Bradley M. Beaman
Email:
Tel/Direct:
515-246-0358
Tel/Main:
515-243-7611
Address:
100 Court Avenue
Suite 600
Des Moines, IA 50309
Assistant:
Anne Stokely
515-246-4401
astokely@ahlerslaw.com
Practice Groups
Court Admissions
All Iowa Courts
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa
U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
Education
J.D., Drake University Law School (with high honors), 2005
B.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1998
Bar Admissions
Iowa, 2006
Background
Brad works with clients in both the Public Law and Private Law Practice Areas, with a focus on litigation, construction law, and procurement/ contracting. He currently serves as chair of the firm's Construction Law Practice Group.
As a litigation attorney, Brad serves as a legal adviser to clients counseling them on their legal rights and litigation strategy, settlement negotiations, and trial preparation. Brad has extensive experience representing public and private clients on various matters in jury trials, bench trials, administrative proceedings, and in arbitration. He has represented clients in a wide variety of disputes involving complicated legal issues.
Brad has experience litigating claims in the areas of construction defects, contract and payment disputes, mechanic’s liens, OSHA compliance, professional liability, insurance coverage, and personal injury. He also has litigated a variety of employment issues, including employment discrimination, FMLA violations, wrongful termination, retaliation, unemployment claims, worker classification violations, and wage and payment matters.
In the areas of Construction Law and Procurement/Contracting, Brad advises clients on risks and benefits of contract language, public bidding laws, Ch. 573 claims, and other topics related to construction of public improvements.
Prior to Ahlers & Cooney, Brad was a shareholder in the litigation department of another Des Moines area law firm. A native of Central Iowa, Brad comes from a family of farmers and educators. Prior to law school, Brad taught high school Spanish and coached sports in the West Des Moines schools, and kept busy in the summers by roofing, painting, or detasseling corn. Brad also served in the Iowa Army National Guard as an infantryman.
Representative Projects
Prior to Ahlers & Cooney:
- As lead counsel, successfully resolved complex construction disputes involving condominiums, hotels, school buildings, and residential properties
- Multiple defense verdicts for clients accused of performing defective work
- Recovered over $500,000 from general contractors in multiple disputes for terminating a subcontractor
- Recovered over $200,000 from a general contractor who withheld payment from a subcontractor
- Member of legal team successfully defending class action claim against general contractor for personal injuries
- Member of legal team successfully defending school district against claims of age and disability discrimination
- Member of legal team representing school district in high-profile lawsuit involving alleged violation of the Iowa Open Records law
- Member of legal team representing purchasing cooperative of Iowa schools in multiple cases involving claims brought under state and federal antitrust laws, RICO, and the Iowa Trade Secrets Act
Memberships
American Bar Association
- Sections: Litigation, Labor and Employment
- Forum Committee on the Construction Industry
Iowa State Bar Association
- Sections: Construction Law, Labor and Employment Law, Litigation
- Past Member of Construction Law Section Council, Legislative Construction Law Committee
Polk County Bar Association
Iowa Defense Counsel Association
Recognitions
Construction Lawyers Society of America, Charter Fellow
Best Lawyers in America®
- Commercial Litigation (2024-2025)
- Construction Law (2024-2025)
- Litigation – Construction (2024-2025)
- Des Moines Best Lawyer of the Year® (2025)
Super Lawyers Great Plains - Construction Litigation (2021, Rising Star 2015-2016)
International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award, awarded in law school for representation of clients through Drake Legal Clinic
Speaking/Presentations
Brad's most recent speaking engagements include:
Iowa Paralegal Association, Spring Seminar, "Litigation Construction Law," May 2024
Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, Municipal Utility Law 101 Workshop, "Bid Letting," October 2023
Ahlers & Cooney, Employment Law Client Seminar, "Case Law Update," with Sam McMichael, April 2023
Iowa Association of School Business Officials, Spring Conference, "It Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This - How to Prepare for and What to Do After a School Construction Project Goes Bad?," with Danielle Haindfield, March 2023
Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, Municipal Utility Law 101 Workshop, "Competitive Bidding," November 2022
Iowa Municipal Attorneys Association, Annual Seminar, "Managing Public Improvements," with Kristine Stone, November 2022
Iowa State Bar Association, Construction Law Seminar, "Case Law and Legislative Update," with Jodie McDougal, Dentons Davis Brown, May 2022
Iowa State Bar Association, Construction Law Section Council, "Statutory and Case Law Update," with Jodie Clark McDougal, Dentons Davis Brown, 2019 and 2021
Iowa Engineering Law, "Professional Liability Insurance for Engineers," May 2014
NBI Human Resources Law from Start to Finish Seminar, "Controlling Unemployment Compensation Costs, Workplace Behavior and Privacy-Current Developments," May 2014
Ames Home Builders Association, Statute of Repose: "How Far Back Can Contractors Be Sued for Construction Defects?," February 2014
Published Articles & Books
Iowa Supreme Court Limits Liability for Breach of Implied Warranty of Workmanlike Construction, BUILD Des Moines, with Sean O’Brien, January 2015
The Statute of Repose: Should Iowa Reduce the Time to Sue for Allegedly Unsafe or Defective Construction?, BUILD Des Moines, July 2014
Estate Tax Consequences of Revenue Ruling 2004-64: Silence in Grantor Trusts Is Anything but Golden, 54 Drake L.Rev. 929, 2006
Professional, Community and Civic Leadership
Polk County Volunteer Lawyers Project
Iowa Legal Aid, COVID-19 Legal Advice Hotline volunteer
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Waterloo, Iowa, former volunteer