Theodore Lee Livingston

Floodlit is working on an update to Ted Livingston’s case report.

A Kirton McConkie co-founder (a Mormon apostle’s brother) worked to prevent a Mormon bishop from testifying in court case, possibly regarding child sexual abuse.

Kirton McConkie, a Utah-based law firm with longstanding ties to the Mormon church, was co-founded by Oscar McConkie Jr., brother of Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie.

(Recently convicted David McConkie, a former stake president, is a grandson of Bruce: https://floodlit.org/a/a720/ .)

In a 2017 oral history interview, Oscar McConkie, who died in 2020, shared the story of working on a case for the Mormon church and preventing a bishop from having to testify due to “clergy privileged” information.

“A bishop had [been] subpoenaed to come and testify. Comes to me as represent – I represent the church. I make a motion to quash the subpoena based on the fact that the only thing the bishop knows about it is clergy privileged, and that he can’t be testifying about it.

“And, so I take the bishop down to the court and they’re trying the case, and as I walked in the judge recognized me and saw that I had a man with me, and he announced from the bench:

“‘For the record, I see Mr. McConkie and the bishop have arrived, we’ll take a 10-minute recess and you fine lawyers will meet with Mr. McConkie, and you’ll determine whether the bishop can testify, and if he can testify, what he can testify about.’

“And then he says for the record, ‘Now for the record, if it’s gonna help you lawyers in making this determination, this court is gonna do just exactly whatever Mr. McConkie says.’

“Now, you gotta practice law a long time to get that kind of, that kind of treatment.”

Source: Oscar W. McConkie Jr. (1926-2020) interview: Salt Lake City, Utah, 2017 June 26, https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/53c8d732-0030-4e8e-a7c9-0cff14b8eb3c/0. Timestamp: 1:17:35 to 1:19:01. Accessed August 19, 2025.

Floodlit is trying to determine whether McConkie was referring to the case of Theodore Lee Livingston (AKA Ted Livingston) of Utah.

McConkie was president of the Utah State Senate and twice was chairman of the state’s Board of Education. He died in 2020. Obituary:
https://www.larkinmortuary.com/obituary/view/oscar-w.-mcconkie-jr.-88/

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