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The article was a recent feature in the Arab Times - Kuwait. 

Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms provides access to more than 20,000 lawyers practicing in 160 elite law firms throughout the world. Lex Mundi is the mark of excellence for legal services globally.

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The tower is the first major office building to offer new leased downtown office and retail space since 801 Grand was built more than a decade ago.

RDG Planning and Design, LADCO Development and Ball Construction are partners in the project. 

Click Here to view the SlideShare show of the interior of the new Davis Brown Tower exterior and proposed interior. SlideShare is a free resource to share presentations on the web.

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Success Story
For the past several years, Davis Brown has been involved in most major tax legislation passed in Iowa. For example, we helped a major Iowa health care system obtain a sales tax exemption in connection with their hospital operations. However, this exemption was not intended to cover hospital construction projects. Later on, two separate Iowa hospitals obtained informal letter opinions from the Iowa Department of Revenue stating that construction purchases were not subject to sales tax. Subsequently, the Department reversed itself, but not before the two hospitals initiated projects without taking sales tax into account. Since the exemption could not be expanded, legislation was carefully drafted to specifically correct the inequitable result retroactively for the two hospitals in question, without expanding the exemption to other hospitals. This effort involved a combination of legal and lobbying expertise, which included constitutional, statutory, bonding, and contract matters as well as the explanation and marshalling of support for passage of corrective legislation. In summary, the client benefited from the firm’s “one stop”  service—Davis Brown resolved the legal issues and used its lobbying expertise to secure legislative relief.

Overview of Government Affairs Practice
Davis Brown represents clients in the Iowa State Legislature on a wide range of legislative matters, including rule making. We also represent clients before various state agencies involving areas such as tax, environmental law, transportation, and utilities. In addition, we provide counsel relating to the passage of federal legislation. The firm has the current Democratic Party State Chair and the former Republican Party Chair among its members.

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Inside Counsel Magazine, September 2007 edition. www.InsideCounsel.com

"We're pleased to be recognized and appreciate all the support from our friends and clients," said Bruce Campbell, the firm's president.  Davis Brown was also recognized earlier this year as one of the Central Iowa's Best Places to Work.

The law firm was founded in 1929 by former District Judge George Brammer and his friend Joseph Brody.  Upon Brammer's death 20 years later, the practice became known as the Brody firm.  In 1965, the firm changed its name to Thoma, Schoenthal, Davis, Hockenberg &  Wine.  By 1974, the firm had grown to 40 attorneys and moved into the Financial Center.  In the 1990s, the firm's partners renamed the practice Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C.

The firm is scheduled to move in March 2008 to the $44 million Davis Brown Tower, the first major office building to offer new leased downtown office and retail space since 801 Grand was built more than a decade ago.

Margaret earned a B.A. in English, with distinction, from Iowa State University in 1974; her J.D., with distinction, from the University of Iowa in 1979; and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University in 1984.  Margaret was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1979, the Tennessee Bar in 1981, and she is admitted to practice in front of the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa and the U.S. Tax Court.

Margaret is married to Doug Churchill, and they have three children between them - Matt and his wife Nicole, who live in Kansas City; Rachel and her husband Mike, who live in Chicago; and Megan and her fiancé Corey, who live in Omaha. 

In her spare time, Margaret likes to garden, golf, and knit.  In fact, she finished a Norwegian sweater last year!  She also enjoys reading mystery books.

April 17, 2007

David Erickson keeps busy as an attorney holding seats on various civic boards and as a single man raising his two adopted teenage boys. His life isn't full, it's fulfilled.

Still, the 12-year resident of West Des Moines applied unsuccessfully to be the city's interim mayor this spring. He moved to the city from Des Moines because he was setting his sights on a family-friendly environment with libraries and facilities for recreation - a place where he could raise his family.

He found his family in Russia.

Seeking to adopt one child, Erickson was struck by young brothers, only 5 and 3 at the time, in the orphanage. In a heartfelt moment he took them both home to America, where they have thrived for the last 11 years.

Friends said Erickson has a heart for things like that.

"It was a point where I think he realized there was something missing in this life. He did a lot of research on adoption and when he learned about the orphanages in Russia, I think it tugged on his heart," said friend Nick Roby of Des Moines, who has known Erickson for more than 20 years. "The adoption was a dramatic change for him."

As a longtime partner and commercial real estate attorney for the Davis Brown law firm in Des Moines, Erickson, a Drake University law school graduate, switched gears and began to volunteer to represent juvenile cases.

