Iowa Industrial Commissioner Sues Iowa's Governor Alleging Sexual Preference Discrimination
Surely the hate mail over this lawsuit will drive the U.S. Postal Service into the black. This past week the gloves came off when the Iowa Industrial Commissioner (Chris Godfrey) personally sued Governor Terry Branstad (and others in his administration) for discrimination, defamation and harassment over the Governor’s reduction in Godfrey’s annual salary by nearly $36,000. It left me wondering how any of this serves the people of Iowa.
The Govna wanted Godfrey to resign claiming inter alia that Godfrey's actions were getting in the way of job creation in Iowa. Essentially the claim is that he wasn’t doing a good job; a claim which is seriously flawed to the point of being frivolous. (On this point you need only read how the Iowa Economic Development Authority sells this state to the business community.) Iowa’s workers’ compensation program is heralded as one of the best run programs in the country. Godfrey’s suit says if I am doing a good job what else is left but a right-wing attack on my sexual preferences?
"Iowa’s workers’ compensation costs are among the nation’s lowest. The average cost of workers’ compensation insurance for manufacturers in Iowa is 16 percent lower than the national average. Iowa law provides for employer choice of doctor." (Actuarial and Technical Solutions, 2009) - quote from Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa's Business Advantages LINK
I'm not sure in Iowa I've seen this level of dirty politics being played with the Iowa Industrial Commissioner position. As someone who is a registered Republican and who has practiced before the commission for over 30 years I have to say Chris Godfrey is doing an excellent job. His decisions find balance and frankly the Commission under his administration hasn't favored the injured workers. There is a balance struck that favors no one side. He sticks to the law. His decisions are as fair to the employers as they are to the injured workers. The facts seem to dictate the outcome and if I had to pick a side I'd say the Commission favors the employers. So come on Govna what the heck are you doing?
Question: Do I have a case against the car manufacturer for airbags that did not deploy? I was in a accident where my vehicle was struck in the rear, my passenger side air bag deployed and the driver’s side air bag did not. I had nothing sitting in the seat on the passenger side of the vehicle. I was going 60 MPH when I was struck by a vehicle going 95+. My vehicle then struck the dividing barrier on the driver’s side. (Referring to 2nd generation air bags)
My office mate and I recently litigated and successfully settled a cow-in-the-road case in southern Iowa. The facts are as simple as a black cow weighing 1,000 pounds out on a county road after dark where there are no lights doesn't show up in your headlights until it's too late to stop. In that case the driver's wife died. The driver was a family doctor and we thought that would help him in the community with farmers who admired his dedication to Iowa families. Think again. No one in the community came forward to admit ownership of the cow.
This week I received another call about an engagement ring dispute. He bought the ring, spend nearly two thousand dollars for it, they broke up and she moved out of state. He’s been trying to get the ring returned, but she’s refusing. I’m guessing she’s enjoying making his life just a little bit miserable. As my mother is fond of saying, “Steve, misery loves company.” Yes Mom it does.
There are times when as a personal injury lawyer who does a lot of car, truck, motorcycle accidents along with workers’ compensation claims I am completely baffled. This week I got a call from an out-of-state resident who visited Iowa and was injured at a hotel. The matter was a trip-fall type of claim. We lawyers refer to them as premise liability cases. Premise liability is a difficult case to prove, you really need an artificial defect in the property to win these cases. By artificial defect I mean something created by the owner, the lessee or the business that increased the risk of injury.
A Man Need Not Apply
Iowa's Version of MMA Tort-Reform Was A Recipe for Disaster 
Timing is everything so when AFSCME waits to voice concerns over staff size in the prison system, until after people start talking about taking away the right for government workers to use collective bargaining it doesn’t resonate well with the taxpayers. Calling staffing shortages that they claim exist, a “
Today’s blog is all about the veterinary science business and training dog owners to be pet philanthropist while the vet business does surgery on the owner's wallet. This comes about from visiting a friend this past Friday and was told the dog they’ve owned for just a few months was in Ames, Iowa having hip surgery performed; all to the tune of $3 grand. You did what?, I exclaimed. I was flabbergasted; and so upon arriving home, I asked Barbara how much she spent on Oreo’s double leg surgery and she said the vets charged $2,500 per leg. Okay now I'm really airborne. Sorry but I can’t help but see why the Chinese are kicking our butts from an economic standpoint. Instead of lowering debt by $3000 to $5000 we are making ourselves feel better by allowing veterinary science to hoodwink us into feeling bad about putting a dog to sleep so they an rake in $6 grand. Don't think for a minute that I don't know why they send home those ‘dog of the week’ photos? Come on, pure and simple this is marketing to emotions; it’s an economic emotional Ponzi scheme. I don't ever want to hear a vet talk about tort reform and the McDonald's verdict after charging $3 grand for dog surgery. Are you serious?
