Newest 6th District judges didn’t plan to pursue legal careers

The two newest 6th Judicial District judges have plenty in common. Both grew up in rural southeast Iowa counties and eventually became prosecutors — though one went to the federal court system and the other to state court before deciding to apply for the bench.

They ended up joining the bench in the same year. Judge Justin Lightfoot was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in March, and Judge Valerie Clay was appointed in September. It wasn’t where either of them thought they’d end up when they started their careers — neither had set out to pursue law.

Justin Lightfoot

Lightfoot, 40, of Cedar Rapids, said he was encouraged in high school to go into science, but when he went to Iowa State University, he decided to take political science and government classes. He later realized how “the law is prevalent in so many areas of our lives.”

“I wanted to be part of the legal system where disputes are governed by a fair process, with outcomes determined according to law and the facts, and not according to bias, prejudice, or how much money someone has,” he told The Gazette recently.

He said he didn’t think much about being a judge until graduating from the University of Iowa College of Law and becoming a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson of the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis. It started out as a two-year stint, but the judge extended his clerkship for two more years. She was the biggest influence on him in regards to being a judge, he said.

To become a judge, he had to submit an application to the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission. The commission then selects three finalists for the governor to consider. In his application, Lightfoot cited his experience working for Jackson. He said he was expected to essentially do some of the work that a judge would do — read all the briefs, do the research, draw a conclusion and prepare a draft order.

After leaving the clerk job, he interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. That led to him becoming a special assistant and then an assistant federal prosecutor with the office for 11 years.

In 2018, he was appointed as the criminal division chief of the office, which he noted in his application was a “demanding” role, much like that of a judge. He said the division chief duties required sound judgment, common sense and a strong and efficient work ethic. The role also required the ability to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions.

Lightfoot said all these attributes are important to being a good judge, along with legal knowledge and experience. Judges also should have a principled approach to their job, in which they are “always guided by the law and not by any desire for a certain result.”

He said Judge Jackson shared those attributes, and “I will strive to be that type of judge as well.”

Valerie Clay

Clay, 45, of Marion, grew up in rural Tipton as the daughter of the Cedar County sheriff. She said she always wanted to go into public service, and her first interest was in forensic psychology. The law became her career by “default,” she said.

She had to be practical because the forensic psychology classes didn’t fit in with her work schedule, but the law classes did. At that time, she was living in Maryland because her husband was in the Army and stationed in the area. She worked as a residential substance abuse counselor for the Maryland Department of Corrections.

Clay said her time as a counselor was an “eye-opening” experience. She and other female counselors in their 20s were working with inmates in double-wide trailers outside the prison but within its high razor wire fences.

“We were trying to teach life skills to these guys, which was intimidating and rewarding,” Clay said. “That led me to be a prosecutor. By the time these (inmates) were in the program there wasn’t much to rehabilitate. They could be released early if they finished the substance abuse program.”

She left that job and started working for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee in Columbia, Md. She worked at the trustee’s office for the next five years while attending the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. She had earlier received her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa.

In her application with the commission, Clay noted that the path she took to law school would be an asset because she, “like many other Iowans,” went back to school after starting a family and career. She maintained the full-time job and attended law school part time in the evenings.

She was on her own a lot because her husband was away on military duty or training, and her family was over 900 miles away in Iowa. In the application, Clay said this experience gave her a different perspective from many of her peers, and honed her skills of time management and multitasking.

She said it also gave her “greater insight” into many of her future litigants’ lives and would give her greater capacity to empathize with individuals coming into court.

After returning to Iowa, Clay served as an assistant Iowa attorney general, working with the Linn County Child Support Recovery Unit for seven years. She also was an assistant Linn County attorney with the juvenile division for over three years, after being an assistant prosecutor in the criminal division for six years.

Clay said her personality is suited more to being a judge than a prosecutor — where it’s more adversarial. She said she prefers to look at the whole picture because not everything is one-sided.

‘Great additions to the bench’

Chief Judge Lars Anderson said Lightfoot and Clay have been “great additions to the bench, and I and the other judges in the 6th Judicial District are very fortunate to have them as colleagues.”

Anderson noted that they each bring different and valuable perspectives to their positions.

“The selection of both Judge Clay and Judge Lightfoot by the nominating commission and subsequent appointment by the governor is a testament to our excellent process for selecting district court judges in Iowa,” he added.

Both Clay and Lightfoot applied more than once, and Lightfoot was a finalist a few times before being appointed. They said they received encouragement from nominating commissioners, judges and attorneys to apply again.

Both noted they are grateful to the other 11 district judges, courthouse staff and court reporters for the mentoring, help and guidance they have provided.

The 13 district judges hear civil and criminal cases in six counties — Linn, Johnson, Benton, Iowa, Jones and Tama.

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