The Iowa Business Specialty Court will enter a new chapter this fall as it transitions to a stand-alone court staffed by two full-time judges dedicated exclusively to complex commercial litigation.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen has appointed Judge Jeffrey D. Bert of Bettendorf and Judge David Nelmark of Des Moines to serve exclusively on the Iowa Business Specialty Court beginning Sept. 1, 2026. Both judges have served on the Business Specialty Court since 2021, handling cases as both settlement conference judges and primary judges.
The transition follows the enactment of Senate File 639, signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on June 1, which authorized the creation of two full-time Business Specialty Court judgeships. With the change, Iowa joins a small group of states—including Georgia, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming—with stand-alone business courts.
The Iowa Business Specialty Court was established in 2013 to provide a specialized forum for resolving complex commercial disputes. Since its inception, the court has been staffed by district court judges who balanced business court responsibilities with their regular trial court dockets. Beginning this September, Judges Bert and Nelmark will devote their full attention to business court matters.
The Business Specialty Court hears qualifying business and commercial litigation involving claims exceeding $200,000 in compensatory damages or cases primarily seeking injunctive or declaratory relief. By assigning these matters to judges with extensive experience in business litigation, the court is designed to move complex cases more efficiently while reducing costs for litigants and the judicial system.
Since opening in 2013, the Iowa Judicial Branch has assigned 317 cases to the Business Specialty Court. The court has also developed a growing body of published decisions that promotes greater consistency and predictability in business litigation while fostering judicial expertise in managing complex commercial disputes.
Judge Bert brings nearly three decades of experience in private practice, where he focused on civil and business litigation and workers' compensation matters before his appointment to the district court in 2019. Judge Nelmark practiced extensively in complex civil litigation before joining the bench, handling matters involving antitrust, contract disputes, intellectual property, insurance defense, medical malpractice and trade secret litigation.
In announcing the appointments, Chief Justice Christensen praised both judges' experience handling complex civil matters and expressed confidence in their leadership as the Business Specialty Court begins its next phase.
The appointments will create district court vacancies in Iowa's Fifth and Seventh Judicial Districts, with the judicial nominating process to begin in the coming months.
View the official notice.
Visit the Iowa Bar Blog for more news.
