About Katherine
Katherine Sears is an Iowa-licensed attorney who built her law practice out of Midwestern training and early clinic work. She earned her Juris Doctor from Drake University Law School in 2017. While in law school she took part in hands-on clinical training, serving as a student lawyer at the Drake University Legal Clinic in 2016, where she handled client intake, legal research and courtroom preparation under faculty supervision.
After graduating, Sears joined Clark & Sears Law, PLLC in 2017. She moved into private practice quickly and has remained with the firm since then. Her colleagues describe her as practical and methodical. She stepped into responsibilities that included client counseling and case management early in her tenure.
Her professional memberships began the same year she entered practice. She holds active memberships in the American Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, both from 2017 to the present. These affiliations place her in conversation with lawyers across the country on issues of criminal procedure, trial practice and professional ethics. She also retains local and state connections that support courtroom work in Iowa.
Sears’s work combines courtroom presence and written advocacy. She handles criminal defense matters and related litigation. Her duties span from initial client interviews and pretrial motions through negotiations and courtroom hearings. She prepares evidence, takes depositions and drafts pleadings. Colleagues say she pays attention to procedural detail and to clients’ practical concerns.
Clients come to Sears for straightforward legal counsel and representation in contested matters. She works on cases that require an understanding of both criminal statutes and the nuts-and-bolts of trial practice. In each matter she tries to match legal strategy to the client’s objectives, whether that means pursuing dismissal, negotiating an outcome or taking a case to hearing.
Outside of court, Sears keeps up with continuing legal education and the professional conversations in her membership organizations. She also mentors newer attorneys at her firm and participates in internal case-review meetings. Her approach is steady. It is oriented toward resolving cases sensibly and managing the practical steps each case requires.
Sears remains at Clark & Sears Law, PLLC, where she continues to represent clients in criminal defense and related litigation in Iowa.
