EDITORIAL TEAM
Our attorneys and contributors have in-depth experience with appellate litigation.
Spencer Cady
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(515) 283-3118
Leslie Behaunek
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(515) 283-8187
As a litigator, Leslie Behaunek addresses diverse business disputes every day. Using skills honed as a judicial clerk, Leslie models the quality written and oral advocacy she saw in the courts. Leslie has experience litigating ERISA life, health, and disability benefits cases; ERISA and breach of fiduciary class actions; finance lease enforcement matters; bankruptcy matters; and healthcare and labor and employment claims. She provides representation before the Iowa appellate courts and the Eighth Circuit. A strong involvement with outside activities expands Leslie’s view of law and keeps her connected to the broader Iowa community.
Matt McGuire
Email Matt
(515) 283-8014
A successful litigant tells a compelling story. Matt McGuire draws on his background in journalism to ensure his clients’ stories resonate with the court. Applying his experience handling litigation and antitrust matters at a large law firm in Washington, D.C., Matt acts as an effective advocate in all aspects of his clients’ business. His current commercial and business litigation practice also builds on his judicial clerkship, which provided valuable perspective on the litigation experience—perspective he now applies to his clients’ cases.
Logan Eliasen
Email Logan
(515) 283-3119
Logan Eliasen is a passionate advocate with a wide-ranging litigation practice. Prior to entering private practice, Logan gained invaluable knowledge of the judicial system through several clerkship experiences, which encompassed federal and all levels of Iowa’s state courts. Logan learned the expectations of judges—what they want to see in arguments and written briefs. Oral arguments, where people turn written law into an active debate, continue to fascinate him. Logan knows the value of a well-crafted argument. In his work, he applies research, analysis, and creativity to tell his clients’ stories.
Dana Waterman Hempy
Email Dana
(515) 645-5528
Dana Waterman Hempy loves litigation’s continually moving parts and its new challenges. Dana’s experience as a law clerk for an Iowa Supreme Court justice gave her insight into effective written and oral advocacy. For thorny issues before the Iowa Supreme Court, Dana was tasked with analyzing cases and presenting the best arguments on both sides. Reading appellate briefs as a judicial law clerk proved to Dana that writing matters. Because every client and every fact pattern is different, her job is to find unique avenues of persuasion to get each judge’s attention. She continually looks for opportunities to make her arguments stand out.
Rox Laird
Although he is not a lawyer, Rox Laird has written about the courts, legal issues, and constitutional law for more than three decades. An editorial writer at The Des Moines Register and a reporter at the Des Moines Tribune, he specialized in writing about the First Amendment and public access to government information. He was recognized by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2015 for his “strong voice in support of justice.” He has been recognized by the Iowa Association for Justice and Iowa Legal Aid for his writing. Laird has contributed to On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog since 2016.
FEATURED POSTS
Iowa Supreme Court rejects bid to abolish exception to Fourth Amendment warrant requirement
A law enforcement officer making a roadside stop is legally allowed to search a vehicle without a warrant under an “automobile exception” to the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures granted by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and separately under the Iowa Constitution. That exception, recog …
Iowa Supreme Court: Union Pacific Railroad not liable for worker’s suicide
The Union Pacific Railroad Co. is not liable under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) for the death of an employee who took his own life from emotional distress caused by his supervisor’ harassment, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a decision handed down April 25.
Kera Morgan, as administrator of her late husb …
Iowa Supreme Court removes judicial magistrate from bench for racially derogatory and ‘demeaning and sophomoric’ statements
The Iowa Supreme Court removed a part-time judicial magistrate from the bench in a unanimous decision issued April 18 for violations of the Iowa Code of Judicial Conduct in making a racially derogatory statement in an open court proceeding and by making a “demeaning and sophomoric” justification in a written order denying an arrest warrant.
Iowa Supreme Court revives suit against Polk County over rezoning decision on Family Leader project
Five individual plaintiffs living near a non-profit group’s proposed office and event center have standing to pursue claims alleging they would be injured by development in what is now an area zoned for agricultural use. The Iowa Supreme Court reached this conclusion in a decision handed down April 4.
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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.