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Lu Ann White

Lu Ann White

Lu Ann White has been involved in private practice with an active general trial and appellate practice since 1985 in federal and state court.  She has advised and represented small businesses and corporations in the area of business law in Des Moines and Iowa and in the area of commercial litigation, employment discrimination, and employment-related matters, and property damage cases.  As a personal injury attorney in Des Moines, and practicing trial attorney in Iowa, as well as an insurance lawyer in Iowa, she has been involved in insurance defense matters involving areas of personal injury, property damage, and premises liability, tortious interference with contract, non-compete agreements, and employment matters.  She has also been involved in representing individual clients with civil rights and employment discrimination concerns, and other employment disputes, such as wrongful termination.  In her practice as a personal injury attorney in Des Moines and trial attorney in Iowa, she has represented individuals involved in personal injury cases, including automobile accidents and other motor vehicle accident cases, product liability cases, and business disputes. She advises clients regarding contracts, business organization and other areas of business law in Des Moines and Iowa, and employment matters, among other areas.
 
Lu Ann has been very active on committees and boards of local bar associations --  the Polk County Women Attorneys and Polk County Bar Association-- as well as in the state bar association.  She has served as President of both the Polk County Women Attorneys and the Polk County Bar Association, and as Secretary of the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys.  She presently serves again on the Iowa State Bar Association’s Board of Governors as a representative from Polk County, a position she previously served.  She has been involved as a member of several Iowa State Bar Association committees and sections – the Annual Meeting Committee, the Women and Minorities Committee, and the Litigation and Employment Law Sections.  She served six years on the Judicial Nominating Commission for Judicial District 5C.  She is the liaison for Iowa on the ABA Litigation Section’s Woman Advocate Committee, and a co-chair of its Mentoring Subcommittee.  Lu Ann has earned an “AV” rating from her peers in Martindale-Hubbell, a professional designation of high legal ability and a very high adherence to the professional standards of conduct and ethics. 

Lu Ann is involved in the Des Moines area community. She is an active volunteer with the Des Moines Choral Society, and has served as a board member, as Vice President of Development and Vice President of Community Outreach, and most recently as President.  She  has been singing with the Des Moines Choral Society for 17 years.  She is also a member of the Women’s Development Connection, formerly the Women’s Chamber Alliance, and a business partner with the Chrysalis Foundation, supporting women and girls in central Iowa.   She served as President of the Cornell College Alumni Association and is an active volunteer for the Cornell College Alumni Association.

Born:

  •  Waterloo, Iowa, August 31, 1956

 

Education:

  • Cornell College (B.A. 1978)
  • University of Iowa  (J.D. 1981), Note and Comment Editor, Iowa Law Review, 1980-1981
  • Law Clerk,  Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Longstaff,  U.S. District Court (1981-1982, 1984-1985)


Admissions:
 

  •    Iowa Bar (1981)
  •    U.S. Supreme Court  (1998)
  •    U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
  •    U.S. District Court (Northern/Southern Districts of Iowa)


Professional Associations and Memberships:
 

  • Polk County Bar Association
    •  President, 1995-96
    •  2006 Award of Merit Recipient
    •  2010 Award of Merit Recipient
    •  Newsletter Committee, Former Co-Chair 
    •  Membership Committee, Former Chair
    •  Public Relations Committee, Former Member
    •  Ethics Committee, Former Member
  • Polk County Women Attorneys
    • President, 1987-1988
  • Iowa State Bar Association
    • Board of Governors Representative District 5C, Former and Present Member
    • Chair Annual Meeting Committee, Former
    • Membership Committee, Former Member
    • Women and Minorities Committee, Former Member
    • Young Lawyers Division Board of Directors, District 5C, Former Member
    • Young Lawyers Professional Development Committee, Former Chair
    • Federal Practice Committee, Member
    • Annual Meeting Committee, Member
    • Labor and Employment Law Section
    • Litigation Section
    • Section Council, Former Member 
  • Iowa State Bar Foundation, Member
  • Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys
    • Former Secretary
  • American Bar Association
    • Litigation Section, Member, and Woman Advocate Committee, Member and Mentoring Subcommittee Co-Chair
    • Law Practice Management Section
    • Employment and Labor Law Section  
  • Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission District 5C (1998 -2003)
  • Iowa Supreme Court Council on Judicial Selection, Former Member
  • Iowa Supreme Court Task Force on Judicial Branch Education
  • Polk County Legal Aid Society Board of Directors, Former Member


Publications:
 “Several civil procedure rules amended to update service, now allow use of e-mail in some events,” Iowa Lawyer, January 2003

Co-author: “A Mentoring Checklist to Help Make the Mentoring Relationship Productive,” The Woman Advocate, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Winter 2008)

Languages:
Spanish

Practice Areas:
General Practice, including but not limited to:


  • Appellate Practice
  • Commercial Law
  • Employment Law
  • Insurance
  • Litigation
  • Personal Injury
  • Product Liability
  • Trial Law