The controlling Utah authority on when title vests under boundary by acquiescence: by operation of law the moment the doctrine's elements are met, not by later decree.
Riverdale, Utah · Established 2002
BARTLETT & WEBSTER
Utah Supreme Court · Utah Court of Appeals · Wyoming Supreme Court · Utah District Courts
Family Law · Criminal Defense · Real Estate · Business Litigation · Estate Planning · Appeals
Two partners, twenty-four years, and a published record you can read for yourself.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
Need a Lawyer?
Start with a free 20-minute consultation.
We are real people who live and work in the Northern Utah community we serve, and we are easy to reach. Sit down with one of us, tell us what happened, and we will tell you plainly where you stand. The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
The Firm
One standard of preparation, in every area we practice.
Most people sit across from a lawyer only once or twice in a lifetime, and rarely for a happy reason. At Bartlett & Webster that conversation might be about a boundary line, a business, a marriage, an estate, or a criminal charge — and in each of them the work is the same: learn the record cold, get the law right, and build the case as though a court will read every line of it. Often enough, one has.
We are a general-practice firm in the way Northern Utah has always needed one. Six practice areas across two partners means the lawyer who takes your first call is the lawyer who handles the matter, tries it if it is tried, and argues the appeal if it goes that far. Nothing gets handed down to someone junior as it gets harder, because there is no one junior to hand it to.
Matthew Bartlett has been licensed and practicing in Northern Utah since 2002 and John Webster since 2001. Between them they have carried cases from a county courtroom to the Utah Court of Appeals and the Utah Supreme Court, and the Wyoming Supreme Court — several of those opinions are still cited by Utah courts today. That appellate discipline does not stay on the appellate docket. It is how every file here gets built.
Review the case, master it, identify the issues, advocate for our clients.
Real Estate & Property · Business & Contract Litigation · Business & Estate Planning · Family Law · Criminal Defense · Appeals
Watch
Hear it from us.
These videos are attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice. Deadlines vary with the facts of a case. Some videos use AI-generated video and voice of our attorneys.
From Our Appellate Record
Four opinions from our appellate practice.
Reversal of a divorce decree for inadequate findings. Still regularly cited on the detail Utah law requires to support imputation and dissipation.
Dismissal of our client's emotional-distress claims vacated on our certiorari petition, remanded under current Establishment Clause doctrine.
Probate order reversed in the Wyoming Supreme Court, vindicating a widow's right to control a wrongful-death claim.
Practice Areas
What we handle.
For Trial Lawyers
Referral and co-counsel engagements.
Many of our appellate engagements come from other attorneys. We can serve as counsel of record on appeal, or work behind the scenes — evaluating appealable issues, drafting or editing briefs, and mooting oral argument while you remain counsel of record.
We are candid about the merits. If an appeal is not worth your client's money, we will say so.
John M. Webster leads the appellate practice and is the first call for referrals: (801) 475-4506 · john@bartweblaw.com. Wyoming appeals go to Matthew A. Bartlett, who is licensed there: (801) 627-6471 · matt@bartweblaw.com.
The Attorneys
Matt and John began working together as law clerks in 2000, founded Bartlett & Webster when Matt passed the bar in 2002, and have been practicing in the same location since.
Every matter at this firm is handled by a partner.
Matthew A. Bartlett
Partner · Litigation & Business Advising · Utah & Wyoming
Matt is a trial lawyer. Most of his docket is family law, criminal defense, and civil litigation in the Utah district courts and in Wyoming, and he shares that docket with John. He also leads the firm's business advising practice — entity formation and governance, buy-sell agreements, contracts, succession planning, and estate planning and probate — and works with John on appeals. Licensed in both Utah and Wyoming, he appears in the courts of both states, including the Wyoming Supreme Court, where the firm won reversal of a probate order in In re Estate of Johnson.
