Margaret Jessica Mayhugh V

Mayhugh & Mayhugh PLC is a general practice law firm based in Avoca, Iowa. I am a managing partner of Mayhugh & Mayhugh PLC. We provide legal services throughout Southwest Iowa in the Fourth Judicial District, including Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont and Page Counties. Whether you need help with family law matters, farm issues, estate planning, probate administration, or criminal defense, we are here to help. Our goal is to help you in the ways you need, both in terms of how and when we can help. We are happy to help on a walk-in basis, but we are also available by appointment, both during regular business hours as well as after-hours and on weekends, if required. We have a full-service, family-friendly office, including a private conference room and child play area.

I went to law school at Hofstra University, on Long Island in New York. In addition to receiving the well-rounded legal education covering all the basic topics that every attorney should learn about to earn their Juris Doctorate, I decided to focus on specific areas that hold special interest for me – this involved completing additional coursework above and beyond the basic requirements for the J.D., in order to earn concentrations. These are similar to majors in undergraduate education, except that they are entirely voluntary, many lawyers opt not to pursue them, and in fact not every law school even offers them. 

I hold concentrations in both Family Law and Criminal Law & Procedure. I worked in the Mediation Clinic while at Hofstra, which afforded me the opportunity to work with many families struggling with a variety of diverse issues, and where I got training in ways to facilitate understanding amongst family members where communications had otherwise broken down. I am passionate about finding ways to minimize conflict in the emotionally-charged realm of family law, so that everyone can live their lives with a minimum of painful disruption, especially during times that traditionally are both painful and disruptive to everyone involved.

I also worked at the District Attorney’s Office while in law school, with a caseload involving the prosecution of a variety of crimes. That was a very rewarding experience, allowing me the opportunity to see the inner workings of the criminal justice system and get well acquainted with the inside of a court room. However, it also underscored the value of and need for quality criminal defense attorneys to ensure that securing the safety of the community doesn’t happen at the expense of peoples’ rights. The criminal justice system is meant to protect every member of a community, including those members who have been accused of a crime. Quality defense attorneys ensure that our criminal justice system doesn’t devolve into simply a conviction processing system.