letter

May 12, 2010
Dear Mr. Hancock,

I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the nomination of my husband, Keith Eddington for the opening in the Eighth Judicial District Court. I would like to tell you why I think he would be an excellent choice for that position.

Keith has been practicing law since 1988, after graduating from BYU law school. We took the long road, graduating with 5 children, working our own way through college, and have really appreciated that experience. He was hired by Larsen and Farr, a small law firm in West Valley City as a clerk. This became a full time offer and became a “baptism by fire” for him, as he handled hundreds of indigents clients per month right out of law school, and was in front of a judge constantly. Just before he graduated Mr. Farr fell asleep at the wheel driving to work one day, killing himself and another in an auto accident. Keith had to come up to speed quickly and become a producing attorney in a very short period of time. This became a valuable learning experience for him as he learned the value of efficiency as an attorney in helping clients, and in helping the judge in doing his job. He learned the law quickly and thoroughly with his constant work in court. He has always enjoyed being treated in a professional manner in every court he appeared in throughout the Wasatch front.

He has always enjoyed the variety of cases that come into a small firm, experiencing and learning the law in so many different areas. Keith also enjoyed taking cases that took him out of the Salt Lake Valley as he would take one of his children with him to different rural towns in Utah, stopping to fish or sightsee. His experience in front of a judge in the smaller towns was quite often a frustrating one, as he would comment on being “home-towned” by certain rural judges. He knows the law well, and experienced a good deal of remorse for his clients when their case was lost because of what appeared to be a favoring of the local attorneys and not on the merits of their case.

In 2001, we decided to try rural life ourselves, leaving the growing populace of South Jordan. We chose to move to Roosevelt and Keith opened a private practice here. I have a sister that had “emigrated” here earlier and really loved the area. We quickly became huge fans of the Uintah Basin and have tried to get more family to join us as we love the lifestyle, the people, the opportunities for our children’s education, and Keith has his own little ranch with a dozen cows! The community has been very good to us and we love it here. Even my parents, lifelong residents of Sandy, are enjoying their retirement here.

Sadly, Keith has experienced some of the same legal issues here. The “local” attorneys will occasionally win in court when the facts just are not there. He has found the courts here to be a more casual place where the professionalism he enjoyed so much in Salt Lake is not always present. Attorneys and their clients in general are not treated with the decorum that should prevail and as a result, the experience clients have in the court system is not as positive as it could or should be.

If Keith were given this opportunity, he would strive to increase the respect shown between judges, attorneys and their clients, helping other (clients and attorneys) to always feel that they have had “their day in court”, receiving a verdict that is based on current laws and facts that are admissible, not on popularity.

He would strive to increase the efficiency in our local court system, showing more consideration for the time spent by clients and attorneys in waiting for the judge, modeling the way we do things after the efficient ways he has seen employed in the Fourth and other District Court systems. Our community has grown and I believe would benefit from and appreciate this updating in our local legal system.

Keith is a compassionate, caring individual. He has always been a great negotiator and has always acted in court with a level head and a calming influence. He has always shown respect for his clients, other attorneys and those on the bench. He does not believe in overcharging for his services, nor in trying to “run up the bill” to pad his pocket. He is a man of integrity, with a sharp mind and a fair spirit. He makes good decisions. He knows the law well and looks forward to studying it more closely.

We know that being a judge is a huge responsibility, and have not taken this decision of his to apply lightly. We know it will affect our lives in a big way, but we also know the difference that a fair, compassionate judge can have in the life of a soul. We have been in court ourselves the last few years with a son that we adopted from Russia as a 6 year old. He has struggled with “attachment disorder” as a result of his being raised in an orphanage and that has given rise to some honesty issues. Thank God for the blessing of a caring judge (the Honorable Judge Johansen from Price) that gave him the help that he needed, giving us the hope we needed, in a time of a great personal crisis (the local judges all recused themselves because of knowing Keith so well).

We have always admired those who have stepped up and given their lives to serve us. It will be an honor for him to give back to our wonderful community and to our country. Our legal system is certainly not perfect – neither are the judges and attorneys that practice therein, but ours is the best in the world! Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts.

Sincerely,

Diana Eddington

Roosevelt, Utah