- AdmittedUtah, October 16, 2002
- Also licensedWyoming
- Law schoolUniversity of Utah
- Utah Bar No.9499
- Direct(801) 627-6471
- Emailmatt@bartweblaw.com
John M. Webster
Partner · Appellate Practice
John leads the firm's appellate practice in the Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Court of Appeals, and is the first point of contact for referring trial counsel on Utah appeals. Wyoming appeals are handled by Matt, who is licensed there. He has briefed and argued Q-2 L.L.C. v. Hughes and Rayner v. Rayner, both still cited as Utah authority. He shares the firm's litigation docket with Matt across real property, business, family law, and criminal matters, and works with him on business and estate matters.
- AdmittedUtah, October 17, 2001
- Law schoolUniversity of Utah
- Utah Bar No.9065
- Direct(801) 475-4506
- Emailjohn@bartweblaw.com
Jordane Rohde
Paralegal
Jordane supports both partners across all practice areas and is often the fastest way to get a document, a status update, or an appointment on the calendar. Jordane is not an attorney and cannot give legal advice, but she is a key point of contact for our clients and works alongside the partners to move each case toward the client's goals.
Practice Areas
Six areas, one office, twenty-four years.
We are generalists in the way small-town firms have always been generalists — deep in the areas Northern Utah actually needs, and willing to follow a case into the appellate courts when the law is worth fighting over.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
Appellate Practice · Utah & Wyoming
Appeals are a different kind of lawyering. We have the record to prove it.
An appeal is not a second trial. There are no witnesses, no new evidence, and no jury — only the record, the law, and the brief. Success on appeal turns on skills different from trial advocacy: framing the issues, mastering the standard of review, and writing with the precision appellate judges expect.
Bartlett & Webster has been doing that work for nearly twenty years. We have briefed and argued appeals before the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah Court of Appeals, and the Wyoming Supreme Court — including decisions that reversed trial-court judgments and opinions that continue to shape Utah law on property rights, alimony, and the liability of religious institutions.
Not a lawyer? See Appealing a judgment for a plain-language version of this page.
Engagements
What we handle.
- Civil appeals in the Utah Supreme Court, Utah Court of Appeals, and Wyoming Supreme Court — family law, real property, probate, contract and business disputes, and personal injury.
- Criminal appeals from convictions and sentences in Utah's state courts.
- Petitions for certiorari and interlocutory review.
- Defense of judgments — protecting a win at trial is as demanding as attacking a loss.
- Post-trial motions and issue preservation — engaged before judgment, we help make sure the record supports the appeal you may need.
- Appellate consulting for trial lawyers — briefing, record review, and moot argument support, with trial counsel remaining counsel of record.
For Trial Lawyers
Three ways to bring us in.
Trial lawyers rarely need appellate counsel — until the day they do, usually with thirty days on the clock. We take appellate matters in three ways, at your and your client's election:
- As counsel of record on appeal, handling the briefing and argument.
- As consulting counsel — issue evaluation, brief drafting or editing, record review, and moot argument — with you remaining counsel of record.
- Before judgment, on post-trial motions and issue preservation, so the record supports the appeal your client may need.
We are candid in our case evaluations; if an appeal is not worth pursuing, we will tell you and your client directly. We are equally comfortable defending a judgment you have won. Referral inquiries are welcome from counsel throughout Utah and Wyoming.
Talk to Us Early
The most common appellate mistake happens before the appeal begins.
An issue that was never preserved. A finding that was never challenged. A deadline that passed. If you have received an adverse ruling — or expect one — call us.
In most Utah and Wyoming civil cases, the notice of appeal is due thirty days after entry of judgment.
Utah R. App. P. 4(a); Wyo. R. App. P. 2.01(a). Certain post-judgment motions can extend the deadline — but do not count on it without checking.
John Webster leads the appellate practice and is the first point of contact for Utah appeals and referrals. Matthew Bartlett also takes appellate matters and handles all Wyoming appeals: (801) 627-6471 · matt@bartweblaw.com.
Appellate Experience
Representative decisions.
A selection of the firm's appellate matters in Utah and Wyoming. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every appeal is decided on its own record, facts, and law.
Utah Supreme Court
- Williams v. Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 2021 UT 18, 491 P.3d 852. For petitioner on certiorari Dismissal of the client's emotional-distress claims against a religious institution vacated; the Court held the Lemon test no longer controls and remanded for analysis under current Establishment Clause doctrine.
