Holly M. Logan
“A ‘very good lawyer.’ She has particular experience in claims involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, in addition to providing representation in internal investigations.”
-Chambers USA, Reference Feedback
Holly is a trial attorney and shareholder in the litigation division. She represents clients in a wide variety of white collar criminal prosecutions and internal investigations, as well as civil and regulatory government proceedings. She defends individuals, companies, and boards of directors in governmental investigations and at trial and also handles a broad array of business litigation.
Criminal Practice
Holly has extensive experience representing clients, including targets and subjects, in all phases of government investigations and at trial. Holly has represented numerous clients in federal grand jury investigations in Iowa and throughout the United States. She has succeeded several times in avoiding criminal charges when her clients were targets or subjects of law enforcement. She has argued appeals before the Iowa Supreme Court and Iowa Court of Appeals and briefed several appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. A sampling of cases Holly has handled is available here.
Holly has successfully tried several high-profile criminal cases and “bet-the-company” civil cases over the years. She successfully defended a pharmacist accused of health care fraud by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. The jury acquitted her client on all 15 counts of health care fraud in a multimillion-dollar case involving medication for hemophiliacs. Holly also successfully defended at trial Postville meatpacking plant executive Sholom Rubashkin against 83 counts of child labor violations.
Holly handles a variety of criminal cases including, but not limited to:
- health care fraud
- bribery
- tax evasion
- environmental crime
- insider trading & other securities violations
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- bank fraud
- embezzlement
- arms export violations
- mail & wire fraud
- false statements to the government
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- identity theft
- money laundering
- food safety violations
- labor law violations
- agricultural lending & insurance
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- campaign finance
- immigration fraud
- federal program fraud
- public corruption
- international trade secret theft
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In addition, she has handled investigations conducted by governmental agencies as diverse as:
- Medicaid Fraud Control Unit
- U.S. Department of Labor
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Secret Service
- Environmental Protection Agency
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service
- U.S. Department of Defense
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- Securities and Exchange Commission
- U.S. Customs Service
- Internal Revenue Service
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Food and Drug Administration
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Holly has also handled investigations conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”).
Holly conducts numerous internal investigations for business, nonprofit, or governmental entities that suspect wrongdoing within their organizations, often working in collaboration with law enforcement authorities.
Civil Practice
In the area of civil litigation, Holly has represented companies, their owners, and their officers and directors in lawsuits involving complex contract disputes, corporate control and governance (e.g., suits between minority and majority shareholders), various business torts, and allegations of breach of fiduciary duty. She has also litigated cases involving gaming regulations, patent infringement, trade secrets, false advertising, consumer fraud, and securities fraud.
Holly has litigated health insurance issues and media issues including defamation cases and open records disputes. She has litigated health care cases involving the False Claims Act, the Stark Law, and the Anti-Kickback statute. She has also litigated employment law issues of noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements and claims of discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
Earlier in her career, when she devoted more of her time to the practice of employment law, Holly was recognized by Chambers USA for blending her “detailed, go-getting approach” with her “calm and collected manner.”
Presentations & Publications
- Roundtable on Response to Critical Incidents, with Lynn Boes, Craig Sieverding, and Jo Ellen Whitney, Davis Brown Spring Seminar.
- Effective Courtroom Presentations, Annual Meeting, Iowa State Bar Association.
- Criminal Practice Panel, Federal Practice Seminar, Iowa State Bar Association.
- White Collar - Preparing for a Government Investigation, with John Pietila and Susan Freed, Innovation Advancement Workshop, Iowa Biotechnology Association.
- Hot Topics in Immigration Law, with Elizabeth Van Arkel, Corporate Counsel and Trade Regulation Seminar, Iowa State Bar Association.
- I-9 Compliance: How to Prepare for the New Enforcement Focus, with Lori Chesser, Iowa Employment Conference.
- Healthcare Enforcement Trends - What To Do When the Government Comes Knocking?, with Craig Sieverding, Davis Brown Spring Seminar.
- I-9 Compliance and Enforcement: Prepare for the New Normal, with Lori Chesser, Davis Brown Spring Seminar.
- Cost Effective Methods for Handling Large Volume Discovery Cases, Panelist, Federal Public Defender Office for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa.
- Lessons From the Rubashkin Acquittal, Iowa Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Seminar (with Mark E. Weinhardt and F. Montgomery Brown).
- When They Target You: Individual/Corporate Criminal Liability, Employment Law in Iowa.
- Jury Selection, National Business Institute: The Criminal Trial From Start to Finish.
- Presentation of Defense Evidence & Direct Examination, National Business Institute: The Criminal Trial From Start to Finish.
- White Collar Crime, Federal Defender Criminal Law Seminar (with Mark E. Weinhardt and Matthew C. McDermott).
- White Collar Crime 101, Iowa State Bar Association Law Over Lunch Series.
- The Rules Have Changed: Your Guide to Governance & Legal Obligations, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation Board Launch Series (with Richard W. Lozier).
- I-9s: Trapped Between Scylla and Charybdis, Employment Law in Iowa.
- An Employer’s Obligation to Reservists Called to Active Duty, Employment Law in Iowa.
- Time Off In Iowa: State and Federal Laws on Employee Leave, Lorman Education Services.
Community
Holly is active in the Des Moines community. She previously served on and assisted the boards of civic organizations including the Des Moines Metro Opera, United Way of Central Iowa, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project, where she helped establish and volunteered at the Hispanic Outreach Legal Assistance Clinic. She served on the Iowa State Board of Law Examiners as a bar exam grader and has served on the Criminal Justice Act Federal Defender Panel since 2008. Holly served on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Committee on the Appointment of the Federal Public Defender in 2011. Holly also served on the Federal Magistrate Merit Selection Panel for the Southern District of Iowa in 2014.
Awards & Honors
- Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial, Iowa Ranked Band 4, 2020. Holly was first recognized by Chambers USA in 2017.
- 2020 Great Plains Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar. Holly has been included in the Great Plains Super Lawyers list since 2012.
- AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies that a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards.
- Business Record’s Forty Under 40, Class of 2012.
- Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2009, 2011. Polk County Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Academics
Holly grew up on a family farm in Bloomfield, Iowa, and earned a full-ride NCAA Division I volleyball scholarship to the University of Dayton. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Dayton in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration (finance) degree.
She earned her law degree with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2001, where she also served as Note and Comment Editor of the Journal of Corporation Law from 1999 to 2000. While in law school, Holly clerked at the Davis County Attorney’s office.
Of Note
Holly joined Davis Brown in 2017 after practicing at her own boutique white collar and business litigation firm for five years. Previously, she practiced at the Belin McCormick law firm in Des Moines for 10 years. There, she became a shareholder in 4.5 years and served on the firm’s management committee.
Personal
Outside of her law practice, Holly stays busy with her two sets of twins.
Memberships
Alma Maters
Bar Admissions
Articles