Christopher McDonald

Christopher Lee McDonald (born September 17, 1974) is an American judge who has served as an associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court since 2019.

Education

McDonald was born in Bangkok, Thailand to a Vietnamese mother and an American father of Scots-Irish ancestry. McDonald started college at the University of Iowa, but left after a year to teach policy debate at Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines. At Iowa Law, he was an editor of the Iowa Law Review, graduated with highest distinction as valedictorian, and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Legal career After graduation, McDonald served as a law clerk to Judge David R. Hansen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He then practiced at the Des Moines office of Faegre & Benson from 2003 to 2006 before leaving for the Des Moines-based firm Belin McCormick P.C., where he became a partner and practiced from 2006 to 2010. At both firms, he practiced civil litigation, internal investigations, and employment law. That vacancy was ultimately filled by Susan Christensen. In January 2019 McDonald once again applied, and was among three nominees sent to the governor to fill the vacancy created by Justice Daryl Hecht who retired in December 2018. On February 20, 2019, Governor Kim Reynolds announced McDonald as her appointment to the Supreme Court. He is the first minority or person of color appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court.