Chris Wharton

T. Christopher Wharton (he/him) was born and raised in Salt Lake City. He is licensed to practice in federal and state courts in Utah and is certified to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Chris has an undergraduate degree in history from Westminster College. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he served as president of the Student Bar Association and managing editor of the Journal of Law and Family Studies. Chris also completed a semester studying jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and international criminal law at The Hague.

Chris interned at the Utah State Legislature and worked at Utah Attorney General’s Office. He won his first jury trial while in law school as a practicing third-year law student with the Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office. Chris went on to work as an associate attorney for two years before opening his own practice in 2012. 

Chris' extensive work in LGBTQ+ advocacy has gained local and national attention. In 2013, Chris helped lead a team of attorneys that submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court, arguing for equal treatment of LGBT families under the law. In 2015, he obtained the first same-sex common law marriage adjudication in Utah. 

As an active community member, Chris has done pro bono work for the ACLU of Utah, Equality Utah, and the Rainbow Law Clinic. Chris has served as president of the Utah Young Lawyers Division, vice chair of the Utah Pride Center Board of Directors, and chair of the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission. Chris also served on the first board of the LGBT & Allied Bar Association of Utah and on the Utah State Bar Board of Commissioners. He currently represents the residents of District 3 on the Salt Lake City Council.

Outside the office, Chris enjoys local politics, history, art, travel, binge watching Netflix, and patronizing local restaurants and food trucks.

Awards & Recognition

  • "Best LGBTQ Lawyers Under 40"
    National LGBT Bar Association

  • "Up & Coming Legal Elite"
    Utah Business Magazine

  • "Rising Star"
    Super Lawyers Magazine

  • "Best Lawyer"
    Q Salt Lake Fabby Awards

  • "Best Advocate for LGBT Families"
    City Weekly

Publications & Presentations

  • Annual presenter at Genderevolution (Utah Pride Center’s gender conference)

  • “Equal Protection Under the Utah State Constitution” presentation to the David K. Watkiss Sutherland II Inn of Court

  • “LGBTQ Legal Advocacy in Utah” presentation BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School

  • “More Than Marriage: Utah’s System of de Jure Denigration Goes to the Supreme Court” published in the Utah Bar Journal

  • “Fighting Like Cats & Dogs: The Rising Number of Pet Custody Battles” published in the Journal of Law and Family Studies

  • “Deserted in Deseret: Emancipating Polygamist & Queer Homeless Youths” published in the Journal of Law and Family Studies