6th District judge joins special business court

CEDAR RAPIDS - When 6th Judicial District Judge Sean McPartland got involved in the Civil Justice Reform Task Force back in 2009, he didn't know that many years later he'd become part of a specialty court created out of the reform to provide quicker resolutions, lower costs and consistent civil verdicts for litigants.

McPartland, a district judge for nine years, was assigned in September to the Iowa Business Specialty Court. The court started in 2013 as the result of a task force recommendation, but McPartland wasn't involved in that committee.

He decided to apply for the job after being 'approached by some people and encouraged” when one of the original business judges, Annette Scieszinski of the 8th Judicial District, retired.

McPartland did have the background - working for law firms in Kansas City, Mo., for five years and in Cedar Rapids for nine years.

'I mostly handled general civil litigation - involving railroads, insurance coverage, business, liability defense - back in private practice before being appointed (as a district judge) in 2008.”

As a judge, McPartland not only was part of the task force steering committee from 2009-2012, but also served as a member of the advisory committee, which led to the adoption of 2015 amendments to the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure.

Those amendments included streamlined procedures, some of which have been beneficial to the specialty court.

'Over the years, I've found some good ways to deal with civil litigation that I think will be worthwhile and helpful,” he said. But he also wants to get ideas from lawyers and judges who have been on the court.

McPartland and 5th Judicial District Judge Lawrence P. McLellan, also assigned in September, join the other two original judges, Michael Huppert of the 5th District and John Telleen of the 7th District.

The business court, which has a separate docket schedule, started accepting business or complex commercial cases from across the state in 2013. It was pilot program for three years. Then the Iowa Supreme Court made it permanent in 2016. The court has accepted 50 cases since 2013, and 17 of those remain active or pending.

Justice Daryl Hecht told The Gazette last year after the court was made a permanent, voluntary option for litigants that most of the responses and evaluations during the pilot years had been favorable and the court has 'proved to be valuable to the system.”

Lawyers who have gone through the business court told The Gazette last year that these kinds of cases can be complicated. But streamlining procedures and having judges knowledgeable of business litigation has proved to expedite the process, lower costs and provide more consistent decisions.

Even with McPartland becoming a business court judge, he won't be leaving the 6th District. However, it does add extra cases to his workload and could affect others, which has been a concern across the state.

This district's Chief Judge Patrick Grady said when a judge joins a specialty court, it 'crystallizes on a local level the dilemma the Iowa Supreme Court and Judicial Council faces when we have to consider the budgetary impact of specialty court.”

The specialty courts - for drug treatment, veterans' and business cases - provide benefits but are 'labor intensive” and judges who preside over them have less time for the day-to-day cases, Grady pointed out.

'This is a major problem with our shrinking judicial branch budget, which has resulted in not filling judicial vacancies and other support staff vacancies when they occur,” Grady said.

One of those vacancies is in the 6th District, left open when Judge Marsha Bergan retired a few months ago. It will not be filled until next year.

McPartland, who will continue to preside over and make rulings in criminal and civil cases in the 6th, said he was concerned about this and initially hesitant.

'I was assured this district would get help from another district if that were to happen,” McPartland said. 'It is a concern I had.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com