The law firm of Parr Brown Gee & Loveless is proud to announce that Jenifer Tomchak received the 2014 Hearts and Hands Award during the Utah Philanthropy Day Luncheon held on November 13, and was recognized again at the Utah State Bar’s Fall Forum on November 21. The Hearts and Hands Award recognizes outstanding volunteers who impact our community. “We are very proud of all that Jen contributes to our clients, our firm, our profession and the community,” noted Parr Brown President, Daniel Jensen. The nomination, made by the Utah State Bar, lauded Ms. Tomchak’s numerous contributions, and especially her efforts to increase access to justice, including the following accomplishments:
• In her role as the current President of the Utah Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Former Chair of its Pro Bono Committee, Ms. Tomchak has focused on efforts to increase access to justice by organizing VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) training by volunteer attorneys for domestic-violence-shelter employees, developing and coordinating the Federal Appointment Wheel for appointing counsel in civil rights actions, and developing Help R.I.S.E. (a program that helps under-employed lawyers obtain legal experience and low cost CLE by representing federal re-entry court participants in civil matters). She also organized a book drive for fourth-grade children in Title I schools.
• In her role as a past president of the Young Lawyers Division and former chair of its Community Service Committee, she organized the first annual Walk Against Violence, benefiting the YWCA; an annual Professional Clothing Drive, benefiting the Junior League’s Community Closet; a toy drive and volunteer activities benefiting the Family Support Center and YWCA; and a number of community service projects. She is also a co-chair the Green Utah Committee, which is working to increase the use of sustainable practices among law firms in Utah.
• Ms. Tomchak is a current board member of the Utah State Bar’s Litigation Section, where she Chairs the Aiding Judiciary Subcommittee and serves as the Section’s Law Student and Young Lawyer liaison. She has organized events to promote and support the Utah State Bar’s Modest Means Program, which seeks to make legal services affordable to people with modest means.
• Ms. Tomchak has been a member of the Utah State Bar’s Books for Barristers Program, since its inception. This program provides new books to first-graders in Title 1 elementary schools in Wasatch, Davis and Utah counties.
• Ms. Tomchak is a long-standing and active member of Women Lawyers of Utah (WLU) and the Utah Minority Bar Association (UMBA), which focus on increasing awareness of diversity issues. She has served on the Board of UMBA and serves on a number of WLU committees.
• Ms. Tomchak is a member of the Women’s Giving Circle of the Community Foundation of Utah, the Utah Women’s Forum, the David K. Watkiss – Sutherland II Inn of Court, and the Salt Lake County Bar Association.
Ms. Tomchak is a graduate of Utah State University, where she received her B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, a minor in Spanish, and a Certificate in International Relations. She interned in Washington, DC for U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, and then earned both her M.B.A. and J.D. in 2004 from the S.J. Quinney College of Law and David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Order of the Coif. Prior to joining Parr Brown, she clerked for Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant. Ms. Tomchak focuses her practice on employment litigation, commercial banking issues, employment-based immigration issues, legal malpractice defense, and complex commercial litigation. She has been recognized by the Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s 30 Women to Watch and has been recognized since 2008 in Mountain States Super Lawyers as a Rising Star and by the Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s Legal Elite in business litigation.