2 jurists praised by fellow Utahns

Trustworthy, fair, honest, scholarly, heart-felt, steady temperaments, well-versed writers.

And nonpolitical.

Those who know the two newest gubernatorial-nominated justices to the Utah Supreme Court say they have those attributes in common. State senators will decide on the appointments after receiving public comment through Monday.

Those who know the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill N. Parrish and 3rd District Judge Ronald E. Nehring say they deserve to be where they are.

Mike Martinez, former chief of the criminal division for the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office and also a former prosecutor for the Utah Attorney General's Office, said he is pleased that Leavitt chose attorneys — current and former, with rich trial experience.

"Unless you've gone through this trial by fire, it's difficult to understand what happened at the trial court level . . . so that you're able to ascertain what happened at the trial court level, to have the experience of how a trial court works," he said.

"Nehring has an excellent reputation as a trial attorney . . . he's got a breadth of experience that I really think is going to be helpful," continued Martinez, now a lawyer in private practice. "And although I don't know anything about (Parrish), I do know the U.S. Attorney's Office hires only the best attorneys."

Parrish, 41, Bountiful, graduated from Yale Law School in 1985, has been an assistant U.S. attorney in Utah since 1995, and prior to that worked as a law partner at Parr, Waddoups, Brown, Gee and Loveless law firm in Salt Lake City from 1986 through 1995.

"She has what I consider one of the most important attributes of a good judge, and that's an excellent temperament," said U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball before whom Parrish has argued many cases. "She's honest, but she's not out there tooting her own horn, either."

Indeed, she didn't even want to admit claiming the title of being a former Weber County Dairy Queen for this interview.

"Oh no," she said when pressed about her former title. Then the honest nature her colleagues say she is known for kicked in. "OK, that's true. I cannot deny it. But do you have to put that in?"

Parrish first discovered an inkling of her future legal career during extracurricular debating classes in high school and college in Ogden.