On June 27, 2024, a Utah Court dismissed all claims against Bienert Katzman Littrell Williams LLP’s client Timothy Ballard with prejudice. BKLW partners Thomas H. Bienert, Jr. and Whitney Z. Bernstein, associates Alexis Paschedag Federico and Nancy J. Sandoval, and paralegals Toni Thomas and Miriah Edwards represented Mr. Ballard. Alexis successfully argued the Motion to Dismiss before Third District Court Judge Kristine Johnson.

Plaintiff Jordana Bree Righter sued Mr. Ballard, the founder and former CEO of an anti-child trafficking organization who has been named as a defendant in multiple cases due to his anti-trafficking work. The Plaintiff filed claims against Mr. Ballard based on harm she allegedly sustained at the hands of others when she volunteered to go undercover and in related training.

The Court found that the Plaintiff’s claims against Mr. Ballard were permanently barred by the Release of Liability clause in the Independent Contractor Agreement she signed. The Court also found that even if the agreement had not precluded the Plaintiff’s claims, her vague allegations were factually insufficient to sustain any claim against Mr. Ballard. The Court also found that her conspiracy claim, as pleaded, was barred by the intracorporate immunity doctrine and that she failed to identify a legal duty Mr. Ballard owed the Plaintiff that would give rise to a negligence claim.

“We are pleased the Court in this case reached the correct result and grateful for the swift resolution of this matter on Mr. Ballard’s behalf,” said Alexis.

Mr. Ballard in a written statement expressed his gratitude to the Court for recognizing the case’s lack of merit and criticized plaintiff’s claims for negatively impacting anti-trafficking efforts.

Read more:

• Lawsuit against Tim Ballard and OUR over training incident dismissed by judge. Here’s why., Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake City Tribune
• Motion to dismiss secured for high-profile client in alleged abuse case, bklwlaw.com