Rawlings Law Firm

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At Rawlings Law, you’ll find over 85 years of knowledge, integrity, and experience ready to serve your needs. We serve both individuals and businesses.

We will carefully listen to your legal concerns, and offer professional and ethical services at a fair and competitive rate. We’ll treat you with dignity and help you to understand each step of the legal process. We’ll work with you to guide you through each step of your case.

While the legal system can move slowly, we work diligently and effectively to expedite your case as quickly as possible. Our mission is to provide the highest quality legal representation to each and every one of our clients.

Practice Areas

We serve both individuals and businesses in the areas of Litigation, Business Law, Estate Planning and Probate, Employment Law, Family Law, Real Estate, Worker’s Compensation, and Bankruptcy.

While each case is unique, below is an overview of what each area may encompass. Please contact us for more information.

Litigation
Since its formation, litigation, including insurance defense litigation, has been a major practice area for Rawlings. We have attorneys who have litigation practices in state and federal courts in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, along with the Federal Court of Claims. Our litigation attorneys have a wide variety of litigation clients. We handle personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage claims. Our attorneys handle will contests, professional liability defense, product liability, civil rights claims, contract disputes, commercial torts, workers’ compensation and employment law.  (back to top)

Business Law
Our business clients depend on Rawlings to provide advice and assistance regarding business formation and planning, contract preparation, mergers and acquisitions, business dissolutions, and employment issues. We assist our clients in their businesses through the use of corporate documents, leases, and business contracts. We assist such varied clients as retailers, manufacturers, medical practitioners, and service companies.  (back to top)

Estate Planning and Probate
Rawlings assists clients with their estate planning needs, including, but not limited to, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, including general powers of attorney and medical powers of attorney, guardianships and conservatorships. We also assist our clients to negotiate the probate process, ensuring that the probate process is completed as efficiently as possible. We remain current on tax implications both in the estate planning and probate areas in an effort to provide the maximum benefit for our clients.  (back to top)

Employment Law
We represent employees and a wide range of employers in the areas of employment discrimination based on age, gender, race, pregnancy, disability, sexual harassment; Family and Medical Leave Act and other mandated employee leaves; equal employment opportunity, wage and hour issues, terminations and severance agreements, employee handbooks, personnel policies, and other workplace issues that arise from time to time.  (back to top)

Family Law
We serve clients in need of assistance in the area of family law, including dissolution, annulment, child custody, modification, adoption, child support, and alimony.  (back to top)

Real Estate
Rawlings represents both individual and corporate clients in the purchase and sale of real estate, foreclosures, title examinations, leases, and landlord/tenant issues.  (back to top)

Bankruptcy
Rawlings’ area of focus in bankruptcy law is the representation of creditors in bankruptcy, particularly financial institutions. We litigate dischargeability issues, preserve our clients’ rights to collateral in a bankruptcy action and strive to ensure that our clients receive the maximum amount available to them in a bankruptcy case. Our attorneys are licensed in bankruptcy courts in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.  (back to top)

Worker's Compensation
We represent individuals who have been involved in workplace injuries through repetitive stress injury, back injury and other similar work-related injuries. We also have extensive experience representing insurance companies who insure employers, as well as self-insured employers in the defense of worker's compensation cases.  (back to top)

History

Clipping from the December 30, 1934, Sioux City Sunday Journal

As first announced in the December 30, 1934, Sioux City Sunday Journal, the law firm of Kindig, Faville, and Matthews opened it doors January 1, 1935. The firm was comprised of two former Iowa Supreme Court Justices, James W. Kindig and Frederick F. Faville; and Amos Matthews, formerly of the Hays, Baron & Matthews firm. The new law offices opened at 503 Farmers Loan and Trust Building in Sioux City, Iowa, located at the corner of 4th and Nebraska Streets. The firm remains at the same location today, although the original building was torn down and rebuilt in 1975.

Lowell C. KindigRobert E. Beebe

Following the Second World War, two University of Iowa Law School classmates, Justice Kindig’s son, Lowell C. Kindig, and Robert E. Beebe, joined the partnership and practiced in Sioux City for over 40 years, as other attorneys joined the firm from time to time. The firm has counted among its members Iowa Supreme Court Justice Maurice E. Rawlings and former Nebraska County Court Judge Neil McCluhan.

