IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN JOSEPH WIHLM, LAURIE JEAN PEDERSON, Interested Party-Appellant, vs. CLEAR LAKE BANK & TRUST COMPANY, Executor-Appellee.

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 15-1888 Filed November 23, 2016 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN JOSEPH WIHLM, LAURIE JEAN PEDERSON, Interested Party-Appellant, vs. CLEAR LAKE BANK & TRUST COMPANY, Executor-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge. An attorney appeals from the denial of her request for attorney’s fees. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Laurie J. Pederson, Rockford, pro se appellant. Ryan G. Koopmans of Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Des Moines, for appellee. Considered by Doyle, P.J., McDonald, J., and Mahan, S.J. * *Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2015). 2 MCDONALD, Judge. This case is related to two other cases recently before this court. The facts are set forth in our previous opinions and need not be repeated herein. See Wihlm v. Campbell, No. 15-0401, 2016 WL 4804034, at *1 (Iowa Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2016); Wihlm v. Campbell, No. 15-0011, 2016 WL 4801433, at *1 (Iowa Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2016). The present case is an appeal from a complete denial of the estate’s attorney’s request for fees. The district court cited ethical violations by the estate’s attorney in denying her request for fees in whole. Our supreme court discussed the ethical violation(s) at issue in a recently filed disciplinary decision. See Iowa Supreme Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Pederson, No. 16-0199, 2016 WL 6650260, at *1, ___ N.W.2d ___ (Iowa Nov. 10, 2016). In light of the supreme court’s characterization of the attorney’s conduct and resolution of the disciplinary matter, the district court should have the opportunity to revisit the request for attorney’s fees. We express no opinion on the merits of the request. We do not retain jurisdiction. REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.