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Judge Dave Gienapp to retire
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By GALE PIFER, Contributing Reporter
| 07/17/2012 |
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Third Judicial Circuit Judge Dave Gienapp talks about his upcoming retirement.
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Gienapp, who grew up in Chester and graduated from high school there, lives in Madison. He attended South Dakota State University, but got his law degree in Wyoming. He served as a clerk for the South Dakota Supreme Court for a year before taking a post in the state attorney general's staff, assigned to the South Dakota Highway Department. He served as a lawyer with the state highway department, along with Madison native Carl Quist.
He was U.S. Attorney in Sioux Falls for seven years and then went into private practice here with Tom Issenhuth and Bill Arneson. He was appointed to the bench by the late Gov. Bill Janklow in 2002.
"I was honored to be named a circuit court judge, but disappointed that I had to resign my post with the South Dakota Board of Regents," Gienapp said. He serves as judge of the Third Circuit which is comprised of Lake, Moody, Miner, Hand, Beadle, Clark, Codington, Grant, Hamlin, Deuel, Kingsbury, Brookings, Jerauld and Sanborn counties. His retirement is due to state law that mandates circuit court judges to retire upon attaining the age of 70.
"I enjoy my work as a judge," said Gienapp, "although it presents a different set of challenges than that of being a lawyer in private practice." He said there are advantages to having been in private practice prior to attaining a judgeship.
"We've seen lots of changes in both the court system and in the practice of law," he said. "It takes a lot more money and time before a case actually gets to trial today," he said, due mainly to the passage of many new laws.
"It used to be that state laws made up one and a half volumes. Today we have 34 volumes of state laws."
Gienapp said everything is far more complex in dealing with cases before him.
"Society is far more mobile, there are many more contracts and the cost for a client to go through litigation is much higher than it used to be."
When he steps down as judge, Gienapp said he doesn't plan on returning to private practice, preferring to do some traveling in addition to serving as the instructor for the trial lawyers workshop.
"I'll also be on call for the chief justice of the state Supreme Court," he said. "I've enjoyed both the time spent in private practice and on the bench. In many ways serving as a judge is easier than practicing law because you don't have to deal with the economics associated with a case. You just deal with the law. But I've had a good run and look forward to retirement."
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