# Kirton McConkie **Type:** helper **Status:** Draft **Confidence:** Medium **Focus:** startup law, corporate formation, venture financing, M&A, securities, IP, general counsel **Location:** Salt Lake City, UT (offices also in Lehi, St. George, and Boise) **Updated:** 2026-06-18 **Layout:** field-guide ## Summary Kirton McConkie is a full-service Utah law firm — by its own account one of the largest in the state, with 200+ attorneys across Salt Lake City, Lehi, St. George, and Boise. For a founder, the most useful thing to know is that the firm runs a corporate group that handles the legal scaffolding of company-building: entity formation, founder and equity arrangements, capital raises, securities compliance, contracts, and eventual mergers or acquisitions, with IP and tax colleagues in the same building. This is a generalist big-firm option rather than a startup-only boutique. It fits founders who want one firm that can carry them from formation through financing and a possible exit. ## Impact Many first-time Utah founders get the early legal layer wrong: a cap table that scares off investors, an equity split with no vesting, IP that was never assigned to the company, or a "friends and family" round that quietly broke securities rules. Those mistakes are cheap to prevent and expensive to unwind later during diligence. A full-service corporate practice matters here because the same firm that forms the company can also paper the first priced round and run the sell-side of an acquisition years later — without the founder re-explaining the business to a new set of lawyers each time. ## How They Help Based on the firm's public practice descriptions, Kirton McConkie can help a founder with: - **Formation and structure** — entity choice, founder agreements, equity and vesting, corporate governance. - **Capital raising** — private placements, convertible/SAFE and priced-round documents, securities compliance for angel and venture financings. - **M&A and exits** — buy-side and sell-side transactions, due diligence, deal structuring and negotiation. - **Adjacent needs under one roof** — intellectual property, tax, employment, immigration, and real estate, coordinated with the corporate team. The firm publicly says clients often use it in a "general counsel" capacity, including scalable counsel for companies not yet ready for full-time in-house lawyers. [source:kirton-mcconkie-official-website] ## Best-Fit Founders The strongest fit is a Utah founder who wants a single, established firm to handle formation, financing, and the messy contractual middle of company-building — particularly a team that expects to raise priced rounds, hire across state lines, or sell the company eventually. It is less likely to be the cheapest option for a pre-revenue solo founder who only needs an LLC and a template operating agreement; that founder may start with [Utah SBDC](utah-sbdc.md) or [SCORE Utah](score-utah.md) for business basics and bring in firm-level counsel when equity, investors, or IP assignment enter the picture. ## Cost / Engagement Model Kirton McConkie is a large full-service firm; engagements are typically hourly or matter-based at market rates, not a fixed startup package. The firm publicly emphasizes long-term, general-counsel-style relationships. Founders should ask directly about rates, whether early-stage flat-fee formation packages exist, and which specific attorney would own the relationship before engaging. Pricing is not published; verify in an intake conversation. ## Proof Points - Public corporate and M&A practice pages describe entity formation, capital raising, securities compliance, and mergers/acquisitions as core work. [source:kirton-mcconkie-official-website] - Named attorneys publicly focus on emerging-growth companies and venture-capital financings (e.g., Robbie Yates, recognized by Chambers USA for an "emerging practice in the venture capital market"). - Firm and attorneys report recognition in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, and the inaugural Legal 500 Salt Lake City Elite rankings — independent reputational signals, not guarantees of fit. ## Good Matches A good match is a Utah technology, life-science, or growth company that needs durable corporate counsel across multiple stages and values having IP, tax, and employment expertise available from the same firm. Researchers spinning a company out of a university may find the combination of corporate plus IP counsel useful when negotiating license terms and a clean ownership structure. ## Cautions Do not read this page as a claim that Kirton McConkie has agreed to represent any particular founder or offered favorable terms. It describes public capabilities only. Big-firm rates can be a poor fit for the very earliest stage; match the engagement to the actual need. Confirm conflicts, the specific responsible attorney, and fee structure before relying on the firm for a time-sensitive raise or deal. ## Evidence - [Kirton McConkie Official Website](kirton-mcconkie-official-website.md) ## Open Questions - Does the firm offer fixed-fee formation or early-stage packages, and at what threshold does it prefer to engage? - Which named attorneys are the best first contacts for pre-seed versus Series A versus M&A work? - How does it compare on cost and startup focus with boutique alternatives for a founder who only needs a clean first round?