- Q-2 L.L.C. v. Hughes, 2016 UT 8, 368 P.3d 86. For respondents on certiorari Judgment for the firm's clients affirmed. The Court held that title under boundary by acquiescence vests by operation of law when the doctrine's elements are satisfied, rather than upon a later judicial decree — the controlling Utah authority on when title vests.
Wyoming Supreme Court
- In re Estate of Johnson, 2010 WY 63, 231 P.3d 873. For appellant Probate order denying a widow's petition to revoke the appointment of a personal representative for a wrongful-death claim reversed; case remanded for dismissal of the probate proceedings.
Utah Court of Appeals
- Williams v. Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 2019 UT App 40, 440 P.3d 820. For appellant Dismissal affirmed; the firm then obtained certiorari, and the dismissal was vacated by the Utah Supreme Court.
- Robertson v. Robertson, 2016 UT App 55, 370 P.3d 569 (mem.). For appellant Child-relocation and custody determination affirmed; decision clarified that Utah's relocation statute does not require the notice to disclose the new address or household members.
- Vaughan v. Romander, 2015 UT App 244, 360 P.3d 761. For appellant Trial court's order affirmed in its entirety by a divided panel, with the authoring judge dissenting in the client's favor on the parent-time schedule.
- Q-2, LLC v. Hughes, 2014 UT App 19, 319 P.3d 732. For appellants Summary judgment dismissing the clients' adverse-possession counterclaim reversed and remanded; the court held legal title had passed by operation of law decades earlier, leaving only bare record title in the opposing party.
- Rayner v. Rayner, 2013 UT App 269, 316 P.3d 455. For appellant Divorce decree reversed and remanded for detailed findings on income imputation and dissipation of marital assets; regularly cited by the Utah Court of Appeals on the adequacy of findings required to support imputation.
- Johnson v. Weber County, 2013 UT App 121, 302 P.3d 1243. For appellants Land-use challenge to county approval of a private school with residential and therapeutic components; summary judgment affirmed.
- Barber Bros. Ford, Inc. v. Foianini, 2008 UT App 463 (Dec. 18, 2008) (mem.). For appellees Judgment that the firm's client owed no duty to disclose and was not liable for fraudulent nondisclosure affirmed on appeal. Issued during the window in which unpublished Utah Court of Appeals decisions may be cited as precedent. See Utah R. App. P. 30(g).
Bringing us in on an appeal
We accept appellate engagements and consulting referrals from trial counsel throughout Utah and Wyoming. John M. Webster leads the appellate practice — call (801) 475-4506 or email john@bartweblaw.com. For Wyoming matters, Matthew A. Bartlett is licensed there and can be reached at matt@bartweblaw.com.
Watch
Videos and posts from the firm.
Our videos, with links to the firm on YouTube and Instagram.
Featured
“You don't look like an attorney.”
We hear that a lot. Our usual answer: what does an attorney look like? We are real people from Northern Utah.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
YouTube · @bartweblaw
Latest videos.
Tap a video to play it here.
youtube.com/@bartweblaw
The Weekly Show
Coming soon: the week's legal stories, explained.
Matt takes questions on the most interesting cases of the week, from Utah and around the country. Each episode will get its own entry here with a short written summary.
Follow the Firm
Posts and Reels.
These videos and posts are attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice. Watching or commenting does not create an attorney-client relationship. Some videos use AI-generated video and voice of our attorneys, and the weekly show uses an AI-generated host.
Family Law · Northern Utah & Southwest Wyoming
Divorce and custody cases are decided on details. We know which ones matter.
Custody, parent-time, support, alimony, and property division all turn on findings a judge has to make and support. We build the file with that in mind from the first meeting.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
What We Handle
From the petition through enforcement.
- Divorce — contested and uncontested, including temporary orders.
- Custody and parent-time — initial determinations and relocation disputes.
- Alimony and property division.
- Modifications — when circumstances have changed since the decree.
- Enforcement — when the other party is not following the order.
