Category Litigation (2)

Court Grants Motion for Summary Judgment

BrownWinick attorneys Michael Dee and Megan Moritz recently succeeded on a motion asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against its clients, a small floral business, and the business’s owner. The plaintiff, a former employee, sued in state court, making claims of sexual harassment and constructive discharge in violation of the Iowa Civil... Read More

Federal Court Finds No Standing in Three “Drive By” Discrimination Lawsuits

In the course of one week in early August 2020, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Iowa and other Midwestern states, struck a blow to so-called “drive by” discrimination lawsuits – and bolstered employers’ defenses thereto – by holding in three separate lawsuits that three different plaintiffs who alleged violations of the Americans... Read More

Candor Conference Deadline Extended to One Year

Changes to Iowa’s Candor law creating an extended timeline for initiating the Candor process will take effect July 1, 2020. The Candor process was created to encourage a frank discussion between a health care practitioner and a patient or patient’s family in the aftermath of a negative medical outcome resulting from either unforeseeable... Read More

COVID-19 Update: Polk County District Court Matters

On March 26, 2020, Chief Judge Huppert issued a new Administrative Order for the Polk County Courthouse Campus. Below is a brief summary of the Order’s provisions for Civil, Family Law, and Magistrate Court matters. The Order also contains provisions for Criminal and Juvenile matters. Civil Matters: All motions are deemed fully submitted on... Read More

Litigation During COVID-19 – Is it time to settle or double down?

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is throwing many aspects of our lives into question. If you are currently involved in litigation, you may be wondering if you should be settling your case. Recently, here at BrownWinick, we have seen some interesting settlements take place. It is too early to tell if this will be a trend, but we have seen some companies... Read More

Courthouse Contagion: How COVID-19 is Affecting Your Cases, Hearings, and Proceedings

Over the last two weeks, the Iowa Supreme Court has issued several Supervisory Orders affecting courthouse schedules and proceedings across the state in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. These Orders can be found on the Iowa Judicial Branch website. Every Monday morning (or as circumstances require), the Judicial Branch will be providing summaries... Read More

Evictions Postponed due to Impacts of COVID-19

In light of the economic impacts of COVID-19, federal and state authorities are taking steps to suspend evictions and foreclosure actions. Evictions Governor Reynolds suspended the regulatory provisions governing evictions under the Iowa Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the Manufactured Home Communities or Mobile Home Parks Residential... Read More

BW Wins Appeal in $30 Million Contract Dispute

The Iowa Supreme Court on February 7, 2020, held that BrownWinick client Homeland Energy Solutions, LLC (HES) had an enforceable contract with a former HES board member to repurchase the member’s units in HES. In 2013, HES entered into a contract with then-board member Steve J. Retterath to repurchase Retterath’s units in HES for $30 million.... Read More

Representing Yourself or Your Business in a Small Claims Action

A small claims action can be filed if the amount demanded is $6,500 or less. You can choose to represent yourself in a small claims action or hire an attorney to help. If you would like to represent yourself, the Iowa Judicial Branch website has some good resources for explaining the process: Essentially, this is the process for filing a small... Read More