Howard, Lewis & Petersen, P.C.

A Provo practice with roots in 1950

This is a law office with a long history in Utah County. According to the firm, it was founded in 1950 by Jackson B. Howard. The name Howard, Lewis & Petersen, P.C. was adopted in 1973. That gives the practice more than seven decades of continuous work in the same region.

The office is based in Provo. It serves clients across Provo, Orem, and the wider Utah County area. The firm also reports taking work from Logan in the north to St. George in the south, and up to Salt Lake City. Staff can communicate in English, Spanish, and French.

The areas of law the firm handles

The practice covers five main areas. These are personal injury, family law, criminal defense, business law, and estates, wills, and probate. That range lets one office handle several of the legal needs a family or a small business might meet over time.

Personal injury and family matters

Personal injury work includes car accidents, slip and falls, and medical malpractice cases. Family law covers divorce, child custody, child support, and adoption. Both areas tend to reach people at hard points in life, so having them under one roof can help.

Criminal defense, business, and estates

On the criminal side, the firm handles DUI charges, assault, theft, and felony cases. Business law and estate work, including wills and probate, round out the list. In my opinion, that mix reads like a firm built to serve a local community rather than one narrow niche.

How the team is built

The firm reports that more than 75 percent of its staff have been with it for 10 years or more. As a reviewer, I read that as a sign of a stable office. Long tenure often means clients see familiar faces from one matter to the next.

The site names several attorneys. Their backgrounds vary in useful ways, from trial work to appellate briefs to public service. What follows is drawn from what each lawyer's own profile states.

The attorneys and their backgrounds

Senior and managing partners

Don R. Petersen is President of the firm. He has practiced law for more than 60 years. He graduated from Utah State University in 1961, earned a J.D. from the University of Utah in 1964, and was admitted to the Utah Bar in 1965. His work centers on personal injury, medical malpractice, and family law.

D. David Lambert is a shareholder and managing partner who works as a trial attorney. He completed a Political Science degree at Utah State University in 1976 and graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1979. Before joining the firm, he served as an assistant Orem City Attorney.

Kenneth Parkinson has been with the firm since 1994 and serves as a managing partner. He holds a Bachelor's degree in English from Utah State University and a J.D. from Drake University Law School. He clerked for Judge Lynn W. Davis. His practice emphasizes trial work in employment and personal injury cases.

Shareholders

Leslie W. Slaugh is a shareholder. He earned a B.A. in economics from Brigham Young University in 1979 and a Juris Doctor from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1982. His work focuses on commercial law, real estate, creditor rights in bankruptcy, insurance, and appellate advocacy. His profile notes that he has written more than 100 briefs.

Jacob S. Gunter joined the firm as an associate in 2008 and is now a shareholder. He completed a B.S. in Political Science, with a Geology minor, at Utah State University in 2001, then earned his J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004. He handles personal injury matters, including car collisions, boating accidents, ATV collisions, and insurance disputes.

Other attorneys the firm names

Peter Lattin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University in 2004, graduating cum laude in International Studies with an emphasis in Chinese Area Studies. He is a 2008 graduate of the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law. During law school he served as President of the James E. Faust Student Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

Wendy Vawdrey joined the firm as an associate in 2022. She holds a B.S. in Plant Sciences from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law. Her main focus is family law, including divorce and custody. She also has experience with employment law, land use, medical malpractice, and immigration matters.

Ernest J. Istook, Jr. has practiced law since 1977. He served 25 years in federal, state, and local office, which included 14 years as a U.S. Congressman for Oklahoma's 5th District. He moved to Utah in 2015, taught political science at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University, then joined the firm in 2019. He earned his law degree from Oklahoma City University.

Attorneys with briefer profiles

The site also names Christopher D. Greulich and Drake S. Onaga among its attorneys. Their published profiles carry less detail. I'll note their presence without adding claims the firm does not state.

What the picture adds up to

Taken together, the details point to a settled, general practice with deep local ties. The founding date, the long staff tenure, and the spread of practice areas all support that read. A prospective client can see who would handle their matter and where each lawyer trained.

The firm publishes its work in more than one language, which may matter to Spanish or French speakers in the area. It lists lawyers whose backgrounds run from long trial careers to appellate writing and public service. For someone weighing a local option in Utah County, that is a fair amount to start from.