Mr. Read has been in private practice in Cedar Rapids, Iowa since 1975. His practice has included representing insurance companies and their insureds in a variety of types of cases ranging from auto accidents, homeowner claims and dram shop claims to complex product liability, toxic tort and environment coverage cases. Mr. Read also represents both workers and employers and their carriers in workers' compensation cases, including serving as a mediator of workers' compensation cases. Mr. Read has significant experience with fire and explosion cases, both involving arson and accidental fires. A portion of his practice, however, is of a more general nature involving personal legal matters of individuals including personal injury and property damage claims.

Mr. Read is a 1971 graduate of Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa and a 1975 graduate of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. While in law school he was a research assistant to the Iowa Supreme Court in the summer of 1973 and was the law clerk to the Iowa Industrial Commission (now, the Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation) in the summer of 1974. He worked campus legal services at Iowa State University and had a casenote published in the Drake Law Review in 1975. He graduated in the upper 20% of his class in 1975.

Mr. Read lives with his wife, Betsy, and their two children, Peter and Katherine, in Cedar Rapids. Betsy is an artist. Peter is a student at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Katherine is in high school and is involved in the performing arts. Besides his family, Mr. Read's interests include golf, hunting, Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball, classical music, art and flying a private airplane.

Areas of Practice

• Workers' Compensation Claims and Appeals
• SSDI and SSI Claims
• Mediation

Litigation Percentage

• 80% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Iowa, 1975
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Iowa, 1975
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Iowa, 1983
• U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1984
• U.S. Tax Court, 1976

Education

• Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa
  J.D.
  Law Review: Drake University Law Review, Contributor, 1975
  
  
• Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, 1971
  B.A.
  
  

Published Works

• Casenote , 24 Drake Law Review 709
• Physical Contact Requirement in a Hit-and-Run Claim, 8 Defense Update 1, 1995
• Occupying the Vehicle--An Analysis for Defending UIM Cases, 9 Defense Update 3, 1996

Representative Cases

• Fireman's Fund v. ACC Chemical, 538 N.W.2d 259 (Iowa 1995)
• Poula v. Siouxland Wall & Ceiling, 516 N.W.2d 910 (Iowa 1994)
• Roosevelt Hotel Limited Partnership v. Sweeney, 394 N.W.2d 353 (Iowa 1986)
• Freeman v. Schmidt Real Estate & Insurance, 755 F.2d 135 (8th Cir. 1985)

Representative Clients

• Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.
• Mutual Fire and Auto Insurance Co.
• Chubb Insurance Co.
• Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.
• Iowa Mutual Insurance Company
• Crum & Forster Commercial Insurance
• Britamco Underwriters
• Star Insurance
• Farmland Industries, Inc.
• Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc.

References

• U.S. Bank

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Linn County Bar Association, Ethics and Grievance Committee, 1988 - Present
  Member
  
  
• Iowa State Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section
  Member
  
  
• Iowa Association of Workers' Compensation Lawyers
  
  
• Iowa Defense Counsel Association
  
  
• Defense Research Institute
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• Iowa Industrial Commission, Law Clerk, 1974

Birth Information

• 1949, Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America