David David

Hon. David Nelmark graduated first in his class from Drake University, where he earned two bachelor’s degrees from the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Afterearning a perfect score on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), he enrolled at Stanford Law School where he served on Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif (top 10 percent of the class).

After clerking for the Honorable Michael J. Melloy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, he worked in private practice in Des Moines,

Iowa, at the firms of Belin McCormick and Gislason & Hunter. His broad litigation practice resulted in significant jury verdicts representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He was elected as a shareholder in both firms and as President of the Polk County Bar Association. In July 2019, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds appointed him as a District Court Judge. Very few people have devoted more years of their life to Mock Trial than Judge Nelmark. He is so deep into the activity that when his wife’s pregnancy was announced on social media, the first comment on the post was “I assume the name will be gender neutral.” (If you’re new to Mock Trial, that joke will make sense by the end of the book.)

The nation’s first Middle School Mock Trial tournament occurred in Iowa in 1984. Judge Nelmark started competing in that program in 1988. As a high school competitor, he helped coach a middle school team. While in college, he helped coach a high school team. Prior to law school, he was the head coach of the Drake University Mock Trial program, which had two teams ranked in the top 25 nationally. He co-founded the Stanford Law School Mock Trial team and was a competitor and coach on the team, which qualified for a national championship tournament in its second year of existence.

In addition to competing and coaching, Judge Nelmark has been involved in multiple aspects of tournament administration. He was on the Board of Directors of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) and also served as its Tabulation Director. He hosted two AMTA National Championship Tournaments in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. In 2010, Judge Nelmark became the first former competitor to be elected as President of AMTA. In 2014, he became the youngest recipient of AMTA’s Neal Smith Award, which recognized his contributions to legal education. He also had the distinction of being the youngest AMTA President until his record was broken by . . . Justin Bernstein.

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