Court replaces two judges on business court

Sixth Judicial District Judge Sean McPartland is stepping down from the Iowa Business Specialty Court, along with a judge from the 2nd District, and each will focus on other judicial duties in their districts.

The Iowa Supreme Court announced Monday that 7th Judicial District Judge Jeffrey Bert and 5th Judicial District Judge David Nelmark will replace McPartland and Judge Kurt Stoebe. The newest members of the court were selected based on their educational backgrounds, judicial and trial practice experience in complex commercial cases, and personal interest in the business court.

McPartland, who has served on the business court since 2017 and has been a district judge since 2008, didn’t respond Monday to a request for comment. He is presiding over a civil trial in Linn County.

In 2009 McPartland was a member of the Civil Justice Reform Task force, which included a committee that came up with the idea for the business court to provide quicker resolutions, lower costs and consistent civil verdicts for litigants. McPartland wasn’t on that committee but served on another that streamlined rules of civil procedures, many beneficial to the business court.

The court system has assigned 117 cases to the business court since it started as a pilot program in 2013. The Iowa Supreme Court made it permanent in 2016. Seventy-seven cases have been resolved and 40 are pending on the specialty court docket.

The new judges join three others already on the court — Lawrence McLellan and Sarah Clark of the 5th Judicial District and John Telleen of the 7th Judicial District.

The district judges who serve on the specialty court don’t give up or alter their regular workload. It just results in extra cases from across the state.

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