To provide qualitity legal counsel to my clients and to treat them with the respect they deserve.

Biographical Information

I was born in the mid '50's into a wonderful family.  We were poor financially at the time, but my father, who was a farmer and rancher in Northwestern Oklahoma had dreams of expanding his operations and he did just that.  By the time of his death in 1992, while I was in my last year at Baylor Law School,  he owned 750 acres of land, had money in the bank and didn't owe anyone a dime.  With that model before me, I began my law firm in May of 1993.

Education and Personal Info 

I graduated from Fairview High School, Fairview, Oklahoma in May of 1973.  At that point, I had never considered becoming a lawyer.  I started college that fall at Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) as a music major.  I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but I wasn't sure what God wanted me to do.  After two years of college, I dropped out and married.  The marriage was over after a year and a half, but by this time I had moved to Texas.  After the divorce, I met the man who has been my helpmate for the past nearly 30 years, Terry Mayhall.  Soon after we married, we became the proud parents of a daughter, Danae.

Then tragedy struck.  After a problematic pregnancy, I gave birth to a 6 lb. 4 oz. little girl, Andrea Rose.  Although she seemed to be full term, she was early and she died less than 24 hours after her birth of immature lungs.

Of course, we were devastated and I became very depressed.  My husband was supportive, but he was hurting too.  He was working very hard to support us financially.  Thank God I had Danae to keep me going.  At the time, I wasn't working, but I felt that I needed to do something or I would go crazy.  That's when I happened to fall into a job as a legal assistant in a law firm in my hometown.  I had no background in law and it took all my attention at work to learn my job.  It saved me at the time because I had to think about something else besides my loss.

I soon was pregnant again.  This time we had twins, a girl and a boy, Tara and Gordon.  I had to quit the firm during my pregnancy, but I found that I really missed the challenge from the law firm.  After a couple of years of working in other fields in clerical jobs, I managed to get rehired at the law firm.  It was at that time that I began to think about going to law school.  I felt as though this might be where God was leading me.

Still law school was a dream and I didn't even have my undergraduate degree yet.  So shortly after we moved back to Texas in 1988, I enrolled in the University of Texas at Tyler and finished with a Bachelors of General Studies in 1990.  I was accepted to Baylor Law School and began my legal studies in February, 1991. 

Since I was fairly old when I started law school (35), I decided to take advantage of the quarter system at Baylor.  Baylor's terms are divided into four quarters in one calendar year, rather than two semesters.  Three quarters are roughly equivalent to one year, so I was able to fit in three years of law school into two years and three months. 

I decided to take the bar exam while I was still in law school with the thinking that I wanted to begin my practice as soon as I finished, rather than waiting until I graduated, then take the bar and wait until I had the results.  I would have had to wait another six months to begin my practice.

Fortunately, I passed the bar exam the first try and after I graduated on May 14, 1993, I hung my shingle out, ready for clients the following Monday morning.

My husband and I a "few" years ago!

TARA HOGG
My Staff

My family has always been an integral part of my business.  My children and even my husband have worked for me at different times.

Now I am pleased that my daughter Tara Hogg and my daughter, Danae Rockwood are assisting me in my practice. 

Over the years I have been fortunate to have several wonderful assistants who have helped me build my business.  Tara and Danae are no exceptions.  Both are diligent workers who really care about doing a great job for our clients. 

DANAE AND DAUGHTER BETHANY