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Margaret A. Hanson

Maggie is a rising leader and employment attorney with a focus on litigation and insurance defense. She advises and defends employers, managers, and HR professionals in court, mediation, arbitration, and administrative forums. 


Employment Law and Litigation 
Maggie defends a wide variety of employer clients including rental property management companies, insurance companies, not-for-profit organizations, and manufacturers in disputes related to: 

  •  labor and unions
  • discrimination/harassment
  • civil rights claims
  • FMLA
  • wrongful termination
  • breach of contract/non-compete agreements
  • unemployment claims

Maggie also helps employers avoid litigation by conducting employee trainings, drafting policies, advising on policy implementation, and reviewing existing policies and procedures for compliance.


Insurance Defense

Maggie works with insurance companies and self-insured clients to defend a variety of claims and/or lawsuits. This includes defending employers through their employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policies. Her insurance defense work also includes professional liability, wrongful death, personal injury, property damage, construction, fair housing discrimination, and business-related contract and tort claims. 


REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • First-chaired a bench trial on a breach of contract issue
  • Argued before the Iowa Supreme Court on an immigration issue involving the constitutional right to counsel and related issues
  • Performed trainings for in-house clients on hiring/terminations, harassment, and drug testing, among other topics
  • Settled multiple matters, saving clients time and money 

LEADERSHIP

Maggie currently serves as the associate representative on the firm’s Board of Directors and she is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee. Her prior service includes the firm’s Professional Personnel Committee, which handles attorney employment matters, including hiring, associate training, and the summer associate program and she was a mentor and coordinator of the summer associate program. Maggie also contributes to the labor and employment blog and periodically to the Iowa Employment Law Letter.


With a few of her contemporaries, Maggie founded the Diversity Committee for the Young Lawyers Division of the Iowa State Bar Association. The goal of the committee is to increase the diversity of young lawyers in Iowa. This committee is still in its initial stages, but the first focus is mentoring.  

PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

  • FMLA Master Class, with Michele Brott and Jo Ellen Whitney, BLR, September 2019.
  • Exploring the Interplay of the ADA and FMLA - Are you lost in the maze?, Davis Brown Spring Seminar, March 2019.
  • Social Media in the Workplace, Greater Des Moines Partnership Small Business Workshop, February 2019.
  • Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: it’s on us, Iowa Association of Councils of Government Directors Retreat, December 2018.
  • Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Davis Brown Spring Seminar, April 2018.
  • Top Five Things to Know When Hiring Someone, Greater Des Moines Partnership Small Business Workshop, October 2017.
  • Under Pressure? HR Solutions to Hiring, Firing, & Discipline, Iowa Community Action Association Training Conference, July 2017.
  • From Hire to Fire: Employment Issues for New Employers, Iowa Brewers’ Guild, November 2016.