Margaret Shugart

Margaret Shugart is an attorney with Costello Valente Group, P.C. in Brattleboro, Vermont. Her practice is divided among real estate and property law, personal injury, and civil litigation, with real estate representing the largest share of her work. She joined the firm in 2019 and was admitted to the Vermont bar in 2020. Her current practice combines transactional property matters with injury claims and contested civil cases.

Margaret earned a Juris Doctorate magna cum laude and a Master of Environmental Law and Policy with distinction from Vermont Law School. She also completed graduate study in biological anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder and studied anthropology and religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with high honors. Her academic background spans law, environmental policy, anthropology, and related research disciplines.

Margaret worked as an anthropologist before becoming an attorney, including research focused on Indonesia and organic rice farming. She also worked in the wine industry before entering law. After completing her legal education, she joined the Brattleboro firm and developed a practice weighted toward real estate and property law while also handling personal injury and civil litigation. Her background reflects a transition from research and business work into a Vermont legal practice.

Margaret Shugart has served on the board of directors for The Family Garden childcare center in Brattleboro, as an acting board member of the Brattleboro Development Review Board, and on the board of advisors for the Big Bend Conservation Alliance. She speaks English, French, and Indonesian. These community and professional experiences accompany a practice centered on property, injury, and civil litigation matters.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Costello, Valente & Gentry, P.C.
• Member, Vermont Bar Association
• Member, Board of Directors, The Family Garden Childcare Center, Brattleboro, VT
• Acting Board Member, Development Review Board, Brattleboro, VT
• Member, Board of Advisors, Big Bend Conservation Alliance, Alpine, TX

Licensed State

• Vermont

Education

• Vermont Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD) (Magna Cum Laude)
• Vermont Law School
  Master of Environmental Law and Policy
• University of Colorado, Boulder
  Master of Arts (MA) in Biological Anthropology

Awards & Badges