ABOUT SMOLAND LAW

DAIN SMOLAND, ESQ. (Manager and Owner)

This is my eighth year of law practice, during which time I’ve focused exclusively on criminal defense in Utah. I have argued and won bench trials, jury trials, and motion hearings. I’ve sued law enforcement agents for wrongful arrests and obtained monetary judgements for my clients. I’ve also briefed cases before the Utah Court of Appeals, the Utah Supreme Court, and the 10th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

Before and during law school, I worked inside the court-system in Utah and in Colorado, and interned with both the Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, giving me some valuable perspective on how judges and prosecutors operate. I love criminal law, and I’m glad to be an attorney.

Law Licenses

• State of Utah
• Federal Court for the District of Utah
• 10th Circuit Court of Appeals

Legal Experience

• Owner-Manager, Smoland Law
• Intern, Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office
• Volunteer Attorney, Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic
• Volunteer Legal Intern, United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona
• Judicial Extern, Chambers of Federal Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba, District of Utah
• Court Judicial Assistant, Colorado Sixth Judicial District

Degrees and Accomplishments

• Juris Doctor, Vermont Law School
  • Magna Cum Laude
  • Top 10% of Class
  • Law Review Editor
  • Member of Mock Trial Team
  • Two Academic Excellence Awards for Highest Final Grade (Constitutional Law and Corporations)
• Master’s Degree, Northern Arizona University
  • Summa Cum Laude
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Bachelor’s Degree, Northern Arizona University
  • Honors College, Summa Cum Laude

Professional Organizations

• The Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• The American Bar Association
• The Utah Young Lawyers Division
• The Salt Lake County Bar Association
• NORML Legal Committee

Community and Volunteer Work

• Assisted the Utah Young Architects Forum in the launch of SixtyNine Seventy, an international design competition aimed at revitalizing two city blocks in downtown Salt Lake City.   

Law Publications

• …And Damned If You Don’t: Utah’s Plea Withdrawal Statute is a Devil’s Bargain for Criminal Defendants, Utah Journal of Criminal Law, Spring 2021, Volume 5, Issue 1 (Co-Authored with Ann Taliaferro).
• Keep Calm and Argue the Facts: A Pragmatic Approach to the Doctrine of Chances, Utah Bar Journal, Sep/Oct 2012, Vol 26, #5, Page 45-49.  You can also view it here.