Thomas D. Waterman (born 1959) is 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 ...

Education

Waterman was born in Davenport, Iowa. He graduated from

Bettendorf High School Bettendorf High School (BHS) is a public four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa and is part of the Bettendorf Community School District. History Early history Prior to its opening in 1951, there was no high school in ...

and received a degree in history from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1981. He then graduated

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

in the top five percent of his class from the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. Iowa is ranked the 28th-best law school in the United States by the '' U.S. News & World Report'' "Best Law Sch ...

in 1984.

Legal career

Waterman practiced for 27 years at the Davenport law firm Lane & Waterman LLP. He was a fourth-generation partner in the firm and specialized in

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

trial and appellate litigation. Waterman was ranked in Band 1 for commercial litigation by

Chambers and 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 ...

and was also recognized by The Best Lawyers in America. He was also a member of the Iowa State Judicial Nominating Commission and the

American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially trial ...

Iowa Supreme Court

Waterman was one of three justices appointed by Iowa Governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa f ...

in 2011. In November 2010, Iowa voters had removed all three justices seeking reelection in response to the court unanimously legalizing same-sex marriage in '' Varnum v. Brien''. Waterman is an elected member of the American Law Institute. He is the second member of his family to serve on the Iowa Supreme Court after Charles M. Waterman, who founded Lane & Waterman. In 2019, Waterman spoke with state Representative Steven Holt, the floor manager of a bill to modify procedures for choosing judges and the chief justice's term.

Michael Gartner Michael Gartner (born October 25, 1938, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American journalist, attorney and businessman. He was president of the Iowa Board of Regents. Biography A graduate of Carleton College and the New York University School of Law, ...

reported that the bill was a "power grab" by Waterman and his allies, who lobbied the legislature and wanted Waterman to replace

Mark Cady Mark Steven Cady (July 12, 1953 – November 15, 2019) was an American jurist. He served on the Iowa Supreme Court for 21 years from 1998 to 2019. From 2011 to 2019, he was the chief justice of the court. He was the author of the court's opinion ...

before his term expired. Unlike Cady, Waterman refused to disclose his contacts with legislators or recuse himself in the ensuing litigation. Waterman subsequently took part in a 4-2 decision to refer the case to the

Iowa Court of Appeals The Iowa Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Iowa. Its purpose is to review appeals from trial court decisions which are referred to the court by the Iowa Supreme Court. The court decides the vast majority of ...

, which dismissed the lawsuit 3–2 on

standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...

grounds, following which the Iowa Supreme Court declined review.

References

External links

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1959 births Living people Dartmouth College alumni Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court People from Davenport, Iowa University of Iowa College of Law alumni 21st-century American judges {{Iowa-state-judge-stub