Case Name:	DONALD LYLE CLARK V. STATE OF IOWA
Case Number:	LACV079404
Date of Trial:	09/30/2022		Venue:	Johnson County
Casetype/Claims:	Legal malpractice
Judge:	Lars Anderson
Plaintiff's Counsel:	Thomas Frerichs, Mel Orchard		Defendant's Counsel:	David Ranscht, Lawrence Dempsey
Verdict:	In favor of Plaintiff Past Emotional Distress: $8,000,000 Future Emotional Distress: $4,000,000 Total: $12,000,000
Demand Before Trial:
Offer Before Trial:
Statement of Case: This case involves a legal malpractice claim by Donald Clark against his former attorney, John Robertson, who represented Mr. Clark in a criminal case. Mr. Robertson was a state employee, therefore the Defendant in this case is the State of Iowa. Donald Clark was previously convicted of the offense of second-degree sexual abuse and sentenced to prison. He filed a civil proceeding, called postconviction relief, to vacate his criminal conviction. Mr. Clark was successful and his conviction was vacated. Mr. Clark was not retried and was released from prison. Mr. Clark brough this law suit claiming that attorney John Robertson was negligent and that negligence caused him damage. The State denies that attorney Robertson did anything wrong and, alternatively, that if he did do anything wrong, it was not a cause of the damage to Mr. Clark.
Injuries alleged:
Official Jury Verdict Form:
Clark Verdict Form.PDF
Documents of interest: (when available)	Clark Plaintiff Trial Brief.PDFClark Defendant Trial Brief.PDF
Return to Jury Verdict Reporter Database
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