Iowa Personal Injury Lawyer

My office is on Dodge Street in Omaha, a few miles from the Missouri River. A lot of my clients live on the other side of it. I am admitted to practice in the Iowa state courts and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, and I take injury and wrongful death cases anywhere in the state: car and truck crashes on I-80, I-29 and I-35, farm and plant injuries, dog attacks, and deaths that should never have happened.

This page is about Iowa law as a whole: the rules that apply whether the crash happened in Council Bluffs, on a county road in Dubuque County, or on U.S. 30 west of Boone. If you are in or near one of the Iowa communities I work in most, its own page covers the local courthouse, highways and hospitals. The rest of this page explains how an Iowa injury claim actually works, and where Iowa parts ways with Nebraska.

Where I Work in Iowa

These pages cover what is particular to each community. Cases outside them, from the Quad Cities to Mason City, are handled the same way: personally, and with Iowa law applied from day one.

The Deadline Is Two Years, and Some Clocks Run Faster

Iowa Code § 614.1(2) allows two years to bring a claim for injuries to the person. That single number governs most car crash, truck crash, fall and dog-bite cases, and it is half of what a Nebraska claimant gets. It is also not the only clock. Several Iowa claims come with an earlier notice step that has to be taken long before the two years are up:

• Claims against a bar or liquor licensee. Under § 123.93, the injured person must give written notice of the intent to sue within six months of the injury, stating the time, place and circumstances. The period stretches only if the injured person is incapacitated or could not, with reasonable diligence, learn who served the alcohol.
• Claims against the State of Iowa. Under § 669.13, the claim must be made in writing and filed with the director of the Department of Management within two years. A lawsuit follows the state’s decision, with a six-month extension after the attorney general mails notice of the final disposition.
• Claims against a city, county or school district. Section 670.5 requires the lawsuit itself within two years after the injury or death.
• A work injury. Under § 85.23, the employer must learn of the injury within ninety days, either through its own actual knowledge or by notice from the worker. The formal claim deadline in § 85.26 is two years from the injury, or three years from the last weekly benefit check if benefits were paid.

Children are treated differently. Section 614.8 extends most of these deadlines for a minor until one year after the child turns eighteen. A parent’s own claim for the child’s medical expenses is a separate claim, and families should not assume it waits too. Neither does the evidence.

How Iowa Divides Fault

Iowa uses modified comparative fault, set out in § 668.3. An injured person’s own share of fault reduces the award by that percentage. It bars recovery only when the injured person’s fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone being sued. At a genuine 50–50 split, an Iowa claimant still recovers half. A Nebraska claimant in the same spot recovers nothing, because Nebraska bars recovery once the claimant’s negligence is equal to or greater than the defendants’. In a close case, that one word can decide whether there is any case at all.

When more than one defendant is at fault, § 668.4 controls who pays what. A defendant found less than fifty percent at fault pays only its own share. A defendant at fifty percent or more is jointly and severally liable, but only for economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages, not for pain and suffering. The practical result is that the fault percentages a jury assigns to each defendant matter as much as the total verdict. So does whether a solvent, well-insured defendant is in the case at all.

Iowa also shields government from some fault assignments. Under § 668.10, the state or a city cannot be assigned fault for failing to put up a stop sign or other regulatory sign in the first place. Once a sign is installed, though, it can be at fault for failing to maintain it. Snow and ice claims against government are limited in the same way when the agency followed its own level-of-service policy. A crash at an intersection where a sign was down, faded or hidden is a different case from one where no sign was ever installed.

Seat Belts: Why Iowa Is Not Nebraska Here

Insurers raise the seat belt in nearly every crash case. In Iowa, § 321.445(4)(b) says that not wearing one is not evidence of comparative fault. It may be used only to reduce damages, and only after the defense first offers substantial evidence that the missing belt actually contributed to the injuries claimed. If a jury makes that finding, it may reduce the award by up to twenty-five percent, after any comparative-fault reduction.

Nebraska caps the same reduction at five percent under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,273. When an unbelted person’s case could be filed in either state, the difference between a five percent cap and a twenty-five percent cap is money. The defense’s obligation to prove that the belt would have changed the injury is where these arguments are usually won or lost. A belt does little for many side-impact and rollover injuries, and it takes a qualified expert to say so.

Medical Bills: Iowa Counts What Was Paid

Since 2020, Iowa has limited what a jury hears about past medical expenses. Under § 622.4, the evidence is limited to the amounts actually paid to satisfy the bills, from any source, plus the amounts actually needed to satisfy bills that are still open. The open-bill figure cannot exceed what the injured person’s health insurance could have paid, whether or not that insurance is used. Section 668.14A places the same limit on what can be recovered.

This changes how an Iowa case is built. The chargemaster total on a hospital statement is not the number. What matters is what an insurer, Medicare, Medicaid or the patient actually paid, and what future care will actually cost. Future medical expenses remain a separate item, proved through physicians and life-care planners. In a serious injury case, they are often the largest number on the page.

Who Owns the Car Matters

Iowa makes a vehicle’s owner answer for the negligence of anyone driving it with the owner’s consent. Under § 321.493, when damage is done through the driver’s negligence and the car was driven with consent, the owner is liable for that damage. This matters most when a teenager or a friend was driving someone else’s car. The owner’s policy, often a parent’s, becomes the first source of coverage.

Iowa’s graduated licensing law, § 321.180B, also sets limits on young drivers that can become evidence after a crash. An instruction-permit holder must have a qualifying licensed adult in the seat beside them. A newly licensed intermediate driver may carry no more passengers than there are seat belts. For the first six months, unless a parent waived it, that driver may carry no more than one unrelated passenger under eighteen. Whether a license restriction was broken is never the whole case, but it is part of the record.