A partner handles your case
The lawyer you meet at the first conversation is the lawyer who drafts your filings and stands up in court. Our family-law appeals include Rayner v. Rayner and Robertson v. Robertson; see Decisions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Criminal Defense · Utah State Courts
Charged with a crime? Talk to a lawyer before you talk to anyone else.
A charge is not a conviction. We defend misdemeanor and felony cases in Utah's state courts, and the lawyer you meet is the lawyer who stands next to you in court.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
What We Handle
Misdemeanors and felonies.
- DUI.
- Drug offenses.
- Assault.
- Theft.
- Probation matters.
- Expungement.
Trial defense with appellate capability
If your case goes up on appeal, it stays in this office with the lawyers who already know the record.
Appeals · Utah & Wyoming
Lost at trial, or convicted? An appeal has a short clock.
An appeal is not a second trial. It asks a higher court to correct a legal error in the first one, using the record already made. We take civil and criminal appeals, and we will tell you candidly whether an appeal looks worth your money.
In most Utah and Wyoming civil cases, the notice of appeal is due thirty days after entry of judgment.
A criminal appeal has its own short deadline, counted from sentencing. Call before you count days.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
What We Appeal
Judgments and convictions.
- Criminal convictions and sentences from Utah's state courts.
- Divorce and custody decrees.
- Property and boundary judgments.
- Probate orders.
- Contract and business judgments.
- Defending a judgment you won when the other side appeals.
Read the record for yourself
Our published civil appellate decisions are listed, with citations, on the Decisions page. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Free 20-Minute Consultation
Tell us how to reach you. We will call.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500. Leave your name and number and someone from the office will call you.
Prefer to call? (801) 612-0417, weekdays during business hours.
Work With Us
We hire rarely, and we hire carefully.
We are always looking for the right fit. Not for a body to fill a seat — for the attorney, clerk, or paralegal whose work we would be glad to put the firm’s name on. That search does not begin when a chair empties and it does not stop when one is filled, so there is no wrong month to write to us. Most of the people we have hired reached out before there was a posting.
Bartlett & Webster is two partners and a paralegal in Riverdale. That size is the whole point of working here.
Now Hiring
Two positions are open today — Associate Attorney and Paralegal / Legal Assistant. Law clerk applications are read year-round. Everything goes to hiring@bartweblaw.com.
Why This Firm
Real files, early.
- You will carry matters, not fragments of them. There is no document-review basement here. A new lawyer at this firm meets clients, takes depositions, and stands up in the Second District Court in the first year.
- Writing that goes somewhere. We have briefed and argued in the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah Court of Appeals, and the Wyoming Supreme Court for nearly twenty years, and several of those opinions are still cited. If you want to write briefs that end up in the reporters, that work exists here.
- Breadth before specialization. Six practice areas across two partners means you will not be typed into one niche in your second year unless you want to be.
- A second license. One partner is admitted in Wyoming, and the firm handles matters in both states. Wyoming admission is a real path here, not a hypothetical.
- Weber County, not the Wasatch Front commute. Ogden and the northern valleys, with the cost of living and the drive time that come with them.
What we offer
Great work/life balance, competitive salary, easy access to the supervising attorney, a relaxed office setting, and upward mobility. In addition, you will have control over your practice areas, cases, and docket.
Positions
Two open positions, and one standing invitation.
Associate Attorney
Now hiringA licensed Utah attorney, or a graduate awaiting bar results, to work across the firm's litigation docket and its appellate practice. Both partners supervise directly; there is no layer between an associate and the person reviewing the work.
- Admitted in Utah, or sitting for the Utah bar. Wyoming admission is a plus and something the firm will support.
- Writing that stands on its own. This matters more here than class rank.
- Willingness to be in court early and often.
- Any interest in appellate work is worth telling us about.
Law Clerk & Summer Intern
Open year-roundCurrent law students, part-time during the school year or full-time over the summer. Clerks here research and draft on live matters — motions, memoranda, and sections of appellate briefs — and their work is read and marked up by a partner, not filed away.
