Kara Martin
Director of Lawocl
Ms. Martin currently practices law as a partner and shareholder with The Franchise & Business Law Group.
Ms. Martin has gained vast experience in helping new and existing companies distribute their products and services through franchising, licensing and other methods of business growth. Assisting startup companies and entrepreneurs along with mid-size and growing companies is the focus of her legal practice. She prides herself in understanding client needs and helping plan and carry out their franchise and business systems in a way that meets their needs and correctly represents their brand.
Along with her experience with franchising, licensing and corporate law, Ms. Martin heads the law firm’s trademark section. Protecting the valuable intellectual property of a business is a hallmark of her practice.
During her time in law school, Ms. Martin worked as a law clerk for the San Francisco firm Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai during the summer of 2008. She also volunteered with the AIDS Legal Referral Panel as a student attorney during the summer of 2007, representing low-income clients with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco community.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Martin spent more than five years in government, working for the American Heart Association as their Director of Advocacy, lobbying the Utah Legislature for health-related bills and resolutions for the State of Utah and the Salt Lake County Council as an appointed Council Aide.
Ms. Martin is an admitted and licensed member of the Utah and Kansas State Bars.
Kara resides in Sandy, Utah and enjoys spending time with her three children and dog, exploring the beautiful mountains and outdoors, traveling, skiing, and taking in a great book.
Fun fact: Kara wanted to be an opera singer when she grew up and even composed an opera when she was 7 (loosely based on a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood episode)
Education
Kara Martin received her Juris Doctor degree, with honors, in 2009 from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, California. During law school, she was awarded the Excellence in Civil Litigation award, was on the Dean’s List, and received the Cali Award for Federal Income Taxation, and Writing and Research II. She was also president & magister for two years of Phi Delta Phi, a national legal honor society; on the board of the Women’s Law Association; and a member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
She graduated with her Masters of Arts in Government and Political Management from Regent University in 2005, and attended the University of Utah where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1999. During her time at the University of Utah, she was an officer in the Golden Key National Honor Society, a regular volunteer with the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, and an intern in Washington DC with Representative Enid Greene, through the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Professional Leadership
Ms. Martin is a member of the American Bar Association, and is active with the ABA Forum on Franchising. In addition, Ms. Martin is a member of the Utah Bar, and has served on a number of section committees—including serving as the Chair of the Utah Bar Franchise Law Section for both the 2014-2015 and 2013-2014 year, the Vice Chair for the 2012-2013 year; and a 2013 Utah Bar Spring Convention Committee Member. In addition, Ms. Martin has volunteered as a Utah Mock Trial Judge and has supported legal education in the community.
Community
Ms. Martin is active in her church community, and helps organize volunteer events and activities along with helping with education of the women’s group in her congregation.
In 2010, Ms. Martin spent two weeks in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, in helping with the cleanup and rebuilding of the community following the earthquake. During her time in Haiti, she also spent time helping in orphanages and was able to give out over 120 handmade dolls to the orphans. Ms. Martin has served on the Board of Directors for Odyssey Dance Theatre, and has also served on a number of political committees.
Publications and Speaking
- Presenter, Utah State Bar Franchise Section, March 2025, “Considerations for Effectuating Rescission, a summary of the 2024 ABA Forum on Franchising workshop”
- Presenter, Creative Workforce Summit, December 2021, “Are you ready? Franchising Your Business”
- Co-presenter and co-author on paper, IBA/IFA 34th Annual Joint Conference, May 2018, “Disruptive New Technologies and Franchising”
- Presenter and paper, GEWKC, November 2017, “Finding Your Yellow Brick Road to Business Growth”
Awards
- Best Lawyer® by U.S. News & World Report in Franchise Law 2022-2025
- Marquis Who’s Who for 2025-2026
- Mountain States Rising Stars for 2019, 2018
• 2017 CV Magazine Attorney of the Year, Utah
• Excellence in Civil Litigation, Golden Gate University School of Law (2009)
• CALI Award, Federal Income Taxation (2008)
• CALI Award, Writing and Research II (2007)