In perhaps its most significant case, the firm represented the family of Sgt. John Rice, who, in August, 1951, became the center of controversy in Sioux City when officials at Memorial Park Cemetery refused to allow his burial there because of his Native American heritage. Sgt. Rice was a decorated World War II veteran and Korean War casualty. The event eventually required the intervention of President Harry S. Truman, who ordered that he be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family seeking damages against the cemetery for its discriminatory policies, which the family claimed violated the United States and Iowa Constitutions as well as the Charter of the United Nations. From the Iowa Supreme Court, the case went to the United States Supreme Court and in November, 1954, the court ruled against the Rice family in a 4-4 decision.

Long time partners who have retired include Lowell Kindig (1981), Robert Beebe (1983), Neil McCluhan (1978), Gene Probasco (1997), William Rawlings (1999), Sam Killinger (2010), Mike Jacobs (2016), Michael Ellwanger (2018), and Rebecca Nelson (2019).

Currently, there are two partners, Jeff Mohrhauser and Kathleen Roe, one associate, Nicholas J. Drenth, and four staff members in the firm.

Attorneys


JEFFREY R. MOHRHAUSER
Contact Information: 712.277.2373
Fax 712.277.3304
E-mail: jmohrhauser@rawlings-law.com

Jeff was born in Emmetsburg, Iowa. He received a BA degree from The University of Northern Iowa in 1978 and a JD degree from The University of South Dakota in 1981. Jeff joined the firm in 1981 and has been a partner since 1984. He is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He is a member of the American, Iowa, Nebraska, Woodbury County and Dakota County Bar Associations and the State Bar of South Dakota. He is the author of Woodbury County Soil Conservation District v. Ortner: New Authority for Required Conservation, 25 S.D.L. Rev. 614, 1980.

Jeff currently serves as a member of the Finance Council of the Diocese of Sioux City, as a Trustee for the Pension Plan for Priests of the Diocese of Sioux City and as a member of the Board of Governors of Boys Club of Sioux City. Jeff has served on the Board of Trustees of the Sioux Gateway Airport and the Board of Directors of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff and his wife Rene have two children.


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KATHLEEN ROE
Contact Information: 712.277.2373
Fax 712.277.3304
E-mail: kroe@rawlings-law.com

Professional Organizations
Iowa State Bar Association
    - Member Iowa State Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section
Nebraska State Bar Association
Woodbury County Bar Association
    - Past President 2009
United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
The State Bar of South Dakota
The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota
Iowa Defense Counsel Association

Education
Creighton University School of Law Juris Doctor 1998
Morningside College, Bachelor of Science (Political Science) 1994

Court Licenses
Iowa State and Federal Courts
Nebraska State Court
South Dakota State and Federal Courts

Kathleen was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa. She graduated from North High School in 1989. She received her undergraduate degree from Morningside College. She graduated from Creighton University School of Law with her Juris Doctor in 1998. At that time, she returned to Sioux City and began practicing law. Kathleen and her husband Bob live in Sioux City, Iowa where they have raised two children, Rob and Gabrielle. When she is not at work, Kathleen enjoys golfing, working out, gardening and spending time with family, especially watching sporting events.

Kathleen’s general practice includes, representing and advising individuals and businesses in appeals, commercial tort litigation, construction litigation, insurance defense, employment law, non-compete agreements, wrongful termination, personal injury, contract disputes, wrongful death, mold litigation, products liability, workers’ compensation, insurance, subrogation, guardianships, and conservatorships.

She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants.

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NICHOLAS J. DRENTH
Contact Information: 712.277.2373
Fax 712.277.3304
E-mail: ndrenth@rawlings-law.com

Professional Organizations
Iowa State Bar Association

Education
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Master of Law 2019
University of South Dakota School of Law, Juris Doctor 2018
Morningside College, Bachelor of Science (Political Science & Business Administration) 2015

Court Licenses
Iowa State Court
Iowa Federal Tax Court

Nick is from northwest Iowa and graduated from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in 2012. He received his undergraduate degree from Morningside College in 2015 with a degree in business administration and political science. He graduated from the University of South Dakota of Law with his Juris Doctor in 2018. He then graduated with a Master of Law focusing on tax law in 2019 from Northwestern University. He practiced with Crowe LLP, an accounting firm, focusing on state and local taxation where he assisted with corporate due diligence, compliance and tax consulting engagements. Nick and his wife Mallory live in Sioux City. When he is not at work, Nick enjoys reading, wrestling, running and spending time with family and friends.


For questions, to request more information, or to set up an appointment, please contact us using the information below.

Location
522 Fourth Street, Suite 300
Sioux City, Iowa 51101
(Woodbury County)

Contact Information
Phone: 712.277.2373
Fax: 712.277.3304