Make Politicians Publicly Disclose their Stock Options within 24 hours of Purchase
Knowing what the latest credit card scam is can help you to understand why the merchants ask the questions they do when making a purchase. Rather than getting miffed by those questions you will appreciate the merchant's challenge with providing the customer with credit card services while not getting taken by scam artists. To better understand those challenges read the scam page on the Fraud Watch. See this link to “
What’s in your wallet? 
Iowa’s state government is broken. The state 
David Muir from ABC World News with Diane Sawyer has a new series on Made in America. This is the best series that can start the conversation about how we can take the largest consumer economy in the world, America, and refocus our attention on keeping America working. I've seen in the last ten years. Someone is actually getting it. If just 1% of what you spend on consumer goods we would create 200,000 new American jobs. That's $0.18 cents a day and you can create 200,000 new American jobs.
Is the legal system rigged against people; and in favor of big business or does it just seem that way?
Interesting; a few weeks ago I noticed the Iowa DPS site was down and a press release indicated the site had been compromised. It was an unintended Amber Alert that put the DPS on notice that its website had been breached. So what or who hacked into the site and why?
Cedar Rapids Iowa has found a different way to cash in on law breakers; 
Here is the question to ask yourself: Even with the Ponzi scheme, would you have been better off investing with Madoff than with Smith Barney? Or for that matter, any of the other brokerage houses that were more concerned with bonuses and making money through mortgage syndication than taking care of their small-fish clients.
Growing up in a seaport town you learn early that when rats are leaving the ship it means it’s going to sink.
The 7 Iowa Justices ruled as they were required to do and in the end the 3 were wrongly removed; unless of course you believe in the Witchcraft Act of 1542. If you believe the Iowa Constitution requires otherwise then perhaps you also believe the Justices are under the spell of a witch.
In this post I want to point out the systematic destruction of evidence by insurance companies.
The Cedar Rapids police are reported to have issued an arrest warrant charging the driver of a pickup truck with failing to yield and causing a crash that killed a female bicyclist last summer. They also charged him with 
To really get in the mood for today’s post about saggy pants you need some music to put you in the right mood. Here are Waylon and Willie singing Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.
Iowa has its first criminal charges being filed for 
Some would-be 
There is a scam being played out across the Midwest having to do with a quick confidence game involving lawyers, a potential client and law suit funding companies.
A friend of mine from New England was bidding for government work. He’s been out of work for several years and he’s an honest guy so his bids were accurate and came in very reasonable. For some reason he wasn’t getting the work. He wondered if his bids were too high so he sharpened his pencil and added more detail to his bid. Still no work was awarded. He wondered what was he missing, because after losing the bid he would get contacted and then hired as a subcontractor for the guys who were awarded the bids. It became obvious that he knew more about the cable industry than the guys winning the bids.
Lawyers know squat-diddley about marketing; really we don't understand the concept. Judges know less and I'm guessing they will admit their lack of understanding. After all, they are an independent judiciary and don't need to market. Right? Is that right? If so why are the three that are doing their job under attack in Iowa? So I have to wonder, do they need to better understand marketing? Today let's discuss why lawyers and judges would be wise to appreciate at least something about Internet marketing.
Don’t you hate lawyers? After all aren’t the lawyers responsible for all those frivolous lawsuits? Here sing with me. Rain, rain, go away come again another day. Many Iowans with some form of water damage are mad and will probably be madder after they speak with their good neighbor or the guy who they are supposed to be in good hands with; your homeowner’s insurance company. They will call the lawyer right after the homeowner finds out that their good neighbor isn't so good or that they aren't really in a pair of good hands.
The flooding in Iowa is too almost Biblical proportions. We are so tired of rain, rivers overflowing their banks and dams breaking, that the idea of buying a boat and moving north to a lake is looking pretty attractive to most of us. So what are Iowans with flood damage supposed to do when insurance companies tell them there is no coverage? The answers may surprise you when you find out this is going to turn into an expensive lesson for many people.
Today in the email bag was a question and although it’s a bit before 7:00 a.m. as I’m trying to understand what the person is asking me I have to wonder if I’m 30-years younger and going through the experience of once again being a 1-L. A 1-L is how we refer to first year law students. 
I can always tell when FOX’s ratings are slipping because the producers decide it’s time once again to pick a fight with lawyers who help the injured. Either that or my Republican Party needs campaign contributions and they are going to stir up the doctors to get out their credit cards. I read the teaser on FOX titled, 
