Des Moines, Iowa (February 23, 2015) Miriam Van Heukelem was recently elected shareholder at Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. Miriam is a member of the K-12 Education practice area. She provides public schools in Iowa with comprehensive legal representation. Miriam has worked on claims involving numerous kinds of discrimination and harassment...
Des Moines, Iowa (January 6, 2015) Ann Smisek has joined the Ahlers & Cooney law firm as a member of the Firm’s Employment & Labor Law and K-12 Education practice areas, and will work with public bodies and school districts. Ann counsels clients on various personnel matters regarding potential violation...
Des Moines, Iowa (November 14, 2014) Conner Wasson has joined the Ahlers & Cooney law firm as an Associate in the firm’s Corporate, Business & Tax practice area. Conner’s practice focuses on environmental law, employee benefits, contract negotiation and real estate transactions. His practice includes advising businesses, non-profit organizations and...
Des Moines, Iowa (August 18, 2014) Jason Comisky has joined the Ahlers & Cooney law firm as an Associate in the firm’s Public Finance & Law and Corporate, Business & Tax practice areas. Within the Public Finance & Law practice area, Jason works closely with cities and counties on urban...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Riley v. California that police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested. Although the Riley opinion contemplates cell phone searches of individuals in police custody, the Court's holding rests...
Des Moines, Iowa (August 1, 2014) Attorney Jim Hanks has been named Chair of the American Bar Association’s State and Local Government Law Section. The Section's focus is on issues relating to urban, state and local governmental law and policy. Lawyers across the country are members of the Section. Jim...
On March 10, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative (the "Initiative") to encourage self-reporting of possible securities law violations related to misrepresentations in offering documents concerning an issuer's prior compliance with its continuing disclosure obligations. In the press release announcing the Initiative,...
Iowa Diploma Privilege Recently, the Iowa State Bar Association "Blue Ribbon Committee on Legal Education & Licensure" submitted recommendations to the Iowa Supreme Court regarding Iowa's bar admission process. The Committee's principal recommendation was that Iowa adopt a "diploma privilege" whereby graduates of the two Iowa in-state law schools, Drake...
The Labor Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Labor ("DOL") has adopted new rules to enforce the reciprocal resident bidder and labor force preference statute, Iowa Code § 73A.21. The rules set forth requirements for public bodies involved in a public improvement project and set forth procedures for enforcement activities...
Winter 2014 Civil Case Law Update. Over the past three months, the Iowa Supreme Court decided the following cases of interest: Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE • In Star Equipment, Ltd. v. State of Iowa, Iowa Department of Transportation, decided January 31, 2014, the Iowa Supreme Court...
