Family Law

• Premarital Agreement
  Analysis and development of estate plans for high net worth individuals and their families, and the preparation of wills, trust agreements, powers of attorney, prenuptial agreements, and other related documents necessary to implement such plan

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  Mark focuses his practice on trusts and estates, tax, corporate law, and employee benefits. A partner with the firm since 1980, Mark served many years as the firm's chair of the Trusts & Estates Practice Group.
• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Mark has extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning, estate and trust administration, business succession planning and charitable planning. Mark’s other tax and general corporate practice involves a wide variety of matters, including the organization of entities, governance of closely-held businesses, mergers and acquisitions, employee benefits, and the design and drafting of deferred compensation plans. He has been involved in the planning and implementation of numerous taxable and nontaxable corporate transactions for family-owned and closely-held businesses, as well as advising owners on sophisticated estate and succession planning issues.
• Business Disputes
  Prior to joining Ahlers & Cooney, Maria was an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Iowa, Department of Inspections and Appeals. She conducted hearings and issued proposed decisions in contested case proceedings involving various state and local agencies, including the Department of Human Services, Department of Transportation, Iowa Workforce Development, and Department of Inspections and Appeals. She successfully completed certification at the National Judicial College for Administrative Law: Fair Hearings. Prior to this, she practiced law at a Des Moines law firm in the areas of municipal law, family law, business law, and litigation.
• Limited Liability Companies
  Advising on the establishment and operation of corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and other entities for the ownership, management, protection, and transfer of assets
• Trade Secrets
• Intellectual Property
• Antitrust

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  Jennifer joined Ahlers & Cooney in 1997 and is a member of the firm’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group, of which she had chaired for many years. The Group serves a broad base of both private and public clients, including self-insured employers, insured employers, workers’ compensation carriers and third-party administrators in both non-litigated matters and contested case proceedings before the Iowa Workers' Compensation Commission.
• Wrongful Termination
  In conjunction with the labor and employment relations aspects of practice, she assists employers with ancillary concerns tied to workers' compensation claims, including return-to-work issues, terminations, ADA, FMLA, COBRA, OSHA and HIPAA concerns. She also has experience defending against bad-faith claims, unemployment claims, wrongful discharge claims, subrogation and Medicare/Medicaid issues that arise during the defense of a workers’ compensation case.
• Employment Discrimination
  A large community college and several members of its executive staff were named in a lawsuit brought in federal district court by a current executive who unsuccessfully sought the president’s position at the college. The lawsuit included various claims sounding in race discrimination, harassment and retaliation. The firm successfully procured summary judgment on all claims and successfully defended the ruling on appeal before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. See
• Employment Contract
  She also counsels clients on various human resources and other employment law matters, including employee discipline and terminations, employment contracts, drafting and revising employment policies, and investigations related to employment. Katherine has experience working with the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS), the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS), the Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC), the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of public agencies.
• Employment Litigation
  Our attorneys have a wealth of experience in handling virtually every facet of the employer-employee relationship, including complex issues pertaining to faculty tenure and academic freedom, drafting and negotiating contracts of college and university presidents, advising clients on employee benefits and taxation, providing counsel on employee performance and conduct issues and drafting employment policies, conducting investigations and training on employment-related matters, and engaging in collective bargaining and arbitration in organized settings. We have also litigated a broad range of employment disputes.
• Severance Agreement
  Our attorneys have partnered with our clients in advising on financial matters and restructuring their workforces in order to address economic pressures. The goal was to make changes with the least possible disruption to the learning environment while recognizing with sensitivity the dignity of the individuals whose employment was to be negatively impacted. In addressing these issues, systems were designed to ensure that decisions were driven by legitimate business reasons, severance packages were designed, offered to, and accepted by the impacted employees, and full releases of any and all legal claims were obtained. The campuses made their transitions smoothly and are successfully operating under a more efficient and streamlined version of their former selves.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
• Construction Litigation
  Sam McMichael recently joined Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. as an Associate Attorney in the Litigation Practice Group for both public law and private law clients, with a focus on employment law and construction law. Sam handles general litigation and advises clients on all manner of cases. In his practice, he... Read More
• Real Estate Transactions
• Eminent Domain
  Successfully represented a 28E entity in defending the use of eminent domain authority to acquire land to develop a drinking water reservoir for the members’ local communities
• Land Use and Zoning
• Property Damage

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Tier 1: Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Education Law, Employment Law/Management, Litigation-Labor & Employment, Litigation-Municipal Law, Municipal Law, Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants, Public Finance Law, Workers' Compensation Law-Employers
• Disability Discrimination

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Charlie enjoys working in the growing area of elder law, as he works closely with guardians and conservators to ensure their loved ones’ estates and care plans are structured and handled appropriately. He has also developed a passion for succession and estate planning, especially in the agriculture industry by helping farm families to keep their century farms in the family.
• Wills
• Trusts
  Charlie focuses his practice in the area of trust administration, estate planning, and probate. He is involved in the planning and implementation of many taxable and nontaxable corporate transactions for family-owned and closely-held businesses, as well as advising owners on sophisticated estate and succession planning issues. He currently chairs the firm's Trusts, Estates & Personal Taxation Practice Group.
• Power of Attorney
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
• Tax Law
  Representation of fiduciaries and other taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and the Iowa Department of Revenue concerning income tax, estate and inheritance tax, property tax, and sales tax issues