Mehagen D. McRae

Partner

Mehagen D. McRae is a trial lawyer who specializes in assisting victims of domestic violence and has been recognized for her exemplary work on behalf of victims by the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County. In 2005 she was the recipient of the Northern Virginia Victim Assistance Coalition Champion Award and is the only female attorney and the only private sector recipient to receive this award. She has participated in the Model Courts Program for the City of Alexandria, which evaluates the needs of the community, the role the court plays in the community which served as a pilot site for programs that may be implemented throughout the state. She was selected by the Virginia Supreme Court to assist with the development and implementation of the I-Can program in the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, which enables petitioners to complete the Petition for a Protective Order on-line to be submitted to the Intake Office for filing.

Mehagen is the former Domestic Violence Staff Attorney for Legal Services of Northern Virginia ("LSNV"), a non-profit organization that provides free legal assistance in civil matters to low-income individuals, where she assisted victims with obtaining protective orders and provided representation to victims in custody, support and divorce matters. While at LSNV, she annually trained private attorneys on obtaining protective orders for victims, regardless of the nature of the injuries, and arranged for pro bono representation for victims by private attorneys.

Her 1999 article entitled "Bad Apples in Cyberspace: The Sexual exploitation and Abuse of Children Over the Internet" was published in the 1999 Whittier Law Review and she was a presenter at the Sixteenth Annual International Law Symposium on the "Rights of Children in the New Millennium."

In 2006 she obtained an award of $550,000 on behalf of her client who was brutally beaten by her spouse. Ms. McRae has provided training on domestic violence and protective orders to the substitute judges for Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic District Court, the Muslim religious leaders for the metropolitan area, the 2002 multi-faith Religious Leaders Conference, Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax Commission on Women and for domestic violence advocates. Ms. McRae has also presented at the 2007 Annual National Crime Victim Bar Association's Civil Remedies for Victims of Crime and has presented to George Mason Law School students on transitioning from non-profit sector to private sector and balancing work and personal life. Ms. McRae has addressed the Fairfax Board of Supervisors on the need to continue funding for the supervised visitation program through the Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court as well as presenting at various programs on domestic violence issues for the Fairfax County Commission for Women.

In May 2014, Mehagen was awarded the Honorable Arnold B. Kassabian Award in recognition of her outstanding service to the community served by the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Mehagen McRae is a graduate of the American University, Washington College of Law where she earned her J.D. in 2000. Mehagen focuses mainly on domestic relations and domestic violence issues. She is a member of the Domestic Violence Coalition for Fairfax County, a member of the Domestic Violence Prevention Policy Coordinating Council, and a board member of the Friends of the Fairfax County Commission for Women. Ms. McRae is also a conciliator for the Fairfax Bar Association in both the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and Circuit Court.