Matthew Sease
Partner
Matthew graduated in 2010 with honors from Drake University Law School. Since his graduation, Matthew’s practice has been almost exclusively dedicated to civil and criminal litigation. He has extensive litigation experience in both state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels. To date, he has tried 13 civil and criminal jury trials as either lead or solo counsel. Additionally, he has briefed and argued over 20 appeals before the Iowa Court of Appeals, the Iowa Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Matthew’s criminal experience includes cases ranging from theft and drug possession to vehicular homicide to murder in the first degree. He has also tried a variety of civil matters including personal injury, employment discrimination and complex construction litigation. Matthew has also obtained significant verdicts and settlements for his clients including a significant settlement for the first lawsuit brought against the State of Iowa for the incidents that occurred at the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo, a verdict of nearly $2 million dollars following a six-day bench trial involving a breach of contract in construction materials and a verdict on a counterclaim of more than $1.6 million (including $250,000 in punitive damages) following a five-day jury trial involving a breach of a construction contract on the former Younkers building.
Notable Cases
Estate of Pepper v. Whitehead, 686 F.3d 658 (8thCir. 2012) (reverse district court’s award of summary judgment to defendant and remanded for trial)
Oldcastle APG West, Inc. v. Grove Masonry, Inc., 865 N.W.2d 270 (Iowa App. 2014) (affirming an award of over $1,000,000 in damages from a breach of contract claim)
Estate of Pepper v. Whitehead, 780 F.3d 856 (8th Cir. 2015) (Appeal from adverse jury verdict) (listen to recording of argument here)
Lynch v. Custom Welding & Repair, et al, 142 F.Supp.3d 814 (N.D. Iowa 2015) (obtained summary judgment against Plaintiffs claims for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act)
State v. Dahl, 874 N.W.2d 348 (Iowa 2016) (Interlocutory Appeal reversing the district court and establishing a new procedure for indigent defendants to obtain private investigators)
NuStar Farms, LLC v. Zylstra, et al., 880 N.W.2d 478 (Iowa 2016) (Interlocutory Appeal reversing the district court and removing opposing counsel due to a conflict of interest)
In re Marriage of Erpelding, -- N.W.2d --- (Iowa 2018) (in an issue of first impression, the Iowa Supreme Court set parameters as to what attorneys’ fees may be waived by a premarital agreement)
State v. Harrison, -- N.W.2d --- (Iowa 2018) (challenging the applicability of the felony murder rule as applied to a juvenile defendant and challenging the constitutionality of a life with the possibility of parole sentence to a juvenile defendant)
Estate of West v. Domina Law Group et al., ---- F.3d ---- (8th Cir. 2020) (appeal pending) (appeal from adverse jury verdict) (listen to recording of argument here)