Age 35 | Senior partner, Weinhardt & Logan P.C.

Holly Logan left one of Greater Des Moines’ most storied full-service law firms last year to form a boutique practice that specializes in defending white-collar crime cases.

She started working at Belin McCormick P.C. while a law school student in 2000, and quickly rose through the ranks to partner. In 2011, she launched Weinhardt & Logan P.C. with former Belin McCormick partner Mark Weinhardt.

Though she has handled a variety of commercial and employment legal work, she prefers criminal law.

“It’s one of the processes in law that requires the most thinking on your feet, and it’s an area of the law where you make a huge difference in your client’s life,” she said. “I could never get as excited about corporation A suing corporation B as I could about whether someone was going to do life in prison.

“When you represent a criminal defendant, you get to know the person’s family – it is the biggest event in the person’s life. You get to know all aspects of the person’s life, the family, the kids, their parents. You do the absolute very best that you can for them, and you send them on their way. I’ve met so many great people in the process, and there are innocent people who are accused of a crime, more than most people realize.”

When she is not at work, life for Logan and her husband, Neal, is consumed with “all things kindergarten” at St. Augustin Catholic School, where twin daughters Adeline and Isabel are learning the marvels of language. “A double hug and kiss at the end of a long day brings joy like none other,” Logan said.

Five reasons she’s a 40:

• Co-owner of new law firm, Weinhardt & Logan P.C.

• Hispanic Outreach Legal Assistance Clinic.

• Polk County Volunteer Lawyers Project.

• Criminal Justice Act Criminal Panel.

• Blackstone Inn of Court.

Fun fact:

Received a full-ride scholarship to play volleyball for the University of Dayton in Ohio.