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Brent Appel
Distinguished Lecturer and Jurist in Residence
Associate Director of the Institute for Justice Reform and Innovation
Retired Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
Expertise: Professional Responsibility, State and Federal Constitutional Law, Employment Law, Public Law
Education
JD, University of California (Berkeley)
MA and BS, Stanford University
BA, Stanford University
Experience
- Drake Law School professor since 2022
- Justice, Iowa Supreme Court (2006-2022)
- Wandro, Baer, and Appel (2005, 2006)
- Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler, & Hagen, P.C. (1987-2005)
- Deputy Attorney General, State of Iowa (1983-1986)
- First Assistant Attorney General, State of Iowa (1979, 1981)
- Court Law Clerk, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1977-1978)
Selected Publications
- Clark v. Board of School Directors, 67 Drake Law Review 236 (2019).
- Records in University Fundraising: Public or Private, 28 State & Local Government Law News 1 (2005).
- Item Veto Litigation in Iowa: Marking the Boundaries Between Legislative and Executive Power, 41 Drake Law Review 139 (1992).
- Employment at Will in Iowa: A Journey Forward, 39 Drake Law Review (1989-90).
- The Limited Impact of Nix v. Williams on Attorney-Client Relations, 136 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1913 (1988).
- Epidemiological and Legal Consideration in the Exclusion of Children with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Cytomegalavirus or Herpes Simplex Virus Infection from Group Care, 6 Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 1011 (1987).
- Nix v. Whiteside: The Role of Apples, Oranges, and the Great Houdini in Constitutional Interpretation, 23 Criminal Law Bulletin 5 (1987).
Significant Accomplishments
- Recipient, Rolland E. Grefe Pro Bono Publico Award (2022)
- Chair, Iowa Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission (2016-22)
- Member, Federal Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence (2010-2016)
- Member, Iowa Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission (1991)
- Briefed and argued four cases before the United States Supreme Court
- Herwig v. Ray, 455 U.S. 265 (1982)
- Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984)
- Nix v. Whiteside, 475 U.S. 157 (1986)
- Puerto Rico v. Branstad, 483 U.S. 1987)
- Research Editor, California Law Review (1976-1977)
- Winner, McBaine Moot Court Competition (1976)
Biography
Justice Brent Appel joined the Drake Law faculty in 2022 after serving as a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court for sixteen years. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University, and his JD from the University of California, Berkeley, where he served on the board of editors of the California Law Review. During his time at Berkeley Law, he won the McBaine Moot Court competition and the Jamieson Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Advocacy. After graduation, Appel clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then served as first assistant attorney general and then as deputy attorney general of Iowa from 1979 to 1986. During this time, he argued and briefed four cases before the United States Supreme Court. At the time of his appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court in 2006, he was a partner at Wandro, Baer & Appel in Des Moines, where his practice focused on commercial litigation, employment law and personal injury.
In 2010, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Appel to the Federal Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence, where he served until 2016. In 2022, Appel received The Iowa State Bar Association’s Rolland E. Grefe Pro Bono Publico Award for his leadership in advocating for access to justice for all Iowans throughout his career, and for his outstanding work as the chair of the Iowa Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission since it was formed in 2016.
