Iowa Legal Aid will kick off the new year with a new leader. Nick Smithberg will succeed Dennis Groenenboom as executive director of on Jan. 4, announced Mark Zaiger, president of the Iowa Legal Aid board of directors, and Elisabeth Reynoldson, chair of the search committee. Iowa Legal Aid is a not-for-profit organization that provides free legal services to Iowans in all 99 counties who are low-income, elderly or have a disability. Smithberg, who will relocate to Des Moines in early January, most recently worked with the New York City department of consumer affairs as deputy general counsel and executive director of the paid sick leave and commuter benefits divisions. “I am incredibly excited to join Iowa Legal Aid and further its mission of fairness and equal justice,” Smithberg said.