Steven J. McHugh
Steve McHugh has thirty-four years of experience in the law enforcement and legal industry. After graduating at the top of his class, and as the Student Body President and Valedictorian of Capuchino High School, in Millbrae, California, he attended the College of San Mateo, and received a Associate of Arts degree with highest honors in 1976. He then attended San Jose State University, where he obtained a double-major Bachelor of Science degree in 1978, with highest University academic honors, while working as a chef, private investigator, and undercover narcotics agent (per diem) for the State of California, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and Investigation. He moved to Hawaii in 1978, having received various scholarship offers, and worked on a Masters in International Relations at the University of Hawaii.

In Honolulu, Mr. McHugh served for several years as the Hawaii District Investigations Manager for Burns International, frequently assisting private companies, individuals, the Honolulu Police Department, and other government agencies, in solving difficult felony cases, including murder, burglary, white collar crime, and many others.

In 1981 Mr. McHugh entered the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Law. He graduated three years later near the high end of his class in 1984, while working full time during law school. 

Upon graduation he was privileged to become an associate attorney with the oldest and finest law firm in Hawaii, “Hoddick, Reinwald, O’Connor, Marrack & Hoskins”, specializing as a real estate trial attorney. In that capacity he represented over seven thousand Hawaiian homeowners, in what is known as the “Bishop Estate Lease-to-Fee litigation”, helping these long-term residents purchase the fee simple interest in their homes for fair market prices. He also represented such persons as billionaire Harry Weinberg, the real estate industrialist, and many others, in business and contracts matters. In 1987 Steve began working on personal injury cases, and he opened the Law Offices of Steven J. McHugh in 1988.

During his years in Hawaii it was also Mr. McHugh’s great privilege to serve as an executive protection and threat assessment agent for a variety of wealthy, famous, individuals, including actors, actresses, movie producers, industrialists, politicians, and the like, usually working with and through the internationally-acclaimed leading expert in the field, Gavin de Becker, of Beverly Hills, California.

In 1990, finding themselves with the first of two children, Steve and Debbie moved to South Lake Tahoe, California, where they established their permanent law office, McHugh & McHugh, LLP, and began to focus solely on personal injury and wrongful death cases. Since 1990, the McHughs have successfully represented thousands of victims of negligence and other wrongdoing, and have litigated, settled or taken to trial, arbitration, or mediation several million dollars’ worth of awards for deserving accident victims and surviving family members, in serious injury and wrongful death cases.

Debra A. McHugh
Ms. McHugh has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, in Chemistry, and a J.D. degree from the University of Hawaii, at Manoa, which she received in 1985. She was the Editor of the Law Review at the U.H. School of Law, and received all variety of academic awards, graduating second in her class. She is currently licensed in Hawaii and California.

Over the past 23 years of her law career Ms. McHugh has practiced primarily as an appellate writing specialist, and has done extensive work in the personal injury field, both as an insurance defense attorney and, these days, strictly as a Plaintiffs/Claimants attorney, striving to obtain maximum reasonable and fair compensation for injury victims and surviving family members. In 1990, she and Steve both passed the barrister, solicitor, and legal accounting examinations in Alberta, Canada. Debbie has been a key case analyst and research partner with the firm, as well as a full time mother, and educational and charitable board member and community activist. The McHughs, who have two children, are very active in the South Lake Tahoe community, and contribute to all variety of educational and charitable causes.

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