Joseph P. McLaughlin grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa where he attended grade school and graduated from Dowling High School. He attended college at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and a minor in Economics.
Joseph attended Drake University Law School where he was a Legal Research and Writing Teaching Assistant, authored the Note, “The Inconsistencies and Confusion of Successor Corporation Liability in Product Liability Claims — Should Iowa Adopt a New Approach?” 34 Drake Law Review 161, 1984-85, was the Editor-in Chief of the Drake Law Review, was a member of the Order of the Coif, and graduated with honors.
Work Experience
Joseph has broad experience in business. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, prior to attending law school, he managed retail hardware and sports apparel stores, was a self-employed carpet installer, and was a co-owner of a residential and light commercial construction company.
Legal Experience
While in law school, Joseph interned as a Student Judicial Law Clerk to the late Honorable Edward J. McManus, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. He also served as a law clerk at the Des Moines law firm Herrick Langdon and Langdon.
After graduating from law school, Joseph served two years as a Judicial Law Clerk to the late Honorable Floyd R. Gibson, United States Senior Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Gibson's chambers were located in Kansas City, Missouri
Upon finishing his service as a Judicial Law Clerk in 1987, Joseph practiced law with the Kansas City law firm of Hillix, Brewer, Hoffhaus, Whittaker & Wright, where he represented businesses in a variety of commercial litigation and employment related matters.
In 1992 Joseph accepted a position as in-house counsel in Principal Mutual Life Insurance Company’s law department, where he negotiated and documented multi-million dollar commercial real estate loan and equity transactions.
In 1996, Joseph joined the Wiedenfeld Law Office in Clive, Iowa and the firm later became Wiedenfeld & McLaughlin, L.L.P. Joseph was engaged in the general practice of law.
In 2016, Joseph opened his own firm McLaughlin Law Office, P.L.C.. located in West Des Moines, Iowa. In 2017, he moved his offices to Johnston, Iowa, where he currently is located.
Although his 32 years of legal experience cover several areas of the law, beginning in 1996 Joseph began to focus primarily on civil litigation. He handled trials and appeals in both state and federal courts, including insurance defense related matters such as personal injury accidents and incidents, coverage disputes, dram shop claims, civil rights and employment claims, construction defect cases, and other commercial disputes.
Beginning in 2000, Joseph added business organization, estate planning, and probate administration, to the services he provides clients. He advises and counsels individuals starting new businesses on the types and structures of organizations and creates those entities for them. He advises and counsels individuals and couples on their estate planning and probate matters, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, and probate administration.
