About Laura Schultes
Laura Schultes grew up in north central Iowa, the daughter of a veterinarian and a non-profit executive director. After earning a B.B.A. in Accounting and a B.A. in Spanish at the University of Iowa, she attended the University of Arizona where she received her J.D. (with a Certificate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy) and an M.A. in Latin American Studies, both in 2009. She served as a legal research assistant to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on indigenous human rights and as a visiting researcher in Santiago, Chile, before joining RSH Legal (then Riccolo, Semelroth and Henningsen, P.C.) in 2012. She focuses on employment law and workers' compensation, speaks Spanish fluently, and is the current president of the National Employment Lawyers Association Iowa Chapter. She is a sitting commissioner on the 6th Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission (2022-2028).
Proven verdicts and settlements
Cedar Rapids' insurer paid $8 million to Jerime Mitchell, a quadriplegic man shot by Officer Lucas Jones during a 2016 traffic stop, in what attorneys described as the largest police-misconduct settlement in Iowa history.
A Waterloo man lost all feeling below the waist after a cervical radiofrequency ablation at the C5-6 level in December 2014. A Black Hawk County jury found Dr. Ashar Afzal and Cedar Valley Medical Specialists negligent and awarded $7.36 million to him and his wife. The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed in 2021.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
