Precision strategy for high-stakes conflict.
We litigate when others settle. Utah business litigation, commercial disputes, and civil appeals across Utah, Colorado, and federal courts.
Including emergency TRO and injunction defense—available 24/7 for urgent Utah business court matters.
Emergency hearing for noncompete breach? Same-day consultation available.
Recognized by
Bar admissions
Practice Areas
Practice Areas
Emergency TRO & Injunction Defense
Immediate response for businesses facing temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and other urgent court deadlines. Available nights, weekends, and holidays.
Learn more →Immediate Representation for Noncompete & Restrictive Covenant Disputes
Cease-and-desist demands, TRO threats, and Utah one-year statutory limits handled with same-day strategy and filings.
Learn more →Commercial, Business & Fraud
Utah business litigation attorney for contract disputes, fraud, fiduciary duty, corporate governance, dissolution, interference, alter-ego, and fraudulent transfers.
Learn more →Employment Litigation
Trial-focused counsel for noncompete enforcement, Utah Wage Claim Act matters, discrimination defenses, and separation agreements.
Learn more →Appeals & Amicus Curiae
Civil appeals and amicus work in Utah, Colorado, the Tenth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Learn more →Trust & Probate
Trustee removal, accountings, undue influence, unauthorized amendments, and contested fiduciary actions.
Learn more →Real Property
Partition, boundary, quiet title, lis pendens, wrongful foreclosure, and execution sales.
Learn more →Products & Injury
Utah product liability attorney defense for manufacturers, premises owners, and transportation companies facing catastrophic injury claims.
Learn more →Attorney Ethics & Discipline
Disciplinary defense and character & fitness representation with one attorney, one conflict check, and complete discretion.
Learn more →Insurance & Bad Faith
Coverage opinions, declaratory actions, and first- and third-party bad-faith litigation.
Learn more →Commercial Litigation
Business and Commercial Litigation
Sarah leads SpencerWillson's commercial litigation practice. Recognitions include Best Lawyers (Commercial Litigation), Mountain States Super Lawyers, and Utah Legal Elite. Known as a “summary judgment lawyer,” she has secured major victories without trial, including UTA v. Greyhound (12 years; three appeals) and Feasel v. Tracker Marine (two appeals over 10 years).
Under emergency pressure? Visit the Emergency TRO & Injunction Defense page for rapid opposition, counterclaims, and cross-motions when hearings are days away.
When restrictive covenant disputes escalate to emergency hearings, procedural timing becomes critical—coordinating TRO responses, preliminary injunction strategy, and potential appeals on a single track.
Recent Results & Active Matters
Appellate
Civil Appeals
Civil appeals across commercial, tort, statutory, administrative, and constitutional matters. 75+ appellate cases; frequent arguments in Utah appellate courts and the Tenth Circuit; amicus briefing on issues of broad industry impact.
Oral Arguments (selected)
Commercial litigation involving loan agreements and foreclosure proceedings.
Watch Oral Argument →Appeal challenging dismissal of negligent hiring and breach of fiduciary duty claims.
Watch Oral Argument →Underinsured motorist coverage case addressing enforceability and subrogation actions.
Watch Oral Argument →Insurance coverage dispute involving UIM benefits.
Representative Appeals & Amicus
Amicus
Amicus Briefs
Regular representation of amici at the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuits, and state supreme courts.
Coverage
Insurance Coverage
Coverage opinions and declaratory actions for insurers and insureds across CGL, professional liability, auto, title, workers' compensation, and products and completed operations.
Representative Matters
Bad Faith
Bad-Faith Insurance Litigation
Prosecution and defense of bad-faith claims across auto, premises, title, and products lines, plus agent-negligence actions.
Representative Matters
Property
Property Litigation
Full-spectrum property litigation including partitions, boundaries, title and coverage, eminent domain, and execution sales.
Same-day consultations available. Email documentation securely and we will coordinate surveyors, engineers, and appraisal professionals when disputes escalate.
Representative Matters
Products & Injury
Products Liability Defense
Defense for manufacturers, sellers, and businesses in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and complex products litigation.
Need a deeper overview? Visit the Utah product liability attorney practice page for full service descriptions, summary judgment results, and consultation details.
Representative Cases
Judgment
Judgment Enforcement
We convert judgments into recoveries: writs and receivers, asset location and seizure, sheriff's sales, and extended-liability litigation.
Services
Trust & Probate
Trust & Probate Litigation
High-stakes trust and estate disputes for beneficiaries and fiduciaries, including trustee removal, accountings, undue influence, and emergency relief.
Need to freeze assets or neutralize misconduct immediately? The emergency TRO defense resource covers rapid injunction strategy for fiduciary and estate matters.
Representative Matters
Speaking & Writing
Speaking & Writing
Reviews
Reviews
Direct quotes from public platforms. Names omitted for privacy.
“Highly recommended. She moved the case forward and defended against misstatements.”
“Sarah is an amazing attorney. She did such a skillful job on my case.”
“If you need a smart, hard-working, and creative lawyer, I highly recommend Sarah Elizabeth Spencer.”
