Tim Whipple has returned to IAMU as our General Counsel. He joins Alex Cutchey, Director of Government Affairs, to provide IAMU with high-caliber, comprehensive legal services.

Tim will oversee federal issues and regulatory issues, while Alex will focus on legislative issues. Both will work with the Iowa Utilities Board, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Iowa Public Information Board, as well as the Governor’s Office, Ombudsman’s Office, and Auditor’s Office. Members may contact either of the attorneys with legal questions or concerns, and the two will determine who will handle the matter.

Tim previously worked for IAMU for almost five years. Prior to starting at IAMU he held legal positions as a Legal Counsel with Iowa Legislative Services Agency, and General Counsel with Iowa Economic Development Authority. Tim returns to IAMU after most recently serving as General Counsel for MidAmerican Energy Company. He attended the Drake University Law School.

Alex joined IAMU in November 2020 as Director of Government Affairs. Prior to IAMU, he served as attorney and lobbyist for the Iowa Utilities Board. He also was previously a Federal Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Celeste F. Bremer, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, and clerked for law firms in both Iowa and Minnesota. Alex attended the Drake University Law School and has an MBA from Drake University College of Business & Public Administration.

IAMU recently welcomed Timothy J. Whipple as its new in-house legal counsel. Tim comes to IAMU from the Iowa Economic Development Authority where he was the agency’s General Counsel and was responsible for all legislative, legal, regulatory, and public policy issues. Tim takes over for Julie Smith who recently transitioned out of her multi-client lobbying practice.

Tim grew up in rural Franklin county and attended elementary school in Hampton. He is a 1995 graduate of Cedar Falls High School, a 1999 graduate of St. Olaf College where he majored in English and minored in Linguistic Studies, and a 2007 graduate of Drake University Law School where he obtained a Legislative Practice certification.

After undergraduate studies at St. Olaf, Tim spent 5 years working at Epic Systems Corporation, an electronic medical records vendor in Madison, WI. After law school, Tim accepted an academic fellowship at the Drake Agricultural Law Center where he researched legal issues affecting the agribusiness industry and rural areas.

Tim left Drake for a position in the Legal division of the General Assembly’s Legislative Services Agency where he drafted legislation in the areas of environmental protection, economic development, taxation, and appropriations.

After Governor Branstad’s election in 2010, and having drafted the legislation that restructured the old Department of Economic Development, Tim left the legislature for a position as the General Counsel at the newly created Economic Development Authority. At IEDA, Tim was responsible for representing the agency before the Iowa legislature, developing its public policy agenda, monitoring state and federal regulatory issues, implementing new loan and tax credit financing programs, drafting contracts, rules and regulations, handling administrative law issues, and providing general legal support to the state of Iowa's primary economic development agency.

In 2014, Tim was selected by the Des Moines Business Record as a member of its 40 under 40 class. He was also the recipient of the Business Record’s 2014 “Legislative Deal of the Year” for his leadership in restructuring the state’s economic development programs.

In his spare time, Tim teaches Legislative Practice at Drake Law School, sits on the board of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Des Moines, serves as an officer in the Des Moines Scottish Rite, and coaches a high school Mock Trial team. His wife Anna works for the City of Des Moines and his two children, Edwin and Eleanor, attend elementary school at the Downtown School.

Tim is excited to be on board and looks forward to getting to know the members of IAMU. You can contact him at twhipple@iamu.org or 515-289-5218.