Dickinson, Bradshaw, Fowler & Hagen, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

General practice is the model at this Des Moines firm, and its own site puts the count at more than 90 areas of law. That range covers business and corporate law, banking and financial services, employment and labor law, and litigation. It also runs to real estate and land use, taxation, family law, wills and trusts, construction, insurance, and intellectual property. Business and corporate work heads the practice list, and banking gets the most specific callout on the home page.

Banking earns that particular mention for a reason. The firm says its banking group counsels more than 90 banks and financial institutions doing business in Iowa. That is a defined client base, and it points to where a good share of the daily work sits. Advising that many lenders means steady contact with loan terms, security interests, and state and federal banking rules. In my opinion, that stated client count is a concrete anchor for the banking group.

The practice areas page fills in the litigation side. It names construction law and litigation, along with contract disputes, both of which fall under civil litigation. Family law joins wills, trusts, estate planning, and probate among the areas aimed at individuals and families.

How the firm came together

The current firm dates from 2024. It formed when two Des Moines firms combined: Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen, P.C. and Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C. The current name carries pieces of both predecessors.

Each side arrived with its own history of growth. The Dickinson side had taken in other practices across the years. Attorneys from Schneider, Stiles, Serangeli & Mountsier, P.C. joined in 2011. A group from Beving, Swanson & Forrest P.C. came in 2015, and lawyers from Cartwright, Druker & Ryden arrived in 2019.

Two firms of this vintage joining in 2024 brought together a combined roster and client base that each had built for decades. The Bradshaw and Dickinson names had both operated in Des Moines for generations before the deal. A merger on that footing usually means overlapping practice groups fold into shared departments, and clients keep working with the same lawyers under a single name.

Roots going back to 1917

The Bradshaw side is the older of the two. It traces to 1917, when Charles Sullivan Bradshaw, Albert Baird Cummins, and James Hune founded Cummins, Hune & Bradshaw in Des Moines. That founding gives the present firm a line back more than a century.

The Dickinson side started two decades later. L. Call Dickinson opened a solo practice in 1937, and it became Dickinson & Dickinson in 1939. Both lines began in Des Moines, and both fed into the firm that carries their names today.

The earlier additions show a pattern of growth by absorption. When a smaller firm's attorneys join a larger one, as happened in 2011, 2015, and 2019, they usually bring their own clients and practice focus with them. That kind of step widens a firm's reach without building each area from the ground up.

Scale and offices

Headcount is one of the clearer figures on the site. The firm says it has nearly 60 attorneys. The site lists those attorneys alphabetically by name. Individual profile pages with bios are not part of that list, so a reader gets the roster in one view.

The firm keeps two offices. The headquarters is in downtown Des Moines, Iowa's capital. The second office is in Pella, which the Dickinson firm opened in 2016. Between them, the firm reaches both the capital and the smaller community of Pella.

A firm of this size, with more than 90 practice areas, can hold a range of matters under one roof. A business client might handle a contract, a real estate purchase, and an employment question with the same firm. Long-standing general firms in a state capital often serve businesses, local governments, and families across many years.

How matters typically proceed

Disputes and litigation

Civil litigation covers part of the firm's disputes work, drawn from its construction litigation and contract cases. As a reviewer, I find it useful to set out how such matters usually move.

A civil dispute generally opens with a complaint and an answer. It then moves into discovery, where each side exchanges documents and takes depositions. Many cases resolve through negotiation or mediation before a trial date. When one does reach court, an Iowa civil case goes before the state district court, with an appeal available afterward. Construction and contract matters often turn on the written agreement and the record of what each party did.

Everyday planning work

The firm also names estate planning, probate, and real estate among its areas, and these follow their own well-worn paths. A will or trust starts with a client's instructions and ends with signed, witnessed documents. Probate then moves through the county court after a death, where the court inventories the estate and settles debts before assets pass. Real estate work covers purchase agreements, title review, and closings, and land use questions can bring in permits and hearings before a city or county board decides.

Banking work runs on a steadier track: reviewing loan documents, advising on regulatory questions, and handling disputes as they come up. A client base above 90 institutions points to ongoing advisory relationships. Employment and labor matters, another listed area, cover hiring policies, workplace disputes, and the agreements that govern them. An employment dispute may start with an internal complaint and move to a state or federal agency before any court sees it.

What the record shows

The site gives a reader several checkable facts: a 2024 merger date, founding years of 1917 and 1937 for the two sides, named predecessor firms, and a headcount near 60 attorneys. In my opinion, a firm that dates its own history this precisely gives clients a clear starting point. Each of those dates attaches to a named entity, so the timeline holds together from 1917 to the present.

The name itself carries the record. Dickinson and Bradshaw both appear in the current title, and both trace to Des Moines practices formed long before the 2024 merger. The banking group's count of more than 90 Iowa institutions is the firm's most concrete published figure.