Gary McKenrick has been in the legal profession for 35 years. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the judges in Iowa’s Seventh Judicial District, which includes Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine, and Scott Counties.

Following his tenure as a law clerk, Gary entered into a litigation practice in Davenport, Iowa with a law firm that became Gomez, May, McKenrick & Kelly. Gary’s practice in that firm included trial and appellate work in criminal, family, personal injury, and contract litigation. During that time period, he represented approximately twenty-five individuals either charged with or convicted of Class “A” felonies such as murder, kidnapping, and sexual abuse.

In 1993, Gary was appointed as a District Associate Judge in Scott County. He served in that position until he was appointed as a District Judge by Governor Vilsack in 1999. He served in that capacity until his retirement from the judiciary in 2013. During his judicial service, Gary helped develop procedures making the operation of the District Associate Court docket more efficient. As a District Judge, Gary helped design and implement the Scott County Drug Court and served as the first judge assigned to it. Gary also served on the Scott County Community Jail & Alternatives Advisory Committee and on the Clinton County Justice Coordinating Commission. The work of those groups led to the passage of bond referendums to update the jail facilities in both counties.

Following his retirement from judicial service, Gary re-entered the practice of law in litigation practice in both trial and appellate courts in the fields of criminal, family, personal injury, and contract law. He has served on the Iowa Supreme Court Family Law Task Force, and currently serves on a committee establishing an informal family law trial pilot project in the Seventh Judicial District, which was a recommendation of the Supreme Court’s Family Law Task Force.

Gary’s current practice draws on his vast experience as a lawyer and judge to focus on mediation, arbitration, appellate litigation in the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and providing trial advice and assistance to other attorneys.