Matthew Charles McDermott (born November 22, 1977) is an American lawyer who has served an associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court since 2020. In 2024, he wrote the majority ruling on the Iowa Supreme Court that implemented a six-week abortion ban. McDermott wrote that the abortion ban was "rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life."

Education

McDermott grew up in Carroll, Iowa and received a Bachelor of Arts with distinction and honors in economics and political science from the University of Iowa in 2000. He then attended the UC Berkeley School of Law, receiving a

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 ...

in 2003. At Berkeley, he was executive editor of the California Law Review and taught in the political science department.

Legal career

While in law school, McDermott worked as a summer associate at

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisitions ...

in New York City. He also volunteered at the East Bay Community Law Center. McDermott turned down an offer at Cravath and instead worked at 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, ...

law firm Belin McCormick P.C., where he was a partner specializing in civil litigation and

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

as well as, for a time, firm president. His clients included the

State of Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, the

Republican Party of Iowa The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa cauc ...

, and Kim Reynolds. He was recognized by Chambers and Partners for his commercial litigation practice from 2012 to 2020 and won "Lawyer of the Year" awards for litigation in 2015 and 2020 from The Best Lawyers in America. At the firm, he worked with two other future justices of the Iowa Supreme Court, Edward Mansfield and

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...

, as well as with future federal judge Stephen H. Locher. In addition to his private practice, McDermott was the president and a member of the board of directors of Iowa Legal Aid. He served as Iowa counsel to the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign and as a local chair for the

Tim Pawlenty 2012 presidential campaign The 2012 presidential campaign of Tim Pawlenty, the 39th Governor of Minnesota began shortly after the 2010 midterm elections. He was seeking the 2012 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. On March 21, 2011, Pawlenty a ...

and the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign.

Appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court

In April 2020, McDermott was appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds to the Iowa Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated by

David Wiggins David Wiggins (born 1933) is an English moral philosopher, metaphysician, and philosophical logician working especially on identity and issues in meta-ethics. Biography David Wiggins was born on 8 March 1933 in London, the son of Norman and D ...

. McDermott was previously an unsuccessful finalist for the seat on the Iowa Supreme Court that went to

Dana Oxley Dana Leanne Oxley (born December 21, 1967) is an associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. Education Oxley obtained a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from the University of Northern Iowa in 1990. She earned her Juris Doctor from the Univers ...

and for

United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Matthew 1977 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Iowa lawyers Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court UC Berkeley School of Law alumni University of Iowa alumni