Education
Robert began his college career at the College of Eastern Utah where he completed the Utah Crime Scene Academy alongside several Utah police officers. Robert later earned his Bachelors of Science at Weber State University in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Criminal Law.
Robert attended law school at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. During law school, he gained crucial experience in the school’s hands-on clinical program. In his second year, he worked with the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center, a non-profit organization that investigates innocence claims from prison inmates and researches the causes of wrongful convictions. As a Rocky Mountain Innocence Investigator, Robert interviewed witnesses and police officers, and examined evidence to determine whether his client was wrongfully convicted. In his third year, he completed the criminal clinic where he represented indigent defendants at Salt Lake Legal Defender Association. During this time, Robert was second chair in several criminal jury trials ranging from solicitation, drug crimes, domestic violence, and DUI. In addition to working on jury trials, he worked in the appeals division of Salt Lake Legal Defenders researching and drafting criminal appeals.
Experience
Immediately after graduating law school, Robert co-founded Oliver & Sitterud: Attorneys at Law and began defending clients charged with criminal charges. The first case Robert took after opening his office involved a first degree felony rape and kidnapping charge. Robert was able to successfully defend this matter through a jury trial where his client was acquitted of all charges.
Over his career, Robert has handled cases ranging from murder, rape, and counterfeiting, to DUI, theft, and traffic offenses. His cases have taken him to district courts and justice courts throughout the state. Robert has secured acquittals after multiple day jury trials, negotiated plea deals based on evidentiary deficiencies, and won dismissals after contested Motions to Suppress.
To date, Robert has defended hundreds of criminal matters and continues to zealously fight for his client’s constitutional rights. Robert’s philosophy is that our system only works if we have talented defense attorneys guarding our constitution.
In addition to his law practice, Robert is an adjunct criminal justice professor at Utah State University Eastern where he teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Intro to Criminal Justice.
In his free time, Robert is actively involved in his community and spends time with his family, his beautiful wife, and two sons.
Practice Areas
Criminal Defense -- 70 %
Family Law -- 20 %
Estate Planning -- 10 %
Contact info:
435-637-6060
roliver@law-os.com