News Release

December 18, 2009

 

Contact: Steve Davis, Court Communications Officer, (515)725-8058

 

Supreme Court Task Force to Consider Reform of Iowa's Civil Justice System

 

Des Moines, December 18, 2009— Today, the Iowa Supreme Court established a task force to consider reform of Iowa's civil justice system. The Supreme Court Task Force for Civil Justice Reform will develop proposals to make Iowa's civil justice system faster, less complicated, more affordable, and better equipped to handle complex cases such as complex business cases and medical malpractice cases.

 

"The foundation of Iowa's civil justice system is sound. It is fair and impartial and our civil court procedures work well in most cases," said Iowa Supreme Court Justice Daryl Hecht, the chair of the new task force. "Nonetheless, there is room for improvement. For some types of cases, especially cases involving smaller to medium sized claims for damages, our civil procedures are unnecessarily complicated and slow. Also, the system's "one size fits all" approach may not be the most effective method for resolving complex cases such as commercial litigation and medical malpractice claims. "

 

Recent court budget cuts will make it more difficult for courts to process civil cases.

 

"Because of the state's severe financial problems, the judicial branch has reduced its workforce by 11% this year," said Justice Hecht. "Because of these budget cuts the courts have fewer people to move cases through the system.   Cases will back up and delays will grow. The judicial branch must concentrate its resources on high priority cases such as criminal cases and civil cases involving vulnerable citizens such as children, victims of domestic violence, and people with mental health problems. For this reason, litigants in non-priority civil cases will bear the brunt of the budget cuts ¯they face long delays. This situation makes our efforts to improve the civil justice system even more important and urgent. "

 

The task force must finish its work and report to the supreme court by June 30, 2011. Task force members are:

·         Honorable Daryl Hecht, Justice, Iowa Supreme Court, Sioux City, chair

·         Gerald Denning, West Liberty

·         Tom Drew, Des Moines

·         Beth Flansburg, West Des Moines

·         Sharon Greer, Marshalltown

·         Michael Jacobs, Sioux City

·         Norbert Kaut, Des Moines

·         Honorable Sean McPartland, District Judge, Cedar Rapids

·         Professor Luke Meier, Drake University Law School, Des Moines

·         Honorable Eliza Ovrum, District Judge, Des Moines 

·         Martha Shaff, Davenport

·         Randall Shanks, Council Bluffs

·         Deborah Tharnish, Des Moines

·         Professor John Whiston, University of Iowa Law School, Iowa City 

 

Each year, Iowa's trial courts handle approximately 150,000 non-domestic civil cases. These lawsuits, including property disputes, personal injury claims, and contract disputes, constitute nearly 46% of the state's total trial court docket, not including scheduled violations such as speeding tickets. In 2008, Iowa district courts handled:

·         168 medical and dental malpractice cases

·         13,689 debt collection cases

·         10,913 foreclosure cases

·         16,043 landlord/tenant cases

·         100,291 small claims and civil infraction cases

·         8,053 law and equity cases such as contract disputes

·         3,443 tort actions such as personal injury motor vehicle accidents

 

This study will not involve consideration of specialized procedures for family law cases because the supreme court believes that such an examination warrants a separate study. 

 

 

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2009

Iowa Supreme Court

1111 East Court Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50319

515-281-3952