Erika Birch

Erika Birch

Attorney

Erika decided she wanted to be a lawyer in the fifth grade after winning a classroom debate about abolishing the automobile ("millions of children and household pets are killed each year by cars!"). She later took her best friend "to court" during a monopoly game dispute. In Jr. High, Erika drafted a contract with her parents providing that she be allowed to have pet parakeets once their basement was remodeled. She enforced her rights pursuant to that contract (written on a recipe card) five years later to the dismay of her parents. During a debate competition in high school, Erika and her debate partner (who will remain anonymous to protect his innocence) came up with a scheme: instead of trading off arguing the pro vs. con on nuclear proliferation as was required, Erika always argued the con, and her partner always argued the pro. They were impressed with the brilliance of this scheme until they were busted by the debate coach who figured it out when the judges' reports referred to "Erika Birch" and "she" in round one, and "Erik Birch" and "he" in round two.

With all that legal experience, she argued for a law school waiver, but it was denied. Therefore, she attended law school at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder where she received her J.D. in May 2000. Erika started her "real" legal career as an associate with the Denver firm of King & Greisen, formerly known as King Clexton & Feola. Within her first year of practicing law, she obtained her first favorable jury verdict and hasn’t stopped trying cases since.

When she and her husband decided to move back to the Salt Lake area, she began looking for work doing what she loved – employment law. She was fortunate to find one of the only firms practicing employment law for employees, Scholnick Birch Hallam Harstad Thorne (formerly Strindberg & Scholnick)(SBHT) and began working there in August 2003. Erika became a partner of that firm in January of 2006.

Erika and her family moved to Boise, Idaho in 2007 so that she could open up SBHT’s first extension office in Idaho. Under Erika's management, the Boise office grew from a one-woman operation to having multiple lawyers, professional staff, regular law clerks and a great track record of successes in Idaho. This includes a recent jury verdict in Idaho federal court for $1,800,000 in compensatory damages to her client who suffered a hostile work environment at the Idaho Department of Corrections.

Erika and her colleagues recently opened a new firm in mid-2024 - Birch Hallam Harstad & Johnson LLC where they continue to fight for employees in Idaho, Utah, and Oregon. Erika was an honored recipient of ITLA’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award (2019), ITLA’s Professionalism award (2017), and of several awards through the Idaho State Bar. She serves on various non-profit boards and law related committees, and has volunteered her time for pro bono clients at ITLA’s Street Law Clinic.

She enjoys spending time traveling, boating and camping with her family and their dog Charley, and watching Saturday morning cooking shows on public television.

Education

University of Colorado, College of Law, Boulder, CO
Juris Doctor, Top 1/3 of Class, May 2000
Legal Aid Clinic, 1999-2000

Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, Economics; Minor in English Literature, December 1996

The Center for Bilingual Multi-Cultural Studies, Cuernavaca, Mexico
Intensive Spanish language program, Summer 1995
Completed intermediate course work in language and cultural studies