The Lincoln Lawyer’s Maggie McPherson (Neve Campbell) is a shrewd deputy district attorney with a penchant for saving the day in the courtroom — and let’s just say she earned that “McFierce” moniker for a reason. In Season 4’s finale, she helped exonerate her ex-husband Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) from a murder he didn’t commit. 

When she’s not busy expertly cross-examining witnesses, Maggie is juggling a hot-and-cold relationship with Mickey, which is composed of equal parts mutual respect, frustration, and romantic sparks. She’s also mom to Hayley (Krista Warner), and can often be found navigating her teen through a hardened world of false murder charges. 

Let’s open the file on Maggie and discover all her case secrets. 

Vital Stats

Name: Maggie McPherson

Nickname: McFierce

Played by: Neve Campbell 

Job: Deputy District Attorney

Marital status: Divorced

First appearance: Season 1, Episode 1, “He Rides Again” (26:22)

Key Relationships

Spouse: Mickey Haller (divorced), Jack Gilroy (boyfriend)

Children: Hayley Haller

Season 1

• When we meet Maggie, Mickey’s first wife, it’s clear she has a complicated relationship with her ex. Sure, she doesn’t trust him to be a reliable co-parent to Hayley, but there are definitely some feelings still lingering between the pair. 
• Maggie is under a lot of pressure at work. She’s a deputy district attorney during an election year and needs to make sure her boss doesn’t lose the DA seat. 
• Her big case is against Angelo Soto (Reggie Lee), the owner of a senior facility, who’s been accused of human trafficking and slave labor. Her one key witness, though, gets mysteriously murdered. 
• Maggie, who’s working alongside Detective Lankford (Jamie McShane), convinces Soto’s pregnant girlfriend, Tanya Cruz (Katrina Rosita), to coax a taped confession out of him. 
• The taped confession comes out garbled, so Maggie needs to rely on Detective Lankford to testify for her. But  Mickey discovers that Lankford is corrupt — he threatened one of his clients! — and Maggie can no longer use the detective on the stand. 
• Without Soto’s confession, Maggie has to dismiss the case. On top of that, she’s handed a job reassignment because of her association with Lankford. 
• Maggie and Mickey come so close to getting back together throughout the season, even sharing a romantic moment in Maggie’s apartment, but Mickey’s role in her case puts a kibosh on that. 
• Maggie is furious that Mickey incriminated Lankford without telling her. If he had only looped her in, she could have figured out another way to support her case. With Lankford’s reputation tarnished and time running out, Maggie is left with zero witnesses to Soto’s crimes.
• “I can’t get past this,” Maggie tells Mickey. “Maybe someday. Not today.”

Season 2

• Maggie and Mickey are trying to put on a united front for Hayley but, as we learn in the first episode back, Maggie is still peeved at Mickey. The pair share a turbulent dinner, with Maggie revealing she’s dating someone and, later, walking off before they can order.
• While Mickey’s career is blowing up after he secured a tech billionaire’s freedom in Season 1, Maggie is watching her own professional life dwindle away at a thankless new job. 
• That doesn’t mean Maggie is against assisting her ex-husband. She steps in and helps Mickey secure freedom for his client Glory Days (Fiona Rene), who was busted for solicitation and possession of cocaine.
• Maggie also saves Glory Days’s life when she’s attacked by Russell Lawson (David Clayton Rogers), a criminal intent on murdering her. Maggie makes sure the police are waiting for Russell as he attempts to carry out his violent plan. 
• The season ends with Maggie landing a big job at the DA’s office in San Diego. That means she’ll have to say goodbye to Mickey for now — but they do share a romantic encounter before she goes. Mackey fans REJOICE. 

Lara Solanki/Netflix

Season 3

• In an early flashback, we get our first glimpses of happier days between Mickey and Maggie. The season begins fifteen years ago, at the beach, with the pair embracing and planning a date night. It’s giggly and flirty, and they were clearly once very smitten with one another. 
• In another flashback, Mickey confides in Maggie that he’s thinking about leaving his post as a public defender to start a private law firm. 
• Maggie is supportive but nervous for her husband. His theatrics in the courtroom — she points to his recent humiliation of LAPD officer Neil Bishop (Holt McCallany) — could get him into trouble. “Promise me something,” she says. “You be careful, Mickey.” (Maggie’s right: Bishop will, indeed, be out for blood as a result of that incident.)
• Back in real time, Maggie and Mickey end up having a heart-to-heart while discussing Mickey’s new relationship with Andy (Yaya DaCosta). “I know I wasn’t always able to deal with certain aspects of your career,” Maggie tells her ex-husband. “Someone like Andy might be up for the challenge. You deserve that, to be with someone who’s game for you.” 
• What about Mickey and Maggie’s future? As Garcia-Rulfo puts it to Tudum, “I do think Maggie is always going to be in the back of his mind. She’s the love of his life. And even when he meets new people, I think he’s always feeling that he’s cheating on her.”

Season 4

• With Mickey himself on trial for the murder of Sam Scales (Christopher Thornton), Maggie and Mickey’s other ex and legal assistant, Lorna (Becki Newton), join forces to help him with his case. “Maybe ex-wives have to stick together,” Maggie says. 
• Sad news breaks for Mackey fans: Maggie reveals to Mickey that she’s been dating boyfriend Jack Gilroy (Jason O’Mara) for nearly six months. When Mickey tries to find out what Jack thinks about his murder trial, Maggie reassures him that they have a very full life outside this melodrama. 
• On that note, meet Jack! He’s an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and works with athletes in Southern California. 
• A new relationship doesn’t mean Maggie isn’t still thinking about Mickey: She comes up with an excuse to visit his law firm’s office to check on him, continues to confer with Lorna, and expresses relief when she discovers that he’s attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. When Mickey starts to doubt he can win his case, Maggie reminds him that he’s “Mickey. Fucking. Haller.” 
• Maggie also confronts Dana Berg (Constance Zimmer), the prosecutor on Mickey’s case, and accuses her of retaliating against Mickey for embarrassing her office one too many times.
• As if the family needs any more trouble, Hayley is being bullied in school. Maggie is forced into another confrontation — this time with Raquel, the mother of the young woman who is targeting Hayley on social media. 
• Maggie and Jack, meanwhile, bump heads when he suggests that Mickey “made his bed,” blaming him for the bullying Hayley is enduring. 
• Lorna is so overwhelmed at the office that Maggie takes over as Mickey’s co-counsel and gets to work, successfully discrediting the prosecutor’s key witnesses and securing Mickey’s release from the jail's secure housing unit. 
• It’s clear this case is bringing Mickey and Maggie closer together — in fact, they share an intimate moment before getting interrupted by a phone call from Jack. 
• In the end, Maggie clears Mickey’s name, thanks, in part, to a confession from the girlfriend of Alex Gazarian (Michael A. Goorjian), the man who actually killed Sam Scales.