Rachel H. Parkin

Of Counsel

Rachel Parkin’s practice is focused on complex civil litigation, including insurance coverage and civil defense.  Ms. Parkin represents insurers in coverage and bad faith litigation and insureds in claims of all kinds. She often handles trucking, premises liability, employment, professional liability, and real estate throughout Montana. She is highly regarded for her legal writing and appellate advocacy.

Prior to joining Hall & Evans, Ms. Parkin was a shareholder at Milodragovich, Dale & Steinbrenner. Before her legal career, she was an adjunct instructor at Kansas State University and a youth librarian in a large public library system.

Bar Admissions

  • Montana, 2013
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Montana
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Court

Location

Missoula Office

Education

JD: University of Montana School of Law, 2013
MA: Kansas State University, 2009, English Literature
BA: Kansas State University, 2005, English Literature and Women’s Studies

Contact

parkinr@hallevans.com

More About
Rachel

Professional Associations
  • State Bar of Montana
  • Western Montana Bar Association, Past Board of Directors, 2019-2025
Business & Community Service
  • A Carousel for Missoula, Board of Directors, President, 2018-2024
  • Volunteer, Missoula Public Library, 2015-2020​

Jacob Gudenkauf

Senior Associate

Jacob Gudenkauf is a litigator with a broad range of experience in construction and design, premises liability, health care, employment, toxic torts, commercial litigation, catastrophic injury, and coverage matters. Mr. Gudenkauf defends a variety of licensed professionals including architects, engineers, and design professionals involved with construction defect claims, as well as doctors, nurses, and health care providers facing medical malpractice claims. He counsels employers with investigations of harassment, retaliation, and discrimination and defends public entities in matters involving Constitutional torts, governmental immunity, and local governance.

Mr. Gudenkauf’s focus is on first seeking to understand his client’s goals and story. Whether through facilitating an early resolution or pursuing a matter through trial and final judgment, he always seeks to find creative solutions to the problems that face his clients and to help them reach their goals.

Mr. Gudenkauf graduated cum laude from Willamette University College of Law. During law school, he served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Elizabeth Weishaupl in Colorado’s 18th District and clerked with the Trial Division of the Oregon Department of Justice.

Bar Admissions

  • Utah, 2022
  • Colorado, 2016
  • U.S. District Court, District of Utah
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Location

Salt Lake City Office

Education

JD: Willamette University College of Law, 2016, cum laude
BA: University of Colorado, 2012, History and Political Science

Contact

gudenkaufj@hallevans.com

More About
Jacob

Career Distinctions & Honors
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers®, “Rising Star,” Construction Litigation, 2025
Decisions
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of general contractor construction defect, defamation, and breach of contract case.
Professional Associations
  • Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
Other Activities
  • Mr. Gudenkauf enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf (poorly), and cheering for the University of Colorado Buffaloes.

John F. “Jack” Peters

Member

Jack is a trial and appellate litigator. He has first chaired over fifty jury trials, tried cases to judges and arbitrators, litigated before numerous state and federal agencies, and handled multiple appeals to state and federal appellate courts. Jack has a diverse practice focused on labor and employment, school and local government law, and trust and estate litigation.

In his labor and employment work, Jack handles employment discrimination claims such as Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, and CADA; employment counseling; workplace investigations; wage and hour issues; and other employment counseling and litigation. In addition to employment, Jack represents companies in labor claims, including unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB and CDLE, union grievance arbitrations, and other labor disputes.

A large portion of Jack’s practice is devoted to Title IX, IDEA, Section 504, Title VI, FERPA, Claire Davis Act, and other claims against educational institutions. In addition to schools and universities, he represents a variety of public entities for claims under 42 USC 1983 and 1981, open records and open meetings issues, tort claims under the CGIA, and other claims against local governments.

Jack also brings his litigation experience to representing beneficiaries and fiduciaries, such as trustees, personal representatives, guardians, and conservators, in claims of breach of fiduciary duty, will contests, probate hearings, and other disputed trust, estate, and probate issues.

Before joining Hall and Evans, Jack was a prosecutor in Boulder County where he tried dozens of cases to verdict, handled extensive appellate work, and supervised the District Attorney’s Office law clerks. Jack graduated college from the University of Chicago and from Vermont Law School magna cum laude in the top 5% of his class. During law school he worked in the chambers of Justice Denise Johnson of the Vermont Supreme Court and was a summer associate in the Shanghai office of an international law firm. He continues to mentor law students and is actively involved in the legal community. Before law school, Jack was a licensed real estate salesperson in New York City and a middle school teacher in Denver.

Bar Admissions

  • Colorado, 2012
  • Kentucky (inactive), 2011
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Location

Denver Office

Education

JD: Vermont Law School, 2011, magna cum laude
BA: University of Chicago, 2004, Classical Languages and Literatures

Contact

petersj@hallevans.com

More About
Jack

Appeals
  • People v. Penn, 32, 379 P.3d 298 (Colo. 2016)
Professional Associations
  • Boulder Bar Association, Member, Board of Directors 2017 – 2020
  • Faculty of Federal Advocates
  • Council of School Attorneys and Colorado Council of School Board Attorneys
Career Distinctions & Honors
  • Senior Articles Editor, Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, 2010 – 2011
License
  • New York State Real Estate Salesperson License, inactive
Articles & Publications // Presentations // Webinars
  • Presenter, “It’s Hard to Keep Up – Discrimination Law in 2025,” Colorado Bar Association’s Employment Law Conference, 2025
  • Presenter, “Diverse Juries Reach Better Verdicts: How Litigators can Create Diverse Jury Panels and Prevent Bias in Deliberations” Colorado Bar Association Litigators’ Summit, November 2023
  • Presenter, “Qualified Immunity and the Basics of Civil Claims Against Law Officers,” Boulder County Bar Association CLE, September 2020
  • Presenter, “The Legal Effect of Turning 18,” Monarch High School, 2014 – present
  • Presenter, “Finding and Using Digital Evidence,” Kentucky Prosecutors Conference, 2017
  • Trainer, Colorado District Attorney’s Council, 2014 – 2018
Professional Experience
  • Deputy District Attorney, Twentieth Judicial District, Boulder, CO, 2012 – 2019
  • Intern, Hon. Justice Denise Johnson, Vermont Supreme Court, Montpelier, VT, 2009
Languages
  • Conversational in French, Italian, and Spanish. Knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, German, and Swedish.

Adam R. Knecht

Member

Adam Knecht concentrates his practice on both transactional and business/civil litigation. Mr. Knecht’s civil work encompasses all aspects of civil trial work, including business litigation, landlord/tenant disputes, non-competition litigation, transportation law, premises liability, and insurance defense. His civil practice includes defending catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, defending healthcare professions against medical malpractice and nursing home lawsuits, workers’ compensation defense, defense of civil rights claims, and defending the manufacturers of various products including building products and medical products. Mr. Knecht’s transactional practice involves mergers and acquisitions, general business transactions, real estate law, and securities law.

Mr. Knecht represents clients in a wide variety of litigation and appellate matters in Federal and State courts in Nevada and Utah. He has successfully defended and prosecuted cases through trial, serving as lead trial counsel in more than 20 cases generally involving complex commercial, business, premises liability, personal injury, and real estate issues. Mr. Knecht has also been recognized by Mountain States Super Lawyers® for his business litigation law practice.

Prior to law practice, Mr. Knecht had many years of business management experience in both the technology and construction industries. He also advised and provided management consulting services for various mid to large companies while working for global consulting firms Accenture and Bridge Strategy Group. Subsequent to that, Mr. Knecht was the general manager of a construction and real estate development company.

Bar Admissions

  • Nevada, 2013
  • Utah, 2021
  • New Mexico, 2022
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
  • U.S. District Court, District of Utah

Location

Las Vegas Office

Education

JD: University of Nevada-Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law, 2013

BS: Brigham Young University, 1998, Finance and Information Systems, Minor in Spanish

Contact

knechta@hallevans.com

More About
Adam

Career Distinctions & Honors
  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America; Corporate Law, 2024-2025
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers®, Business Litigation, 2022
  • Outstanding Academic Achievement Full Scholarship
  • CALI Excellence for the Future Award: Legal Writing I (2010), Legal Writing II (2011), and Evidence, (2012)
Professional Associations
  • State Bar of Nevada
  • State Bar of Utah
  • Southern Utah Bar
  • State Bar New Mexico
  • Nevada Contractors Association
  • National Association of Home Builders
Business & Community Service
  • Volunteer, Boy Scouts of America, 2000-present
  • Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 1989-present
Other Activities
  • Outside of work, Mr. Knecht enjoys spending time with his wife and children, running, boating, climbing, and hiking.
Languages
  • Spanish

Nadia H. Patrick

Member

Nadia Patrick is a trial lawyer with experience in litigating complex cases at the state and federal levels. She focuses her practice on civil litigation with an emphasis in catastrophic casualty, transportation law (including trucking and railroad defense), employment law, and toxic tort defense. Her unique experience allows her to help employers navigate workplace accidents, regulatory inspections, personal liability investigations, and crisis management and prevention. Nadia represents Fortune 500 companies in the transportation and medical sectors, and has significant experience representing insurance clients in high-value personal injury cases.

Nadia began her career litigating cases on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor and was able to hone her skills as a litigator by trying numerous cases on behalf of the Secretary of Labor. She went on to work for the Colorado Office of the Attorney General, where she represented the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) and assisted with drafting some of the first retail marijuana regulations in the nation.

Bar Admissions

  • Colorado, 2011
  • Montana, 2016
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court, District of Montana
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas

Location

Denver Office
Billings Office

Education

JD: Texas A&M School of Law, 2010
BS: Towson University, 2005, English

Contact

patrickn@hallevans.com

More About
Nadia

Career Distinctions & Honors
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Transportation Law, 2025-2027
  • Colorado Super Lawyers®, “Rising Star,” Transportation/Maritime, 2019
Professional Associations
  • National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel
  • Rhone Brackett Inn of Court
Languages
  • Urdu
Articles & Publications // Presentations // Webinars
  • Presenter, “Flipping Favor: How to Turn Plaintiff’s Physicians Into Your Experts,” Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, 2021

  • Presenter, “Finding False Claims – An Introduction to Qui Tam Litigation,” National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, 2019

  • Presenter, “Blurry Vision: How Rheumatological Conditions Can Present as Interstitial Fibrosis in Occupational Claims,” Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, 2019

  • Co-Author, “Red Light/Green Light: Ethics in the Age of ‘Legal’ Marijuana,” Hall & Evans, LLC, 2015

  • Presenter, “Where the Reefer Meets the Road: A Practical Approach to Pot Regulations,” Rhone Brackett Inn of Court, 2015

  • Presenter, “Implications of Unwarrantables in MSHA’s Pattern of Violations,” U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, 2013

  • Presenter, “Navigating the D-Chain,” U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, 2012

  • Presenter, “MSHA Safeguards: A Primer,” U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor and Mine Safety Health Administration, 2011