“Highly recommended... moved the case forward, educated the judge, and defended against blatant misstatements by the opposition.”
“Amazing representation in an insurance case. Prompt, available, fought hard.”
“Collections matter resolved with excellent results.”
“Excellent service, always prompt in communication.”
“Great to work with. Kept me informed.”
“Thorough—achieved a six-digit collection without trial.”
About
About Sarah Elizabeth Spencer Willson
Commercial litigator and appellate advocate licensed in Utah and Colorado; admissions include the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal circuits. Two decades of trial and appellate experience across complex disputes—contract, fiduciary, fraud, property, and insurance coverage. Recognitions: Best Lawyers (2017–2026), Mountain States Super Lawyers, Utah Legal Elite, Utah Business Forty Under 40.
Of Counsel
Of Counsel
Matthew Bagley, Of Counsel
Licensed in Utah state and federal courts, Matthew brings decades of business and commercial litigation experience and a JD/MBA from BYU. He is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Read more
After law school, Matthew moved with his family to Hong Kong to serve as a legal consultant for Intel Semiconductor, handling anti-counterfeiting and trademark matters across the Asia-Pacific region. In 1996, he returned to Utah and joined a Salt Lake City firm as a commercial litigator. In 2008, he became Associate General Counsel at SecurityNational Financial Corporation.
He first worked with Sarah in 2009 when SecurityNational retained her firm on a case he managed in-house. Their successful collaboration across multiple matters led Sarah to recruit him to SpencerWillson in 2023. Today, he balances his role at the firm with his ongoing in-house position at SecurityNational.
Serves as Of Counsel to SpencerWillson. Primary employment at SecurityNational Financial Corporation; availability is matter-dependent.
Contact
Contact
66 E. Exchange Place, Suite 208, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-2713
For urgent matters involving emergency court proceedings, you are welcome to call or text me on my personal cell phone. I will respond within 3 hours to all messages regarding scheduled and pending court hearings for which you are seeking legal representation. Do not send confidential information. No attorney-client relationship is formed by texting me; all engagements require a written and signed engagement letter.
Quick contact (no confidential info)
Do not send confidential information. No attorney-client relationship is formed by submitting this form.
Resources
Guides for Utah business litigation teams
Stay ahead of statewide developments with deep dives on Utah's Business and Chancery Court, CADRA cyberattack litigation strategy, and the leadership profile of Sarah Spencer. These guides explain how specialized forums, statutes, and trial counsel align to affect emergency relief, discovery, and courtroom leverage.
Utah Business Court
Utah Business and Chancery Court resource
Understand jurisdiction thresholds, published decisions, and statewide procedures that govern the new Utah Business and Chancery Court.
Learn more →Cybersecurity Litigation
Utah CADRA attorney guide
Explore CADRA remedies, digital account takeover recovery, and Business and Chancery Court CADRA filing strategy for unauthorized computer access Utah disputes.
Read the guide →Attorney leadership
Sarah Spencer biography
Review Sarah's 20-year commercial litigation and appellate background, admissions, and recognition guiding Spencer Willson PLLC.
Meet Sarah →Media
Press & Recognition
Sarah Spencer Selected to 2025 Mountain States Super Lawyers
SpencerWillson’s founding attorney, Sarah Elizabeth Spencer, was named to the 2025 Mountain States Super Lawyers list—an honor extended to a limited percentage of attorneys in the region and reflecting her commercial litigation and appellate results.
Media Highlights
In 2025, SpencerWillson authored an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Atlantic Legal Foundation urging the U.S. Supreme Court to curb post-judgment vertical forum shopping and protect fairness in the appellate process.
View briefSpencerWillson also filed an amicus brief in Sprout Foods, Inc. v. Davidson (2025), advocating for the Supreme Court to maintain FDCA preemption and a uniform national food-labeling standard on behalf of the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
View briefLatest News
The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Flowers Foods, Inc. v. Brock (No. 24-935), addressing whether local delivery workers who handle goods that traveled in interstate commerce—but do not cross state lines—qualify as “transportation workers” under Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act. Sarah Elizabeth Spencer (counsel of record) and Lawrence S. Ebner co-authored an amicus brief for the DRI Center for Law & Public Policy and the Atlantic Legal Foundation; Ms. Spencer authored the sole amicus brief with Mr. Ebner. Merits briefing will proceed in the coming months.
Sarah Elizabeth Spencer, Founder & Managing Attorney of SpencerWillson, PLLC, was recognized in the 2026 (32nd) edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants. Selections are entirely peer-reviewed and not pay-to-play, reflecting broad confidence in Ms. Spencer’s skill and results.
The firm filed Law Offices of Gabriel White v. State of Utah, seeking a declaratory judgment that the medical malpractice contingency-fee cap is unconstitutional and undermines access to justice.
The feature explored Sarah’s commercial litigation practice and her passion for extreme sports pursuits.
Annual peer-reviewed recognition underscored Sarah’s performance across complex trials and appeals.
Sarah Spencer presented strategies for litigating in Utah’s statewide Business & Chancery Court docket.
SpencerWillson deepened collaboration on high-impact amicus initiatives supporting industry stakeholders.