Iowa

Judge orders EEOC to pay $4.7M in legal fees in Jenner & Block case

In the latest chapter of a litigation saga that has proven expensive for the feds, Jenner & Block has won what could be a record $4.7 million in attorney fees and costs from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At issue was an employment discrimination case brought by the EEOC against…

Aug 6, 2013 8:31 PM CDT

Ex-clients can seek emotional distress damages in legal malpractice case, top state court says

Iowa’s top court has, for the first time, OK’d potential emotional distress damages in a legal malpractice case. An immigration lawyer should have known that his inaccurate advice could cause severe emotional distress to his clients, an Ecuadorean couple who were separated from their children for a decade after following…

Jul 22, 2013 10:15 PM CDT

Iowa court again OKs firing of woman whose boss found her too irresistible

After a national outcry over its decision upholding the firing of a dental assistant who was fired because her boss found her too attractive, the Iowa Supreme Court agreed last month to reconsider. Today the court opined again, and again found that it was legal for her boss to terminate…

Jul 12, 2013 6:40 PM CDT

Iowa supremes to issue new ruling in case of woman fired for being too irresistible

The Iowa Supreme Court has withdrawn a controversial opinion that found a dental assistant did not suffer unlawful sex discrimination when her boss fired her because he considered her an irresistible attraction. The decision tossing the case by dental assistant Melissa Nelson had provoked outrage among columnists. The blog On…

Jun 26, 2013 12:38 PM CDT

Law firm suffers 7th traffic crash on its property, but 4-way stop is not forthcoming

For the seventh time in a decade, a small Iowa City law firm has been the victim of a traffic accident. In this latest incident, its front porch was damaged when a car involved in a collision skidded into its stone foundation. A limestone pillar will have to be replaced.…

Jun 12, 2013 5:10 PM CDT

Federal judge calls herself ‘Hulk,’ clashes with prosecutors over info that could extend sentences

A former federal prosecutor now serving as a federal judge has clashed with federal prosecutors in Iowa over information she has sought in several cases that could be used to extend defendants’ sentences. Already under appeal is a sentence in a weapons case imposed on convicted drug dealer Bryan Holm…

Jun 5, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

FBI manhunt for disbarred attorney publicized after 2010 indictment is unsealed

Disbarred Iowa attorney Dennis Bjorklund can be fast on his feet when avoiding the long arm of the law, once reportedly outrunning a process server, although he did lose a shoe along the way. But now the former DUI defense attorney–who may still be selling books on the subject online–is…

Jan 28, 2013 3:35 PM CST

Columnists Decry Iowa Ruling Finding No Sex Bias in Woman Fired for Being Too Irresistible

Outraged columnists are still talking about an Iowa Supreme Court ruling issued before Christmas that tossed a lawsuit by a woman who says her boss fired her because he considered her an irresistible attraction. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 21 that the firing of dental assistant Melissa Nelson…

Jan 2, 2013 4:31 PM CST

Defendant Douses His Attorney As Jury Is About to Exit for Deliberations in Murder One Case

Updated: As the jury was about to file out of an Iowa courtroom around lunchtime on Monday to begin deliberations in a first-degree murder case, the defendant gave them something new to think about. Jerome Power, 50, grabbed a cup of water and poured it over the head of his…

Nov 20, 2012 4:23 PM CST

Mistrial Declared in Conservative Hiring Bias Suit Against University of Iowa Law School

A federal magistrate judge has declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict on one of two claims in a conservative hiring bias suit against the University of Iowa law school. Jurors ruled against Teresa Wagner on her First Amendment claim and deadlocked on her 14th Amendment…

Oct 25, 2012 11:49 AM CDT

Paralegal Blows Whistle on Ex-Boss, Says Cash Went in Book on Shelf; Lawyer Suspended for One Month

A paralegal who once worked for Iowa attorney Sara Anna Kersenbrock blew the whistle on her former boss, filing a 2010 disciplinary complaint that resulted in a one-month license suspension. In a Friday opinion (PDF), the state supreme court imposed the sanction, rejecting a public reprimand proposed by the court’s…

Sep 24, 2012 6:00 PM CDT

Too Much Evidence Cited as Reason for Dropping Drug Charges Against Fugitive Doctor

A federal judge in Iowa has dropped charges against a fugitive doctor because it’s become too costly for federal officials to maintain evidence in the massive online pharmacy case. The case against Miami doctor Armando Angulo, the nation’s largest prosecution of online pharmacies, involves more than 400,000 documents, computers, servers…

Aug 17, 2012 1:03 PM CDT

Would-Be Iowa Law Prof Sues Again, Says Job App Scoresheet Noted Then-Pending Discrimination Suit

A Michigan immigration attorney who wants to be a law professor has filed new litigation against the University of Iowa, contending that the institution not only discriminated against him in 2010 by refusing to consider him because of his age but retaliated against him due to a then-pending prior age-discrimination…

Jul 24, 2012 7:16 PM CDT

County Attorney Whose Law License Was Summarily Suspended for Not Trying Cases Is Back On the Job

A county prosecutor who summarily had his law license suspended for almost a month by the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice because of a claimed “temporary disability,” admittedly didn’t stay on top of his busy criminal caseload. But there was no indication that Appanoose County Attorney Richard Scott was in…

Jun 1, 2012 9:46 PM CDT

Federal Judge Mulls Prosecutor Sanctions Over DEA Agent’s Concealment of GPS Monitoring

A federal judge in Iowa is pondering possible sanctions on prosecutors in a narcotics case after learning that a Drug Enforcement Administration agent didn’t reveal in investigative reports that GPS monitoring was being used on vehicles related to then-suspect Angel Amaya. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett said DEA policy required…

Apr 18, 2012 5:25 PM CDT