Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, is pleased to announce that Jess Krannich and Paul Sampson have joined the firm as partner and Of Counsel, respectively. Both will be based in the firm’s Salt Lake City office.
Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Krannich and Sampson were both partners in the litigation department at Kirkland & Ellis. Krannich helped manage that firm’s Utah office and headed its Salt Lake City litigation team.
“Even before we opened our Salt Lake City office in 2021, it was a priority for us to expand in line with client needs by bringing in highly talented attorneys with strong ties to the local and regional legal and business communities,” said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini. “Like those who joined us before them, Jess and Paul have established important relationships and earned solid reputations for representing clients in a range of commercial litigation matters and trials. We’re very pleased to welcome them both to our growing Salt Lake City team.”
Wilson Sonsini launched its Salt Lake City office in November 2021 with a base of three partners: Marc Porter, Matt Squires, and Justice Deno Himonas, following his early 2022 retirement as Utah Supreme Court Justice. Five months later, the firm announced the addition of another former Utah Supreme Court Justice, Christine Durham, who was the first woman to serve on both Utah’s highest court and the state’s district court. With the addition of Krannich and Sampson, Wilson Sonsini now has more than 20 attorneys based in its Salt Lake City office.
Krannich’s practice spans multiple types of complex commercial litigation, including competition disputes ranging from trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation to intellectual property disputes, unfair competition, and antitrust litigation. He also has extensive experience in tort and product liability litigation and has represented clients in a variety of regulatory actions. Many of his cases involve class actions or consolidated multi-district litigation.
Krannich has won nearly 20 jury and bench trials, arbitrations, and injunctive hearings. He also has obtained early wins in large, complex cases through motion practice and strategic case development. Krannich has won multiple zero-liability or zero-damages awards on behalf of defendants, resulting in billions of dollars in savings, and has recovered more than $500 million on behalf of plaintiffs.
Krannich’s clients have primarily been in competitive technology sectors, including the life sciences, medical devices, and computer sciences industries. He has also represented consumer products and financial services clients, including Apple, Inc.; British Petroleum; BDO USA, LLP; Route App, Inc.; Ivanti, Inc.; Owlet; Nexio; Savage Companies; and Sotheby’s International Realty.
After graduating from law school, Krannich completed judicial clerkships for Chief Justice Christine M. Durham of the Utah Supreme Court and the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Following his clerkships, he joined Kirkland’s Chicago office and was elevated to partner in 2011. In 2012, Krannich moved to Salt Lake City and joined elite boutique litigation firm Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar. In 2021, he returned to Kirkland to help found and manage its Salt Lake City office.
In addition to his practice, Krannich is active in the Salt Lake City business and legal community. Since 2012, he has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, where he’s taught trial advocacy and advanced negotiation. He currently serves as a member of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors.
Krannich received a B.S., with honors, from the University of Utah in 2002. He received his J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, graduating as a member of the Order of the Coif in 2005.
“One reason I’m excited about joining Wilson Sonsini is the firm’s unique platform and representation of innovative clients—from growing companies to established industry leaders—because those clients face novel challenges, affording us the opportunity to represent them in interesting and engaging matters,” said Krannich. “Another reason is the chance to be part of the firm’s growing and talented team, and to work with colleagues like Christine Durham and Deno Himonas.”
Sampson is a seasoned litigator with a wealth of experience in high-stakes litigation, including significant trial work. He has advised clients across industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, consumer products, interstate shipping, energy, and financial services. Sampson has handled antitrust and consumer class actions, shareholder derivative actions, defamation lawsuits, and government investigation and enforcement actions involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and the City of New York. Additionally, he represented a special litigation committee of a large pharmaceutical distributor’s board of directors in shareholder derivative litigation related to opioid distribution and executive compensation issues.
Sampson has a proven track record of success in appellate matters. His experience includes briefing numerous appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, various federal circuit courts, and several state supreme courts. Notably, Sampson recently secured a victory in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, where he prevailed after delivering a compelling briefing and oral argument in a case involving federal employee benefits.
At the beginning of his legal career, Sampson served two judicial clerkships—for the Honorable Justice Thomas R. Lee of the Utah Supreme Court and the Honorable Kent A. Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
From 2016 to 2021, Sampson worked as an associate and later as counsel for trial boutique firm Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz LLP (now Wilkinson Stekloff LLP). Previously, he was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP, where he defended countless Fortune 500 companies subject to government criminal and civil investigations. At Sidley, Sampson also drafted appellate briefs to multiple federal appellate courts, including one that persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Eleventh Circuit on a complicated fuel-excise taxation issue.
Sampson received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and graduated magna cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
“Like Jess, I’m thrilled to join Wilson Sonsini’s team in Salt Lake City and have the opportunity to continue to represent clients involved in significant disputes and contested matters, including high-stakes cases and trials,” said Sampson. “I’m also pleased to be part of the firm’s expanding litigation department and look forward to building relationships with colleagues across the firm.”
“Jess and Paul are accomplished and respected litigators who have a truly impressive range of experience—from appellate and class action matters to investigations and trials—and we’re pleased to welcome them to our firm,” said Caz Hashemi, partner at Wilson Sonsini and head of the firm’s litigation department. “Their addition to our Salt Lake City team further illustrates our success at creating one of the top national bet-the-company litigation departments in the country—one that includes trial attorneys who can litigate and try any case, anywhere and anytime.”