By Traci Chapman
Managing Editor
For Jennifer Hoskins, the new firm of Hoskins & McClain is about service to Yukon and its people and building something for the future.
But it’s also very much something that honors the past – and, in fact, the firm’s choice of its Yukon offices reflects how important history is to the long-time resident.
Hoskins and her partner, Maecey McClain on Friday celebrated their new office – and its history – with a Yukon Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting, something that began long before the two women decided to pool their talents and resources to create a new law firm.
“While living in Yukon, I always loved driving by the big red brick buildings that were the law offices of George Ramey and Fenton Ramey – before my mother passed away, I told her that I wanted a law office like that,” Hoskins said. “Thanks to luck, timing and Vicki Davis, we were put in contact with Fenton and Linda Ramey and the rest is history.
“We love the historical aspects of the building and admire the great attorneys that were here before us,” she said. “We try to honor that history as we move forward and carve our own path.”
Hoskins’ path to Yukon began in 1995, when her parents moved to the city right after her high school graduation. Hoskins and her husband, Garry, also chose the city as their home in 1998, and they have lived here ever since, she said.
“I love this community and knew I wanted to build a practice here,” she said.
On a personal note, Hoskins and her husband, Garry, have been married for 24 years and have three sons – Sam, 13; Aiden, 10; and 7-year-old Maddox – as well as two dogs and a cat. Both parents have always been very involved in their children’s schools and sports and are very dedicated to Yukon Public School District, Hoskins said.
“We love Yukon, we love Yukon schools and have been blessed with amazing teachers, administrators and staff,” she said.
Hoskins first received her degree in applied liberal arts from University of Central Oklahoma before attending University of Oklahoma College of Law. She graduated from there with her juris doctorate in 2006.
McClain’s background was small-town Oklahoma – a graduate of Wellston High School, one among 37 students, McClain obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in legal studies from East Central University and later a law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law.
With an initial focus on international law, McClain in her second year of law school traveled to Washington, D.C. to present a human rights research project to the U.S. State Department; since that time, she has expanded her practice areas to myriad areas, including business and family law, estate planning and probate and civil litigation, among others.
Since graduation, Hoskins worked in various areas of the law with other attorneys, but she knew a change was due when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020 – it was a shift beyond what she might have expected at the time and she found a kindred spirit in McClain, with whom she’d worked with at another law firm and who was also looking for something different.
“Due to school closings, it was impossible to work from the office because there were three kids at home doing online schooling; it was impossible to work from home because there were three kids at home doing online schooling,” Hoskins said. “I knew I had to do something different to alleviate the impossible situation and stress that COVID had brought into our lives – my decision was to leave the firm I was at and start building a practice in Yukon.”
It took a while to find the right home for that practice – “for the first few months, we worked from home, libraries and coffee shops while looking for the perfect spot” – but serendipity brought them to the doorstep of the South 5th office.
Paralegal and office manager Barbara Vega also lived in Yukon and enthusiastically joined the practice, Hoskins said.
For now, the bulk of Hoskins & McClain’s practice is comprised of family law cases, as well as guardianships, adoptions, probates and estate planning; with the two partners’ myriad experience in other areas – things like civil litigation, contracts and more, the partners have the ability to take on cases beyond that base to address issues facing their clients.
“I have been lucky to learn so much in so many different areas due to the mentoring and instruction from amazing attorneys at my previous firms, and Maecey’s goal is to have the ability to affordably represent as many individuals in need as possible, and such individuals are not exclusive to one area of law,” Hoskins said. “We look forward to being able to better service the Yukon Community and Canadian County as a whole.”
Hoskins & McClain is located at 5 South 5th Street in Yukon. The office can be reached by calling (405) 251-9856 or by completing a contact request on the firm’s website, located at https://www.oklahomafamilylawfirm.com.
