Brent Robert Appel (born July 13, 1950) is an American attorney, politician and former judge who served as a justice of the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 E ...

from 2006 to 2022. Appel was previously an attorney in the office of the

Attorney General of Iowa The Attorney General of Iowa is the chief legal officer of the State of Iowa, United States. The office was created February 9, 1853. The Office of the Attorney General is housed in the Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines; the attorney ge ...

and was a candidate for a seat in the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repres ...

Early life and education

Appel is a native of

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

. He graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with concurrent

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degrees in history in 1973. He earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

in 1977. At Berkeley, he was an editor of the ''

California Law Review ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades playing ...

'' and won the McBaine Moot Court.

Career

After graduating from law school, Appel clerked on the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

. Appel was then First Assistant

from 1979 to 1983 and deputy Attorney General from 1983 until 1987. While working at the Iowa Attorney General's Office, he argued four cases before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, including ''

Nix v. Williams ''Nix v. Williams'', 467 U.S. 431 (1984), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that created an " inevitable discovery" exception to the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule makes most evidence gathered through violations of the Fourth Amendment to t ...

'' and '' Nix v. Whiteside''. From 1987 to 2006, Appel worked in private practice in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, including at the law firms Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagan P.C. and Wandro, Baer, Appel & Casper P.C. He specialized in commercial litigation,

employment law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

, and

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (t ...

. Appel unsuccessfully ran once for the Iowa General Assembly as a Democratic candidate.

Iowa Supreme Court

Appel was nominated by Iowa Governor

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...

for a term starting in 2006 to succeed James H. Carter on the Iowa Supreme Court. In 2010, Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

appointed Appel to a six-year term as a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence. On June 17, 2022, Appel wrote a 94 page dissent when the Iowa Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that abortion is not protected by the state constitution. Appel also dissented in the June 30, 2022 case that made it harder to sue hog confinements for pollution. Appel wrote “are we telling the existing property owners that they are required to ‘take one for the team’ as the private owners next door emit nuisance odors under a scheme of statutory immunity?” Appel retired on July 13, 2022, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72. In June 2022, it was announced Appel would be joining the faculty of

Drake University Law School Drake University Law School is a professional graduate law school of Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has over 330 full-time students. The school is led by Dean Jerry Anderson. Founded in 1865, Drake Law School is one of t ...

Personal life

Appel's wife,

Staci Appel Staci Lynn Appel (born April 19, 1966) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Iowa. She served in the Iowa Senate as the Assistant Majority Leader from 2007 to 2011 representing the 37th district. A Democrat, in 2014 she unsuccessfully ...

, is a former member of the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

from the 37th district. She was the Democratic nominee for

Iowa's 3rd congressional district Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines to the borders with Nebraska and Missouri. From 2013 to ...

in 2014. Appel has six children.

References

External links

Iowa Judicial Branch page for Brent R. AppelBallotpedia ProfileVoteSmart Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appel, Brent R. 1950 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Drake University faculty Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Lawyers from Des Moines, Iowa People from Dubuque, Iowa Stanford University alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni