Members

Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota

John is a native of Northwest, Iowa. In 2010 John graduated from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota with dean's honors. While in law school John served as the Editor-in-Chief of the University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy and worked at a private criminal defense firm in downtown Minneapolis. John enjoys litigation and focuses his practice in the areas of criminal defense, personal injury, and civil litigation. John practices in both Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota. Over the past decade John has placed a special emphasis on OWI defense. John is certified in both SFST (Standardized Field Sobriety Tests) and DRE (Drug Recognition) as well as the DataMaster DMT breath testing device. John belongs to the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) and is a member of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association (DUIDLA). In addition, John attends frequent intensive forensic training in GC/MS at Axion labs in Chicago, Illinois. John frequently lectures at attorney training seminars throughout Iowa and Minnesota and serves as the President and Chairman of the Iowa State Bar Association Criminal Law Section. John is also the president of the Dickinson County Bar Association. John attends training at Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer's College in Dubois, Wyoming. John and his wife, Elizabeth, moved back to Spirit Lake in 2010 from the Twin Cities to join Sandy Law Firm. Elizabeth is a local realtor and when not in the courtroom or law office John enjoys spending time with his wife, three active boys, and sitting in the tree stand with a bow.

B.A. University of St. Thomas, 2007; Cum Laude J.D. University of St. Thomas School of Law, 2010; Dean’s Honors

John has tried hundreds of cases with over a dozen jury verdicts. On average John is in the courtroom 2-3 days every week either arguing motions or trying cases. John's office is the courtroom.

State v. Louwrens, 792 N.W.2d 649 (Iowa 2010) State v. Lowery, 876 N.W.2d 814 (Iowa Ct. App. 2015) State v. Dahl, 874 N.W.2d 348 (Iowa 2016) State v. Morse, 878 N.W.2d 499 (Minnesota 2016) Ney v. Ney, 891 N.W.2d 446 (Iowa 2017) State v. Russell, 897 N.W.2d 717 (Iowa 2017) Reed v. Palmer, 906 F.3d 540 (7th Cir. 2018)