Iowa City attorney receives trial lawyer award

IOWA CITY - Iowa City lawyer Marty Diaz said he was 'humbled” to receive the most prestigious award given by the Iowa Association of Justice earlier this month.

'I was completely caught off guard,” Diaz said last week from his office. 'I'm not one to like the pat on the back because I feel that I'm just doing my job. It was very kind. I feel like they (others recognized) are the major league, and I'm in the minor league.”

Diaz, 57, of Solon, was honored with the association's Verne Lawyer Outstanding Member Award during the annual convention Nov. 5 in Des Moines. The award recognized Diaz's 'monumental career spent seeking justice for injured Iowans, especially victims of medical negligence.”

The award is given each year to an association member who has made an 'extraordinary contribution” to the profession or the association.

Association president Jim Daane of Sioux City said Diaz was the kind of trial lawyer the association had in mind when it started recognizing outstanding lawyers.

'He's a giant in the profession, but as Marty has sharpened his skills with each victory, he's made us all better attorneys along with him, spending countless hours sharing his wisdom and advice with the trial bar,” Daane said.

It's a bittersweet honor for Diaz, who is planning to close his Iowa City law firm and retire next year. He has mainly handled personal injury and negligence/medical malpractice cases since his career began in 1983 after graduating from the Creighton University School of Law. He is in the process wrapping up all his cases.

Diaz said it was just time for him to do other things, and he wants to give back to the courts and community. He may help other lawyers with cases, but he plans to volunteer and mediate cases in Johnson County. He hopes to help the backlog in the district and also save money for the parties involved.

He also is interested in criminal 'cold cases.” When the Evansdale cousins, Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, went missing in 2012, Diaz started thinking about volunteering for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia.

Diaz, born in Cali, Colombia, has served for many years as Iowa's delegate to the Iowa Association of Justice's minority caucus and as an elected member of the State Judicial Nominating Commission.