On September 16th West had the pleasure of having a guest speaker, Iowa supreme court justice Matthew McDermott, talk to students in the auditorium. McDermott and the other justices were in town to listen to oral arguments being held that night at Bettendorf High School for a recent case. They took the time to fan out to schools in the area and speak with kids about their job, as well as answer some questions. McDermott was born and raised in Caroll, IA, and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. He then attended the University of California, Berkeley for his law degree. McDermott began by speaking about how he earned the job of a supreme court justice, as he had been working for a private practice prior.
“I moved back to Des Moines, back to Iowa, where I worked in a private law firm. So I represented people in cases, I represented people in business disputes, and I represented people accused of crimes. I had a very diverse practice, and then in 2019 I applied to be on the Iowa Supreme Court, and I was ultimately appointed in 2020 so I’ve been doing it for about five years,” McDermott said.
Yet, earning this title was not exactly straight forward for McDermott, and his story truly embodies the rewards of not giving up. He had to go through a long and rigorous process to apply for the job.
“In 2019 there was an opening on the Iowa Supreme Court. So I decided to put my name in… I had to fill out an application. It was about 20 pages, everything that I’ve ever done, pretty much in my life, and I had to go meet with all of these commission members,” McDermott explained.
After meeting with commissioners all throughout Iowa, he had to complete many interviews, where the applicants are winnowed down to the top three. From those top three, the governor meets with them privately and chooses who she wants for the next justice. Yet after McDermott made the top three, he hit a bump in the road.
“And so I went through the process, had an interview with the governor, got a phone call, and the Governor did not pick me,” McDermott said.
Although he was disappointed, to his surprise, another spot opened up and he put his name right back in. After going through the entire process again, McDermott was finally selected to be a supreme court justice. He used this story to inspire students not to give up if things don’t work as you’d hoped right away. McDermott then shared a little bit more about what his daily routine consists of, and answered questions.
“When cases come to us, the parties submit their arguments about who they think should win or should have won, and written briefs. Those briefs are typically anywhere from 30 to about 75 pages. So I spend my day reading a ton,” McDermott stated. “We also have to research other cases. So I spend a lot of my day researching. The last thing that we do is a lot of administrative tasks. So the Iowa Supreme Court is sort of like the board of directors for the entire judicial branch.”
McDermott then shared an example of a case that was brought to the supreme court involving a murder that happened in Iowa. Hearing the types of cases he has heard really sparked interest in students.
Junior Lylah Stineman said, “My favorite part was when you started talking about the cases he’s had to judge for. That was really interesting and all the different things that have happened.”
Having guest speakers in different career fields really inspires West students as they are figuring out what they want to do in the future.
“I wanted to go because I wanted to learn more about his career and other careers that are out there,” junior Katelyn Le said.
McDermott truly inspired students with his visit to West, and they enjoyed hearing about the process of getting his job and the crazy things he has gotten to witness. He reminded the students that even if you don’t get something right away, never give up because it might be right in front of you.
