The Iowa Legislature in 1995 enacted health care insurance reforms aimed at improving individual access to health insurance. Among other things, the legislation created the Iowa Individual Health Benefit Reinsurance Association, a private nonprofit corporation. Individual health insurance providers are required by the statute, Iowa…
Iowa law requires that a party bringing a malpractice action against a health care provider provide defendants with an expert witness affidavit regarding the alleged breach of the applicable medical standard of care, referred to as a “certificate of merit”. In three decisions handed down…
In 2021 Des Moines lawyer Marc Harding was considering bringing a medical malpractice action in Iowa and sent records related to the case to an Indiana surgeon to review. Harding ultimately decided against bringing the malpractice suit but instead sued the Indiana doctor over a…
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in six cases during November 2023. You can read Rox Laird’s summary State v. Amisi at the link here. The remaining opinions from November are summarized below.
There is no time limit on law-enforcement traffic stops before the line is crossed into a Fourth Amendment violation, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a Dec. 8 decision, and courts must thoroughly examine the record to determine where to draw that line in each case.
The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in eleven cases in November 2025. On Brief’s analysis of In re Davenport Hotel Building Collapse, No. 24-0727, concerning whether statutory qualified immunity protections apply to the City of Davenport and city employees in the context of common law negligence claims brought by families of residents who died in a 2023 apartment building collapse, is posted separately on this blog. The remaining opinions from November are summarized below.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has informed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that the State of Iowa will be seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the Eight Circuit’s October 2025 ruling affirming the district court’s preliminary injunction barring enforcement of Iowa’s statute that makes it a state crime for a noncitizen previously deported to reenter the state.
Trial courts have a duty under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to assure that a criminal defendant who cannot afford to hire a lawyer is provided one at the State’s expense. To comply with that constitutional mandate, Iowa created the Office of State Public Defender (SPD) to employ attorneys to provide indigent defense or to contract with attorneys in private practice willing to take on those criminal cases.
Online video provider TikTok does business with millions of American users in all 50 states, including Iowans who have downloaded the company’s app hundreds of thousands of times and who agree to its terms of service. Still, the company argues, it should not have to defend itself against a lawsuit filed in state court by the Iowa Attorney General claiming the company misrepresents the nature of its content available to Iowa children.
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.
