Iowa official register

Justice David S. Wiggins 

Justice Wiggins, West Des Moines, was appointed to the Su-

preme Court in 2003.  

Justice Wiggins, who was born in Chicago, earned his bache-

lor’s degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1973.  

He graduated with honors and Order of the Coif from Drake Uni-

versity Law School in 1976.  While in law school he served as 

associate editor of the Drake Law Review.  Justice Wiggins began 

his legal career as an associate in the West Des Moines law firm 

of Williams, Hart, Lavorato & Kirtley.  He became a partner in 

the firm in 1979. 

Prior to joining the court, Justice Wiggins was active in numer-

ous bar organizations including serving on the Board of Gover-

nors of the Iowa State Bar Association, and serving as president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Asso-

ciation, senior counsel for the American College of Barristers, master emeritus of the C. Edwin 

Moore American Inn of Court, a founding sponsor of the Civil Justice Foundation, and an advo-

cate for the American Board of Trial Advocates.  He served as chairperson of the Judicial Qualifi-

cations Commission from 2000 until he joined the Supreme Court. He received the Meritorious 

Achievement Award from the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association in 1999.  

Justice Wiggins was  born in 1951. He is married and has three children. His current term 

expires December 31, 2012. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justice Daryl L. Hecht 

Justice Hecht, Sioux City, was appointed to the Supreme Court 

in 2006.  

Raised near Lytton, he received his bachelor’s degree from 

Morningside College in 1974 and his J.D. degree from the Univer-

sity of South Dakota in 1977.  He received his L.L.M. degree from 

the University of Virginia Law School in 2004.  

Justice Hecht practiced law in Sioux City for 22 years before 

his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 1999. 

Justice Hecht is a past president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers 

Association.  He has served as a member of the Board of Directors 

of the Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, the Morningside College Alumni Association, 

the Woodbury County Judicial Magistrate Nominating Commission, and the Woodbury County 

Compensation Commission.  

Justice Hecht was born in 1952. He is married and has two children. His current term expires 

December 31, 2016. 

 

 

98 

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 

---

Justice Brent R. Appel 

Justice Appel, Ackworth, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 

2006. 

A Dubuque native, he received his bachelor’s and master’s de-

grees from Stanford University in California in 1973 and his J.D. 

degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1977. Fol-

lowing graduation from law school, Justice Appel served as a court 

law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 

Columbia Circuit. 

In 1979, Justice Appel was appointed Iowa First Assistant Attor-

ney General, and in 1983 became Iowa Deputy Attorney General.  

While serving in the Iowa Attorney General’s office, Justice Appel 

argued and briefed four cases before the United States Supreme Court, including the second 

“Christian burial” case, Nix v. Williams. 

From 1987 until 2006, Justice Appel was engaged in private practice in central Iowa. Justice 

Appel is a member of the C. Edwin Moore Inn of Court.  He has served on the Supreme Court’s 

Bar Conduct Committee and is currently a member of the Subcommittee on Supreme Court Rules 

of Practice and  Procedure. 

Justice Appel was born in 1950. He is married and has six children. His current term expires 

December 31, 2016. 

 

 

 

Justice David L. Baker 

Justice Baker, Cedar Rapids, was appointed to the Supreme 

Court in 2008.   

Justice Baker attended undergraduate and law school at the 

University of Iowa, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1975 and 

law degree in 1979 with high honors, Order of the Coif.  Follow-

ing graduation from law school, Justice Baker worked in the pri-

vate practice of law for 25 years.  In 2005, he was appointed as a 

district court judge for the Sixth Judicial District.  Justice Baker 

was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2006 where he served 

until his appointment to the Supreme Court.  

Justice Baker is a member of the Linn County, Iowa State, and 

American Bar Associations, the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers, 

the American Inns of Court-Mason Ladd Inn and the Merit Selection Panel for the Northern Dis-

trict of Iowa.  

Justice Baker was born in 1952. He is married and has two children. His current term expires 

December 31, 2010.  

99 

JUDICIAL BRANCH 

---

COURT OF APPEALS 

Judicial Branch Building, Des Moines 50319; [phone] 

In 1976, the General Assembly established the Court of Appeals as a five-member intermediate 

court of appeals.  A sixth judge was added in 1983.  In 1999, three additional judges were added, 

making the Court of Appeals a nine-member court.  The judges are appointed by the Governor to 

six-year terms from a list of five nominees selected by the State Judicial Nominating Commis-

sion.  To be considered for appointment, a person must be an attorney licensed to practice in 

Iowa. The judges must stand for retention in office at the first general election held after serving 

at least one year, and every six years thereafter. The judges elect one of their members every two 

years to serve as chief. 

A party dissatisfied with the final outcome of a case at the trial level may appeal. A party does 

not always have the right to appeal. In some cases, for example, those involving a simple misde-

meanor crime or a small claims action, the party must seek permission from the Supreme Court to 

file an appeal. Additionally, in limited circumstances, a party may seek an early appeal, or an 

appeal in advance of final judgment, by obtaining permission from the Supreme Court. 

The Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court.  It reviews appeals from trial court 

decisions that have been transferred to the Court of Appeals by the Supreme Court. 

At the appellate level, the court does not conduct trials or hear new evidence, but rather it deter-

mines whether legal errors were committed in the rendering of the lower court’s judgment or 

order. The appellate court can affirm—uphold the decision or order of the lower court; reverse—

set aside the decision or order; or remand—send the case back to the lower court with instruc-

tions, including instructions to hold a new trial. A decision of the Court of Appeals is final unless 

reviewed by the  Supreme Court on grant of further review. 

Summaries of Court of Appeals decisions and the full text of the opinions are available on the 

Judicial Branch website at http://www.iowacourts.gov/Court_of_Appeals/Opinions/. 

 

JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS 

Chief Judge Rosemary Shaw Sackett 

Chief Judge Sackett, Okoboji, was appointed to the Court of Appeals 

in 1983 and elected Chief Judge in 1999. She was born in Fort Dodge. 

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista College. Graduating 

cum laude in 1960, she then entered Drake University Law School and 

earned her law degree in 1963. She received her L.L.M. from the Uni-

versity of Virginia in 1990. In 2006, she received an honorary Doctor of 

Public Service degree from Buena Vista University.     

Prior to joining the court, she practiced law in Pocahontas and 

Spencer for 20 years. She also served as an assistant County Attorney in Clay County.  She is a 

member of the Iowa Judges Association and of the American, Iowa State, Judicial District 3A, 

and Dickinson County Bar Associations and the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys. She has 

served as chair of the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar, as president of the 

Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeal, as chairman of the board of the Appellate 

Judges Institute, and as president of both the Judicial District 3A and Clay County Bar Associa-

tions. She has written and lectured on various legal topics and has served on a number of commit-

tees concerned with improving the law, and for a number of years coached high school mock trial 

teams.  In 2007, she spent several weeks in Bahrain working as an appellate specialist and advis-

ing their Ministry of Justice on ways to improve its appellate system.  

Judge Sackett was born in 1940.  She is married and has five children.  Her current term ex-

pires December 31, 2014. 

 

 

100 

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 

---