness camping in the Uinta Mountains in Utah and the Tetons and Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.

Why CSS?

Ms. Garner was invited to a CSS breakfast promoting the GrandFamilies kinship care program. She immediately fell in love with the program. But CSS is so much more than just GrandFamilies. As she learned more about the vision and the passion of the talented women who run CSS, she wanted everyone to know about their mission to enrich the lives of children and families. She joined the board to help spread the word and expand CSS programs through community outreach and fundraising.

Areas of Expertise

  • Problem solving
  • Mentoring
  • Teaching
  • Networking