Legal Memorandum: Error Preservation Requirement in IA

Issue: Under the law of Iowa, does the error preservation requirement preclude an appellant from raising new legal authority on appeal than was presented at the district court level?

Iowa’s error preservation requirement does not preclude appellants from raising new legal authority or turn “on the thoroughness of counsel’s research and briefing” at the district court level.  Summy v. City of Des Moines, 708 N.W.2d 333, 338, 2006 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 6, 10 (Iowa 2006) TA l "Summy v. City of Des Moines, 708 N.W.2d 333, 2006 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 6, 10 (Iowa 2006)" s "Summy v. City of Des Moines, 708 N.W.2d (Iowa 2006)" c 1 .

In applying error preservation rules, Iowa courts look to the underlying purpose of such rules for guidance.  State v. Mann, 602 N.W.2d 785, 790 (Iowa 1999) TA l "State v. Mann, 602 N.W.2d 785 (Iowa 1999)" s "State v. Mann, 602 N.W.2d 785, 790 (Iowa 1999)" c 1  (“We think that in applying our error-preservation rules, we must keep their underlying purpose in mind”); Lee v. Polk County Clerk of Court, 815 N.W.2d 731, 739 (Iowa 2012) TA l "Lee v. Polk County Clerk of Court, 815 N.W.2d 731 (Iowa 2012)" s "Lee v. Polk County Clerk of Court (Iowa 2012)" c 1  (“[T]he underlying purpose of our error preservation rule provides guidance to us in determining whether an issue has been raised and decided prior to appeal.”).  Error preservation is based on principles of fairness: ensuring that the opposing party has notice and an opportunity to be heard on the issue and that the lower court has the opportunity to consider the […]