Deno Himonas

Former Utah Supreme Court Justice Constandinos "Deno" Himonas brings over three decades of experience to Wilson Sonsini’s litigation and appellate practices. Deno joined the firm upon his retirement from the Utah Supreme Court in March 2022, where he served for seven years and participated in hundreds of appeals that spanned nearly all areas of the law. Prior to his appointment to the high court, Deno served as a trial court judge in Utah for nearly 11 years. In that capacity, he tried well over 100 cases and presided over thousands of matters, including a wide swath of complex civil litigation, numerous state and federal constitutional matters, and the most serious of criminal cases. During his many years in private practice, and during his years as a jurist, Deno has been involved in a broad manner of complex civil disputes, including antitrust, corporate governance, securities, government fraud, intellectual property, tax, mining, employment, and real estate litigation.

Deno has been at the forefront of the efforts to develop a regulatory framework for AI. In this regard he led the development and establishment of the Utah judiciary’s regulatory "sandbox,“ which allows entities to explore new ways of delivering legal services, including through AI. He has also been in the vanguard of Utah’s regulatory response to AI. In recognition of his work, Deno has received numerous accolades, including being awarded the Rebuilding Justice Award from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, receiving an American Legal Technology award, being named a “Legal Rebel” by the American Bar Association, serving as a Distinguished Adviser to the Pew Charitable Trusts, and being inducted into the Warren E. Burger Society. Deno has also given much of his time to law students, having guest lectured at law schools across the country and taught courses in judicial advocacy and civil process. Most recently, Deno served as Innovator-in-Residence at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and taught a course in disrupting regulation.