ACHIEVERS: Prescott elder law attorney makes Super Lawyers list again - The Prescott Daily Courier

PRESCOTT - Chester "Chip" McLaughlin IV is the fourth generation of his family to practice law.

McLaughlin, 55, said he initially planned to pursue juvenile law but shifted to elder law.

"There is a link between juvenile law and elder law because you are dealing with populations that don't have a great deal of power," he said.

He said his interest in juvenile law developed after he took over a program at the YMCA youth shelter in Seattle for runaways and juvenile delinquents.

He decided to attend the Saint Louis University School of Law, where he graduated in 1983, because it is across the street from the National Juvenile Law Center. He had earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1978 from Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

After graduating from law school, he applied for a job with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to represent the Arizona State Hospital, a mental institution.

McLaughlin said he maintained an interest in mental health law while working for Samaritan Health Services, now Banner Health. He made the switch to elder law after joining the Phoenix practice of Charles Arnold in 1992.

"I just kind of picked up on it," he said. "There was no one else doing it in Phoenix."

McLaughlin opened his own practice in 1995, and grew in two years from a paralegal to 10 employees, including two associate attorneys. He moved the practice to Prescott three years ago to live in a smaller town with a slower pace.

His practice focuses on long-term care and public benefits planning, guardianship and conservatorship, special needs trusts and planning, probate and financial exploitation litigation, administrations of estates and mental health law.

McLaughlin apparently has excelled in the field. He has made the Arizona Southwest Super Lawyers List every year since 2007, and also has been named in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2008.

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a "rigorous, multiphase process" that combines nominations and evaluations with independent research, the publication states.

While practicing in Phoenix, McLaughlin became one of the best in his specialty, Phoenix elder law attorney John Lincoln said.

"And I'm sure Prescott is lucky to have him," Lincoln continued. "He had a very good reputation - still does. I would not hesitate to refer clients to him that I could not help."

McLaughlin said he likes elder law because he enjoys helping people in "desperate situations."

Editor's note: If you have a suggestion of a local person to feature in Achievers, call 445-3333, ext. 2041, or send an email to khedler@prescottaz.com