Roby said Erickson has built a successful law practice, but he is still answering an internal tug to help his community. Erickson agreed that is one reason he applied for the interim mayor position.

"I knew it was only a short term, but I thought it was a good way to get to know the workings of City Council and the mayor better," said Erickson, impressed with the interview process for the position. "But secondly I wanted to give back to my community."

While practicing real estate and juvenile law, Erickson, 53, also serves on the Board of Corrections, was recently appointed to the Iowa Finance Authority and serves on the West Des Moines Board of Adjustment, a position that keeps him plugged into the development of the city and the changes that brings.

Erickson said development of the Raccoon River Park, the two aquatic centers and Jordan Creek Town Center have brought more options to residents, "There are certainly more activities to do."

He wants the city of West Des Moines to be watchful of its affluence and not forget those residents who still rely on city programs.

"We need to make sure we take care of those less fortunate. West Des Moines is getting to be a size where you are going to have certain segments who need the help of the community, through the food pantry or substance abuse programs. We do a pretty good job of that currently," Erickson said.

Roby said had his friend been appointed to the interim position, the city's residents would have been impressed.

"He'd be great in whatever he does. He works with more passion and with more diligence than anyone I've seen. He doesn't do anything passively," Roby said.

Still Erickson's main focus is his family. Sons Nick, now 16, and Ben, 14, keep a single father moving, but he said it's been a ride he's thoroughly enjoyed.

The AViD Author Series has expanded from its initial 2001 offering of three authors in three days to this year’s lineup of seven authors that stretches from April through June (and perhaps beyond). The Des Moines series has caught the eye of several New York publishers, including Harper Collins Publishers and Random House, who now think of Des Moines as a great stop for their touring authors.

In association with the sponsorship, Davis Brown Attorney Charlie Wittmack will moderate on Wednesday, April 18, at 6:30 PM at the Roosevelt High School Library for Author Greg Mortenson.

 On May 22, 2003, Charlie Wittmack became the first Iowan to reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. This achievement was the culmination of a seven-year project that took him on more than a dozen major expeditions to five continents, including many of the world’s tallest and most dangerous peaks. Since his epic on Mount Everest, Charlie has become a distinguished graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, and has been a judicial extern for the honorable Robert W. Pratt in the United States Federal District Court. Today, Charlie is an attorney with the Davis Brown law firm in Des Moines, and continues to pursue a life of high adventure. He is frequently heard telling stories of his greatest adventure - his marriage to Katie Scharf, and the recent purchase of their first home.

In 1993, a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants’ kindness, he promised to return and build a school. His book, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome, and is now a New York Times bestseller. Mortenson will discuss how over the past decade, he has built not one but fifty-five schools—especially for girls in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. Greg will speak on Wednesday, April 18, at 6:30 PM at the Roosevelt High School Library.

This year, in an impressive effort, the Staff Team of the Davis Brown Law Firm made it an official dynasty by winning the Combat Hunger competition for the third year in a row. The Staff Team gathered 667 food and perishable items and another $261.00 in cash donations.
 
The Litigation Division Team captured second place in the overall competition. The Litigation Division Team Gathered 260 food and other donated items, and another$641.00 in cash donations. Also, the Litigation Division Team won the per capita category of the contest. 
 
The Business Division Team came in third with a collections total consisting of 348 food and perishable items and $533.00 in cash donations.
 
Total collections of food and money for 2006 are a new firm record.  Of this year's total, the firm collected 1,275 food and dry good items and $1,435.00 in cash. As a result, the estimate total value of all food and dry goods donated was in excess of $3,600.00, pushing the total firm contributions to the Food Bank of Iowa to more than $5,000.00.
 
For their efforts and victory, the Firm staff was awarded a free pizza luncheon served by representatives of the Business and Litigation Divisions, and the plaque on the trophy updated to reflect the Staff victory.
 
Davis Brown Law Firm is very proud of everyone who participated in this worthy competition through their contributions and/or moral support, and special thanks goes to those silent benefactors who made this drive their personal cause through generosity.

Charles is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and holds a B.B.A. from the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.  During his tenure at the University of Iowa, Charles interned with the Hon. Robert W. Pratt in the Federal District Court, Southern District of Iowa.  Prior to law school matriculation, he worked as a legal assistant for Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.

Charles is an Iowa native and a 2001 graduate of Des Moines Roosevelt High School.  He is married to Catherine Wittmack.