Featured Articles

Is Your Office Ready for March Madness

March 18, 2010 15:52

It’s March Madness! Pick your teams, fill out your bracket and turn in your $5 to the office pool manager… or not? Are office pools legal under Iowa law? According to Iowa Code Section 99B.12 individuals may participate in social gambling...

Medical Marijuana Use: What This Means for Employers

April 21, 2010 14:00

Last week, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that employers are not required to accommodate the use of medical marijuana in the workplace. A great summary of the facts and reasoning behind the decision can be found here. The bottom-line is that marijuana, despite being legalized for...

Buy-Sell Agreements for Small Businesses - The "Business Pre-Nup"

February 26, 2010 14:04

It seems like business formation activity is starting to pick up as people are starting to not only thaw out from the winter but also thaw out from the "economic ice storm".  Part of the process of any business formation involves consideration not only of creating the company but...

US Supreme Court: Are Video Games Obscene?

November 03, 2010 16:24

On November 2, 2010, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants.  The case tests the constitutionality of a California law that bans the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.  The Court's ruling in this...

Recent Articles

Iowa Fence Law Legislative Update

Benjamin Clark
March 20, 2012 21:26

As an update to previous entries regarding Iowa's fence law, the 2011 proposed legislative changes (Senate File 2102) failed to make it out of subcommittee.  We will have to wait another year to see whether the legislature decides to modify the century-old statute, in...

Iowa Fence Law Before Legislature

Benjamin Clark
February 09, 2012 16:27

I'll admit that the Iowa Fence Law (359A) has become a side project of mine.  I have blogged about it on two separate occasions in the past, first noting that as written and determined by the Iowa Supreme Court, the law applied to both urban and rural property.  The update noted that the...

US Supreme Court Adopts Ministerial Exception to Discrimination Laws

Liz Overton
January 20, 2012 21:01

In the unanimous Hosana-Tabor v. EEOC decision issued January 11, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized for the first time a "ministerial exception" to virtually all forms of employment discrimination. The "ministerial exception" as announced by the...

A Lesson in Preventing & Correcting Discrimination

Liz Overton
January 12, 2012 19:52

A recent 8th Circuit decision demonstrates the importance of responding investigating and responding to claims of harassment and discrimination.  In Crawford v. BNSF Railway Co., the plaintiffs alleged that their supervisor sexually and racially harassed them on a frequent basis.  The...

EPA Issues Mercury & Air Toxics Standards

Benjamin Clark
December 21, 2011 20:02

Today the EPA issued new standards limiting mercury, acid gases, and other toxic pollutants from power plants.  A fact sheet is available here.  Essentially, the standards seek to eliminate 90% of mercury and air toxics from power plant emissions by year 2016.  I...

Less Than Clear Language in Will Spells F-E-E-S

Matt Gardner
December 21, 2011 14:46

A ruling issued today by the Iowa Court of Appeals brings to focus the necessity of clear and thorough language.  If not, your attorneys will thank you for the additional fees that you bring to them.  After all, attorneys need to eat, too. As husband and wife, Paul and Minda had a will...