After more than a decade of service to On Brief, we are announcing that Rox Laird is stepping away from his role as a contributor to the blog. Throughout his tenure, Rox has authored nearly 500 posts covering the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court…
The 2024-2025 term of the Iowa Supreme Court was the third term to feature the set of seven justices currently serving on the court. Our review of various statistical measurements shows certain reliable patterns of data as well as the lack of clear patterns in some instances.
[This article by Matthew A. McGuire, Spencer S. Cady, and Chris E. Slack was originally published in the August 2024 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine.] The period between 2018 and 2022 was a period of great change for the Iowa Supreme Court, with five of the…
[This article by Matthew A. McGuire, Spencer S. Cady, and Chris E. Slack was originally published in the August 2023 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine.] In our analysis of the 2020-2021 Iowa Supreme Court term, published in the August 2021 issue of the Iowa…
[This article by Matthew A. McGuire and Spencer S. Cady was originally published in the August 2022 issue of The Iowa Lawyer magazine. The 2021-2022 term statistics were compiled by Chris Slack.] The 2021-2022 term of the Iowa Supreme Court concluded on June 30. A…
The last four Iowa Supreme Court terms—from the 2022-2023 term to the recently concluded 2025-2026 term—have seen a stylistic shift in how the Court articulates its rulings.
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a personal injury claim arising from an accident involving a horse-drawn sickle mower in a unanimous decision filed on June 12, 2026. In Shafer v. Santana, the Court held that a farmer operating a horse drawn sickle mower was engaged in the “domesticated animal activity” of driving under Iowa’s Domesticated Animal Activities Act, despite the fact that the horses were briefly stopped when the injury occurred.
The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In July, the Court of Appeals selected two opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of a human trafficking charge and clarified that, under the 2024 statute, a defendant cannot commit human trafficking by attempting to buy sex from a victim who does not exist.
On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog is devoted to appellate litigation with a focus on the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
