McGuireWoods Houston partner Demetra Liggins was featured in a Q&A published by The Texas Lawbook on July 8, 2022. In the in-depth interview, Liggins discussed her career as a bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer, mentors who influenced her career, and her “Corporate Homie” platform that helps women and people of color build a community of support and advance in the corporate world.
Liggins said she joined McGuireWoods last year because of its exceptional technical practitioners and collegial atmosphere. “I saw this as a great opportunity to join a nationally respected practice and to be part of the firm’s growth in Texas,” she said.
Liggins said she has had many mentors over the years who helped develop her career, including U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, the first Black federal judge appointed in the state of Alabama; U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Clifton Jessup of the Northern District of Alabama, the first Black Chapter 11 practitioner Liggins ever met; and Mechele Dickerson, a distinguished bankruptcy lawyer who now is a professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
Liggins told The Texas Lawbook that she and her twin sister started Corporate Homie as a passion project to share advice for climbing the corporate ladder. “We are both Black women working in corporate America and we found through our own experiences that there are strategies for success that apply beyond the legal profession and the business world,” Liggins said. “We were passionate about not being information hoarders, and if we knew, we were going to tell everybody.”