An often overlooked aspect of Iowa's insurance bad faith law is insurance companies' liability for delayed payment of claims. Insurers can't act unreasonably in delaying payments on claims.  An insurer must have a reasonable basis for any delay in a claims payment. 

The causation element of a wrongful termination claim requires you to prove that your protected activity was the "determinative factor" in your employer's decision to fire you. A factor is "determinative" if it is the reason that tipped the scales decisively one way or the other, even if it was not the predominant reason behind your employer's decision to fire you. So how do you prove causation, that your protected activity was the determining factor in your employer's decision to fire you?

There are times when both parties may bear some of the blame for an accident. In that situation, Iowa's law of "comparative fault" will apply to the case.

Distracted drivers can cause accidents because they stop paying attention to the road, their course of travel, their speed, traffic signals, traffic conditions, and pedestrians. An immediate question in the aftermath of an accident is what was the guilty driver doing immediately before the crash?

Few injuries cause victims as much mental anguish as scars do. Scarring is an often permanent reminder to an injured person of the accident that caused the scarring.

Bicyclists have certain rights and duties under Iowa law. Some of the laws specifically cover bicyclists; other laws generally apply to all traffic on the road, including bicycles. In general, the Iowa Code imposes the same rights and duties on bicyclists as it does motor vehicle operators, except for statutory rules that only apply to motor vehicles.

We review Iowa law regarding the rights and duties of pedestrians.

Carbon monoxide detectors are a valuable safety item for your home because exposure to high concentrations of carbon monoxide can lead to serious illness and even death. Carbon monoxide detectors are intended to detect the presence of high levels of carbon monoxide, warn you of the high levels, and give you time to leave the area or ventilate it. But what if the carbon monoxide detector doesn't work or malfunctions?

You're not always trying to use your insurance policy to recover money because of an injury to you or your property. Sometimes you need your insurance company to protect and defend you, including hiring a defense attorney, against a claim brought by someone else against you. So when does your insurance company have a duty to defend you against such claims?

The amount of your loss is a common issue when you seek compensation or coverage for property damage caused by various insured events. Your property insurance policy will commonly allow you to recover compensation for actual cash value or replacement costs of the lost or damaged property, whichever is less.  But how are those numbers determined? 

Iowa law requires your insurance company to exercise an honest and informed judgment when when you seek compensation or coverage for property damage or physical injuries caused by various insured events. If your insurance company fails to do so, it may be liable for “first-party insurance bad faith.” First-party insurance bad faith refer to situations in which an insurance company wrongfully denies the claim of its own policyholder.

Unlike in the private sector, where the only legal method for paying overtime is monetary compensation at a 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly rate, public employers may pay overtime to their employees through "compensatory time."  Compensatory time is paid time, not unpaid time, off that the employee earns instead of overtime. Federal overtime laws place stringent restrictions on public employers that want to use compensatory time to pay for overtime. 

We discuss the possible legal claims if someone violates a statute, usually a criminal statute, that doesn't explicitly provide a right to sue for money damages in civil court. Whether the victim can also file a civil lawsuit for violation of that statute is a complicated question.