When Someone Dies

In Iowa, a death claim is brought through the survival statutes. Under § 611.20 every cause of action survives death, and under § 611.22 the claim is brought by the estate’s personal representative. Section 633.336 then directs how the recovery is divided. Damages for the loss of a spouse’s, parent’s or child’s services and support are apportioned by the court among the surviving spouse, children and parents, and when the person leaves a spouse, child or parent, those damages are protected from the estate’s ordinary debts.

Iowa also recognizes a parent’s own loss. Section 613.15A allows parents to recover the expense and the actual loss of services, companionship and society from the injury or death of a minor child, and from the death of an adult child. A family that loses an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old in a crash has that claim, which many other states do not provide.

Bars, Alcohol and the Dram Shop Act

When a drunk driver causes a crash, the driver is rarely the only party responsible. Iowa’s Dramshop Act, § 123.92, gives an injured third party a claim against a licensee or permittee that sold and served alcohol to a person who was visibly intoxicated at the time. Most retail licensees must carry liability coverage for it. Noneconomic damages against a licensee are capped at $250,000 per injured person, unless the jury finds a substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, substantial disfigurement or death that makes the cap unjust.

The six-month notice in § 123.93 is the trap. A family still waiting on a criminal case can lose this claim without knowing it existed. Receipts, bar-tab records and surveillance video from the night of the crash also disappear fast.

Dog Attacks: Strict Liability

Iowa holds a dog’s owner liable for all damages when the dog attacks or tries to bite a person, under § 351.28. The only exception is when the injured person was doing an unlawful act that directly contributed to the injury. There is no “first bite” rule and no need to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous. I obtained a $250,000 judgment in the District Court of Woodbury County for a young boy attacked by his neighbor’s dogs while he was playing in his own front yard. That is the statute working as written.

Hurt on the Job in Iowa

Iowa workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against an employer under § 85.20. That section also bars suits against co-workers, except where a co-worker’s gross negligence amounted to wanton neglect for another’s safety. What the Act does not block is a claim against someone else. Under § 85.22, when a third party caused the injury, such as a negligent driver, an equipment manufacturer, or a general contractor on a shared site, the worker can take compensation and also sue that third party. The employer or its insurer is repaid from the recovery. On a construction or plant injury, finding that third party is often what turns a limited comp claim into full compensation. Crossing the river matters here too: Iowa’s ninety-day notice rule is stricter on its face than Nebraska’s “as soon as practicable.”

Underinsured Motorist Coverage Is Probably on Your Policy

Iowa requires every auto liability policy issued in the state to include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, under § 516A.1, unless the named insured rejected it in writing on a separate form. When the at-fault driver carries the minimum and the injuries are serious, the injured person’s own policy, and sometimes a household member’s, is often where the rest of the money is. People are regularly surprised to learn they have this coverage. Finding out is one of the first things I do.

Iowa and Nebraska, Side by Side

Many of my Iowa clients work, shop or drive in Nebraska, and the reverse. Where a crash happened, where the people involved live, and where a defendant can be sued all affect which state’s rules apply. That question has to be answered early, on the actual facts. Until it is, the safe course is to treat the shorter deadline as the real one.

For the Nebraska side of this table in full, see my Nebraska personal injury page.

The First Weeks After an Iowa Crash

If you or someone you love was hurt, a few things protect the claim more than anything else. Get the officer’s crash report; Iowa State Patrol reports are available online, and my Iowa crash-report guide explains where each agency’s reports live. Keep every bill and every explanation of benefits, because Iowa counts what was paid. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before you have advice. And if a commercial truck, a bar, a government road or an employer is involved, assume a shorter notice clock may be running until someone checks.

The claims themselves work the same way here as on the practice pages: car accidents, semi-truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, wrongful death, dog bites and work injuries. What this page adds is the Iowa law that decides how each one is valued, and how much time you have.

Your Attorney

Frank Younes

Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.

More about Frank → · Free consultation: (402) 378-9208

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Iowa?

Two years for most injury claims under Iowa Code § 614.1(2). Some claims have an earlier notice step: six months for a claim against a bar under the Dramshop Act, ninety days to notify an employer of a work injury, and written filing requirements for claims against the State of Iowa.

Can I still recover in Iowa if I was partly at fault?

Yes, unless your share of fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone you are suing. Under Iowa Code § 668.3, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. At an even 50–50 split you still recover half, which is not true in Nebraska.

Does not wearing a seat belt hurt my Iowa case?

It cannot be treated as comparative fault. The defense must first offer substantial evidence that the missing belt contributed to your injuries; if a jury agrees, it may reduce damages by up to 25 percent under Iowa Code § 321.445. Nebraska caps the same reduction at 5 percent.

Can I sue a bar that served the drunk driver who hit me in Iowa?

Possibly. Iowa's Dramshop Act allows a claim against a licensee that sold and served alcohol to a person who was visibly intoxicated. Written notice of the claim must be given within six months of the injury under Iowa Code § 123.93, so this cannot wait.

Is Frank Younes licensed to practice in Iowa?

Yes. Frank Younes is admitted to practice in the Iowa state courts and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, as well as in Nebraska, and handles injury and wrongful death cases throughout both states from his Omaha office.

What if the crash happened in Nebraska but I live in Iowa?

Which state's law applies depends on where the crash happened, where the people involved live, and where a defendant can be sued. That has to be answered early on the facts. Until it is, the safe course is to treat Iowa's shorter two-year deadline as the one that counts.