Mark McCormick (born April 13, 1933) is a former justice of the Iowa Supreme Court who served from 1972 to 1986.

Early career

After graduating from Villanova University, McCormick served for three years as an officer in the United States Navy. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1960, then clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for Judge

Harvey M. Johnsen Harvey M. Johnsen (July 16, 1895 – September 15, 1975) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Education and career Born in Hastings, Nebraska, Johnsen received a Bachelor of Laws from t ...

. McCormick then returned to

Fort Dodge Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

and practiced law from 1961 to 1968, during which he was also an Assistant Webster County attorney.

Judicial career

From 1968 to 1972, McCormick served as a judge of the Iowa District Court. In 1972,

Robert D. Ray Robert Dolph Ray (September 26, 1928 – July 8, 2018) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served as the 38th governor of Iowa from January 16, 1969 to January 14, 1983. During his tenure as governor, Ray served as chair of t ...

appointed McCormick to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Return to private practice and political career

In 1986, McCormick retired from the Iowa Supreme Court to join the

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, ...

firm Belin, Harris, Helmick & Tesdell as a partner. In 1997, the firm was renamed Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn, before being renamed once more to Belin McCormick. In private practice, McCormick was rated in Band 1 for commercial litigation by

Chambers & Partners Chambers and Partners (often noted elsewhere as Chambers & Partners) produces international rankings for the legal industry, which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Orbach and Chambers Orbach and Chambers Publishing Limited was founded ...

. He published a treatise on

jury selection Jury selection is the selection of the people who will serve on a jury during a jury trial. The group of potential jurors (the "jury pool", also known as the ''venire'') is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. ...

and articles in the Iowa Law Review and the

Drake Law Review 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 ...

. He also argued 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 ...

in ''Fitzgerald v. Racing Association of Central Iowa'' in 2002. In 1998, McCormick ran in the Democratic primary to be

Governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and narrowly lost to Tom Vilsack. In 2003, he ran for Mayor of Des Moines and narrowly lost again to Frank Cownie. In 2010, McCormick advocated for the retention of the justices of the Iowa Supreme Court in response to the backlash over

Varnum v. Brien ''Varnum v. Brien'', 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009), was an Iowa Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that the state's limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. The ...

References

External links

* Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Living people 1933 births Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa {{Iowa-state-judge-stub