About Craig L.
Craig L. Pankratz earned a Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School in 2008 after completing undergraduate work in history at Brigham Young University in 2004. He moved from the classroom into public service early in his legal career, taking a clerkship that put him inside the local prosecutor's office. Those first years shaped his approach to litigation and appellate work.
Pankratz began his professional career in the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office. He served as a law clerk and deputy district lawyer in 2008 and later returned as a deputy district lawyer in 2010. Between those stints he worked as a city prosecutor for the City of South Salt Lake in 2009. He then transitioned to private practice, joining Christensen Thornton, PLLC as an associate in 2011. He became a junior partner in 2012 when the firm reorganized as Christensen Corbett & Pankratz, PLLC, and in 2015 he took on the role of partner at Corbett & Pankratz, PLLC.
Those roles exposed him to a steady mix of trial and appellate matters. On the trial side he handled prosecutions and defense work at the municipal and county levels. On the appellate side he has participated in briefing and argument before state and federal tribunals, and he maintains admission to practice in Utah and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Pankratz joined sections of the Utah State Bar in 2013. He is a member of the Appellate Practice Section and the Litigation Section. He has kept professional ties to the local bar while maintaining an active courtroom and appellate docket.
Colleagues describe his style as direct. He writes plainly in motions and briefs. He pursues issues at trial but prepares cases with an eye toward how they will read on appeal. That balance of trial experience and appellate work informs how he evaluates evidence, frames legal arguments and prepares clients for each stage of a case.
Since becoming partner at Corbett & Pankratz, PLLC in 2015, Pankratz has split his time between litigation in state and federal courts and appellate filings. He continues to handle criminal cases and appellate matters in Utah and the Tenth Circuit. He practices at Corbett & Pankratz, PLLC, where he handles criminal defense and appellate litigation.
