R. Shawn Gunnarson

Shawn Gunnarson is a member of the firm’s Appellate, International, and First Amendment and Religious Organizations sections. Before joining Kirton McConkie, he served as senior counsel to U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett, worked as an associate for the Washington, DC, office of White & Case, and litigated for the Washington Legal Foundation.

 

His practice focuses on critical motions and appeals in civil cases. He has filed briefs or petitions in 75 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Two cases involved emergency applications, both of which were granted. One resulted in a stay that both lower courts had denied. The other was treated as a petition for certiorari that the Court granted. He also has co-authored briefs in 11 of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, including a recent amicus brief in the Second Circuit, addressing ripeness doctrine in land use cases.

 

He served two terms as a member of the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Appellate Procedure, and he is a member of the Utah State Bar and the DC Bar.

Education

• Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School, JD, cum laude, 1994
  • Scholarly Writing Award, 1994
  • Member, BYU Law Review, 1993-94
• Brigham Young University, BA, Political Science and Honors in Philosophy (University Honors with Thesis), magna cum laude, 1991

Experience

U.S. Supreme Court Practice

• Represented clients in 75 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including amici curiae in dozens of First Amendment religion cases.
• Represented a landowner before the Supreme Court and South Carolina Supreme Court in a prominent regulatory takings case
• Represented a landowner seeking Supreme Court Review of a Federal Circuit decision involving ripeness and administrative exhaustion requirements
• Drafted petitions for certiorari on behalf of clients in Federal Arbitration Act and Eighth Amendment cases

Federal Appellate Practice

• Authored merits briefs and amicus briefs in 11 of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals addressing the First Amendment, justiciability, torts, choice of law, and civil procedure
• Recently co-authored Second Circuit amicus brief addressing ripeness doctrine in land use cases

Complex Civil Litigation

• Represented state-owned energy suppliers in litigation raising issues under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the domestic execution of international arbitral awards, and valid service of process on foreign states

Religious Organizations

• Acted as principal drafter for the Fairness for All Act of 2022, introduced in Congress to address both LGBT civil rights and religious freedom protections
• Drafts and reviews federal and state legislation involving religious freedom
• Co-authored and edited Religious Employment and the Tensions between Liberty and Equality, 51 BYU L. Rev. 279 (2025)
  • Co-authored and edited five-part series describing the article for the Volokh Conspiracy
• Advises The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on legal issues concerning religious freedom, both in the United States and internationally

 

• District of Columbia
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
• Utah