- Enrolled at an accredited law school. Both partners are S.J. Quinney graduates, but we read every application.
- 1Ls are welcome to apply; we do not restrict clerkships to 2Ls.
- Tell us what you want to learn. A clerk who wants appellate practice gets appellate work.
Paralegal & Legal Assistant
Now hiringSupport across every practice area — drafting and filing, client intake, discovery organization, and calendaring. In a firm with an appellate docket, calendaring is not clerical work: a missed jurisdictional deadline ends a case, and the person watching those dates is trusted accordingly.
- Experience in a Utah law office, or a paralegal certificate, or a demonstrable reason we should train you.
- Comfort with Utah's e-filing systems is valuable; we will teach the rest.
- Precision under deadline pressure, and the judgment to flag a problem early rather than absorb it.
How to Apply
Four steps, and a real answer either way.
- Email us at hiring@bartweblaw.com, with the position in the subject line.
- Attach a résumé as a PDF. Transcripts are optional and we will ask if we want one.
- Attorneys and law clerks: include a writing sample of five to ten pages that you wrote yourself and that no one else substantially edited. A brief, a memorandum, or a seminar paper is fine. We would rather read something honest and unpolished than something a supervisor rewrote.
- Write a few sentences — not a formal cover letter — about the kind of work you are looking for and why this firm. Short is better. We read all of it.
What happens next
A partner reads every application and you will get a real answer, because we have both been on the other side of that silence. Strong materials stay on file and we go back to them first — which is exactly how the right fit has found this firm before.
Bartlett & Webster considers all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If you need an accommodation at any point in the application process, tell us and we will arrange it.
Contact
Riverdale, Utah.
The first 20 minutes are free. If you hire us, retainers in most cases start at $3,500.
Office
5093 South 1500 West
Riverdale, Utah 84405
Covering the entire state, but primarily serving Weber, Davis, Morgan, Cache, and Box Elder Counties in Utah, and Uinta, Lincoln, and Sweetwater Counties in Wyoming.
Fax (801) 612-0418
Phone and Direct Lines
Both partners are experienced divorce and criminal defense attorneys, and all litigation is shared between them. Matt also leads business advising and John leads appeals. Either will get you to the right place.
- Main officeNew clients start here (801) 612-0417
- Text the firmAnswered by John Webster (801) 645-0964
- Matthew A. BartlettPartner · Litigation & Business Advising (801) 627-6471matt@bartweblaw.com
- John M. WebsterPartner · Appeals (801) 475-4506john@bartweblaw.com
- Jordane RohdeParalegal jordan@bartweblaw.com
Before you text or email us
Sending a text or an email to this firm does not create an attorney-client relationship, and we cannot treat what you send as confidential until we have checked for conflicts and agreed in writing to represent you.
So keep a first message short: your name, the county your matter is in, and a sentence about what it concerns. Please do not send case details, documents, or anything you would not want the opposing party to read. We will tell you quickly whether we can help and how to send the rest securely.
John Webster answers the text line himself, during business hours — and sometimes after. It is not the only way to reach us in an emergency: if you are facing a filing deadline, please text and email, and if it is during regular business hours, please call.
Looking for a position?
Employment inquiries go to hiring@bartweblaw.com, not the numbers above. See Work With Us for open positions and what to send.
If you are facing an appellate deadline
Say so when you call. In most Utah and Wyoming civil cases the notice of appeal is due thirty days after entry of judgment, and that clock does not stop while you look for counsel.
Privacy Policy
What this site collects and what we do with it.
What you give us. If you submit the consultation form, we receive your name, phone number, email address, county, the general type of matter, and the time you prefer to be called. We use that information to contact you about your request and to check for conflicts of interest. We do not sell it or share it with anyone outside the firm, except service providers who host this site and our email.
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No attorney-client relationship. Sending information through this site does not make you a client, and what you send is not confidential until we have checked for conflicts and agreed in writing to represent you.
Questions or removal. To ask what we hold about you or to have it deleted, call (801) 612-0417 or write to Bartlett & Webster, 5093 South 1500 West, Riverdale, Utah 84405.