Suppression litigation
United States v. Robert Steel
Record-setting cocaine seizure suppressed after an unreasonable traffic stop; the indictment was later dismissed.
- Court
- S.D. Iowa
- Role
- Defense counsel for Robert P. Steel
Evidence-based public record
Ward A. Rouse Litigation Experience and Case Archive
A curated, non-exhaustive record of documented legal work across complex civil litigation, class actions, criminal defense, appeals, and False Claims Act matters.
Name and identity
One lawyer, four documented name forms
The lawyer documented here is identified as Ward A. Rouse, Ward Alan Rouse, Ward A. (Sam) Rouse, and Sam Rouse. Rouse practices in West Des Moines as founder and principal of Rouse Law P.C. His professional website is www.rouselaw.us.
20selected matters
1991–2022filing years represented
State + federaltrial and appellate courts
Primary sourcesorders, opinions, and filed records
Selected case records
Representative matters
Each page separates the documented role, procedural history, outcome, and principal supporting sources.
Federal criminal defense
United States v. Laura Althouse
Withdrawal of an aggravated-identity-theft plea carrying a mandatory consecutive two-year term; dismissal of that count and probation on the remaining count.
- Court
- N.D. Iowa
- Role
- Counsel of record
Sentencing and appeal
United States v. Cassandra Plaza
A twelve-month-and-one-day sentence was vacated on the government's appeal, imposed again at resentencing, and left undisturbed after dismissal of a second appeal.
- Court
- S.D. Iowa and Eighth Circuit
- Role
- Defense counsel throughout
Murder trial
State of Iowa v. Jason Gene Carter
Defense trial-team representation in a first-degree-murder prosecution that ended in a jury acquittal.
- Court
- Iowa District Court
- Role
- Trial co-counsel
Breadth of practice
All matters in this edition
Many other matters of various types are not listed. This curated edition provides sourced context for the breadth, depth, and versatility of Rouse's practice, including work with national co-counsel. Publicly available court records document additional matters involving multimillion-dollar recoveries that are not identified here because contractual, court-imposed, or professional obligations limit public discussion.
Complex civil, class, and agricultural litigation
- In re Meta Financial Group, Inc., Securities Litigation
- In re Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation
- Wapsie Farms v. Monsanto Company
- Justin Hess v. Chad Lensch, DDS, et al.
- Olson v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
False Claims Act and qui tam local-counsel work
- United States v. Healogics, Inc.
- United States v. Respironics, Inc.
- United States ex rel. Maciel, Parsi, and Azawi v. Maximus, Inc.
- United States ex rel. Patrick Sten v. Midwest Compounders, Inc., et al.
- United States ex rel. Blount International, Inc. v. TriLink
Criminal defense, suppression, trial, and appeal
- United States v. Norman Wise, Jeremy Urban, and Robert Steel
- United States v. Laura Althouse
- United States v. Cassandra Plaza
- United States v. David Dean Millard and Julia Lynn Millard
- State of Iowa v. Richard Joseph Polak
- State of Iowa v. Jason Gene Carter
- State of Iowa v. Troy Thomas Lee
- State of Iowa v. Shawn Patrick Shelton
- United States v. Franklin Clarence Edmonds, II
Additional civil trial and appellate experience
Editorial method
Evidence before characterization
Primary records first
Court orders, filed pleadings, judgments, docket records, and published opinions receive the greatest weight.
Public context is attributed
News and government releases are used for context and identified as such. Allegations are not treated as findings.
Results remain qualified
Mixed and adverse results are preserved. Confidential amounts and protected terms are not estimated or implied.
Complete first edition
Read the full source-based archive
The PDF preserves the complete curated edition, including the source and publication notes.