2022 ICRA Midyear Seminar

2022 Midyear Seminar

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Des Moines Area Community College, Newton Campus

600 N. Second Avenue W

Newton, IA 50208

.7 CEUS

HOTEL INFORMATION:

There is a room block at the Newton Best Western Holiday Manor, 208 W. 4^th Street N, Newton, Iowa, at the rate of $65/night.  Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 641-792-3333 and ask for the Iowa Court Reporters room block for November 11.

SCHEDULE

SPEAKER INFORMATION:

Brent Pattison, District Associate Judge -- Drake Legal Clinic/Juvenile Law –

Judge Pattison received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1993 and completed his law degree at the University of Minnesota Law School in 1999, graduating magna cum laude.  Before his appointment, Judge Pattison was a clinical professor of law at Drake University Law School as well as a staff attorney for Team Child in Seattle Washington.  He is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association.  Judge Pattison was appointed to the bench in May of 2020. 

Judge Pattison will talk to us about the Drake Legal Clinic and how student attorneys are able to appear in court and get real-life courtroom experience while representing children; as well as updates on Juvenile Law.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Agent Jon Turbett – Iowa Department of Public Safety – Department of Criminal Investigation – Major Crimes Unit

Jon Turbett began his law enforcement career as a Special Agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assigned to the Gaming Unit.  After five years, he was reassigned to the Major Crimes Unit, where he has worked since 2005.  Jon currently investigates a significant number of felony-level offenses, including homicides, human trafficking, fraud and sex crimes.  He has presented at the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association Conference, the Midwest Gang Investigators Conference, and the Conference on Crimes against Women. 

Jon will be speaking to us about his role in the investigation into the death of Amy Mullis of Earlville, Iowa, whose husband Todd was convicted of attacking and murdering her with a corn rake in November of 2018.  Mullis was found guilty by a jury in September of 2019, and his conviction was upheld by the Iowa Court of Appeals in February of 2022.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Patricia Ziegler / Cathy L. Penniston – DMACC Update – Student Q & A

Dr. Patricia Ziegler is a Professor in the Realtime Court Reporting program at the Des Moines Area Community College Newton Campus.  She has taught in the court reporting field for more than 20 years and has served as a Vice President and Academic Dean and as a Professor of Realtime Reporting at AIB College of Business in Des Moines. Subsequent to her work at AIB College of Business and prior to her current work at DMACC, she was an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Information Reporting Technology at St. Louis Community College.

In her current work, Dr. Ziegler oversees all aspects of DMACC's Realtime Court Reporting program, including academic requirements, recruiting, and mentoring students enrolled in the program. Dr. Ziegler is a member of the National, Iowa, and Missouri Court Reporting Associations. She is also a Certified Court Reporting Instructor and a Certified Program Evaluator for NCRA. She earned an M.A. from the University of South Dakota and most recently a Doctorate of Education from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Cathy L. Penniston spent 30 years working as an official court reporter for the state of Iowa before transitioning to a career in remote television broadcast captioning.  She currently teaches reporting classes at DMACC.  She holds a Masters degree in Education from Clarke University, a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Iowa Wesleyan College, and Associate’s degrees from Indian Hills Community College and American Institute of Business.  She holds the national certifications of RPR and CRI.

Dr. Patricia Ziegler and Cathy Penniston will talk about the court reporting program at DMACC.  They will discuss the theory and software students are learning/using, as well as how they are doing overall.  They will discuss how the program has transitioned to online instruction and update us on students’ overall progress.  Cathy will give us an NCRA update and provide information on the 2023 NCRA convention that will be held in Houston, Texas.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annie von Gillern – Licensed attorney and Licensed Independent Social Worker

Annie von Gillern graduated from Iowa State University in 2004 with a BS in Psychology and a music minor.  She received her Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri – Columbia where she specialized in child welfare.  After graduation from Missou, she was an individual trauma therapist at the Family Violence Center in Des Moines.  She is a licensed independent social worker and worked at the Middleton Center for Children’s Rights in the Drake Legal Clinic for seven years after graduate school.  She primarily practices in collaborative law, mediation and juvenile law.

Annie will talk to us about ways to deal with repetitive vicarious trauma from the things we hear in courtrooms and depositions, and suggest coping skills and ways to improve and maintain overall mental health and work/life balance.  She will present on her unique perspective as both a practicing attorney and a practicing mental health professional, and how the two professions interplay. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim Coonan & Sydney Gangestad – Dentons Davis Brown – Lobbying 101/Introduction to New Lobbyists

Tim Coonan is the Dentons Davis Brown Chair of the Government Relations Department, with over 25 years of public policy experience at state and federal levels representing a wide variety of interest groups and industries.  Tim also spent three years in Washington, D.C. working for a multi-client lobbying firm.

Sydney Gangestad has over eight years of public policy experience.  She previously represented the interests of the Iowa judiciary before the legislative and executive branches of the Iowa Judicial Branch.  As an experienced lobbyist and grassroots strategist, she offers clients the legal services they need to accomplish their goals at the legislative and executive branches.

Tim and Sydney will discuss the issues currently facing court reporters and related legislation, as well as give an overview of the upcoming legislative session.  They will touch on the basics of grassroots efforts and how to find and contact your legislators to efficiently advocate your position on issues related to the court reporting field.