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Iowa Judicial Branch Application for a Court of Appeals Judge Position

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Iowa Judicial Branch Application for a Court of Appeals Judge Position Iowa Judicial Branch Application for a Court of Appeals Judge Position (Revised: 7‐14‐2018) Part 1: Personal Background Information Form For Submission to the State Judicial Nominating Commission See the “Instructions for Applicants” (a separate page) 1. Applicant’s full name: Jacob Alden Schunk 2. Current occupation/title. (Lawyers: identify name of firm, organization, or government agency; judicial officers: identify title and judicial election district): Assistant United States Attorney / Chief, Civil Division – United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa 3. City and county of residence: North Liberty, Johnson 4. Age: 40 5. Gender (Female / Male Male): 6. Race/ethnicity: White/Caucasian Please provide this information so we can determine the extent to which the Iowa courts are attracting candidates from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Please write in the one or two categories that best fit(s) your background. ■ Asian/Pacific Islander (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Indonesian, native Hawaiian) ■ Black/African ■ Hispanic/Latina(o) ■ Native American (e.g., Meskwaki, Sioux, Inuit) ■ White/Caucasian ■ Other (write it in one of the boxes) 7. Are you related (within the third degree of consanguinity) to any of the members of the State Judicial Nominating Commission involved in the selection process for the position for which you are submitting this application? (Yes or No) If your answer is “yes,” please explain. No 8. Have you ever had a social relationship or business relationship (e.g., as a business or law partner) with any of the members of the State Judicial Nominating Commission involved in the selection process for the position for which you are submitting this application? (Yes or No) If your answer is “yes,” please explain. Court of Appeals Judge Application – Part 1: Personal Background Page 1 of 17 No 9. Explain why you are seeking this judgeship position: I am seeking this position because I would like to continue my career of public service, I would like to serve as an appellate judge, and I have a particular interest in serving as a judge on this specific court. I would not be pursuing this position if it were not directly related to public service. Although I enjoyed my time at private law firms, I have a deep desire to serve the public directly and have dedicated the vast majority of my career to doing so. As someone who also cares deeply about the administration of justice, I am profoundly excited to undertake the weighty responsibility of deciding matters that are of the utmost importance to our state’s judicial system and the litigants. Serving as an appellate judge is particularly appealing to me because I enjoy reading, researching, and writing about the law. I am drawn to the collaborative nature of appellate courts, where I can engage with fellow judges on different panels to determine how to apply the law correctly. Moreover, I have always loved practicing law, and the idea of being in a position to work with other members of the court to ensure the law is applied fairly and consistently to Iowans is an opportunity beyond compare. Serving on this particular court is also especially appealing to me. This is my first time applying for a judicial opening, largely because it is the first time I have been in a position to apply for a vacancy on this court. Iowa Court of Appeals judges are tasked with deciding a wide variety of cases in relatively short time periods. I am prepared for that responsibility and welcome the challenge and excitement of working on so many cases and on so many different types of cases. As a native Iowan (Shell Rock) and someone who chose to return to Iowa after living and practicing law in other places, I also love Iowa. I would like a voice in ensuring the judicial system works as it should for all Iowans, and this judgeship would allow me the unique opportunity to do that. 10. Explain how your appointment would enhance the court: I have been trusted with significant responsibilities over the course of my career, I have extensive appellate experience, I have been recognized as someone who can write well, and I have a diverse legal background. Throughout my career I have been recognized as someone with the judgment, temperament, and work ethic to handle complex cases and to shoulder significant responsibilities. I currently oversee the entire civil practice for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, which includes both a robust affirmative practice focused on civil fraud and a diverse defensive practice. I received one of the Department of Justice's highest awards for my successful efforts growing our district's affirmative practice, and I have successfully defended a Court of Appeals Judge Application – Part 1: Personal Background Page 2 of 17 variety of claims against the United States – from tort cases arising from accidents on rural highways to negligence actions alleging government officials caused tens of millions of dollars in damages. In addition, while working for the Department of Justice in Washington, I was selected to lead a litigation team where more than $500 million was in dispute, and I participated in two significant trials where the amount sought exceeded $60 million. When an unsuccessful bidder challenged the Department of Defense's $7.7 billion contract award for linguistic services worldwide, my office also chose me to lead the team tasked with defending the United States' procurement decision. Although I have more experience litigating civil cases, I have also been trusted to handle a range of criminal matters. I have served as the lead attorney on a variety of criminal matters, from prosecutions for gun crimes, identity theft, and embezzlement, to more significant white collar crimes. At present, I am the lead attorney on one of the two or three largest fraud cases in the Northern District of Iowa’s history. I also have significant appellate experience. I clerked for a federal appellate judge (the Hon. Diana E. Murphy, former Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit), and I have written a significant number of briefs and presented arguments to multiple appellate courts. During my tenure at the Department of Justice, I have been chosen to represent the United States in several significant appellate matters – including one case where the potential exposure to the public fisc extended into the tens of millions of dollars and another where the exposure was similarly high and that ultimately went before the United States Supreme Court (at which point the Office of the Solicitor General took lead responsibility for the case). I am also an experienced legal writer. Clerking for a total of approximately two and one half years for a federal appellate judge and a federal district court judge (the Hon. John R. Tunheim, Chief Judge, District of Minnesota) honed my writing skills and forced me to focus on the details necessary to write clearly, articulately, and understandably. Since completing those clerkships, I have submitted briefs and memoranda to numerous state courts throughout Iowa and Minnesota and to multiple federal courts. I also taught legal writing at American University Law School in Washington, D.C. (as well as civil pretrial advocacy at the University of Iowa College of Law). In addition to other courses, I have also taught part of a motion writing and argument course for Department of Justice attorneys at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, for about five years. My diverse legal background will enable me to judge each dispute and case before me impartially and without any unfair predisposition. In addition to handling all sizes of civil matters on behalf of the United States, I have represented individuals involved in a range of disputes in both Iowa and Minnesota and served as counsel to extremely large corporate clients. I have represented several clients in family law proceedings and have appeared numerous times in small claims court in Iowa as well as in a variety of other courts in Minnesota, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. My criminal practice, similarly, has involved both prosecuting a variety of crimes as well as representing criminal defendants in state and federal court. In sum, my work on both Court of Appeals Judge Application – Part 1: Personal Background Page 3 of 17 civil and criminal matters, as counsel to individuals, small entities, and extremely large corporate clients, and my time representing the United States both in Washington, D.C., and back home in Iowa, has given me the breadth of experience necessary to handle the wide range of subject matters that come before a judge on this court. 11. Identify any offenses for which you have ever been convicted or pled guilty for the violation of any federal law or regulation, state law or regulation, or county or municipal law, regulation, or ordinance, excluding convictions that have been properly expunged. Do not include traffic violations for which the court imposed a fine of $250 or less, unless you were arrested. (Use “Tab” in last row to add more rows.) Convicted of Seriousness of Location of Disposition Sentence / Sentence (describe charge (e.g., court type Penalty date offense) serious (County, State) (Plea, judge (mo/day/yr) misdem., ruling, jury felony) verdict) N/A 12. Has any local, state, or federal office/agency ever assessed or threatened to assess you with a civil or criminal penalty in connection with the reporting of, or failure to report, your federal, state, or local taxes? (Yes or No) If yes, provide details. No 13. Have you ever been the subject of a no‐contact order? (Yes or No) If yes, provide details (case number, county, state, date issued, date rescinded, and reason for the NCO).
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