Marguerite Lee DeVoll

MARGUERITE is a partner with Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP ’s Creditors’ Rights, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group in McLean, Va., where her practice focuses on business restructurings, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, as well as complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts across the U.S. Her experience includes representing clients in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases (both traditional and subchapter V) and out-of-court workouts involving a variety of industries, including real estate, hospitality and services, and construction. Her creditor clients include bonding companies, general contractors and subcontractors in the construction space; commercial landlords; and banks both in and outside of formal court proceedings. She also has served as counsel to a state court receiver and special counsel to trustees.

Prior to entering private practice, Marguerite clerked for Hon. William R. Sawyer (ret.) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama from 2010-12. She serves on the board of directors for the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association (MBBA) and recently served as its treasurer. She also is an avid presenter and contributor for local and national bar associations and industry organizations, having written articles for the ABI Journal and presented at conferences hosted by ABI and the American Bar Association, MBBA, Northern Virginia Bankruptcy Bar, Walter Chandler Inn of Court, Virginia State Bar, Pearlman Association, Western States Surety Conference and Washington Building Congress. In addition, she was selected to serve a two-year term on the Local Rules Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Virginia Super Lawyers, as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers “Rising Star,” and in Arlington Magazine as a “Top Lawyer.”

Marguerite comes from a military family: Her grandparents, parents and several other family members have all served, and her husband is an active-duty officer in the U.S. Air Force. As such, she has been involved in several organizations over the years that support veterans, active-duty members and/or their families. She is a founding board member for Exceptional Families of the Military and currently serves as the treasurer on its board of directors. The nonprofit’s mission is to support military families with disabilities, special health care needs, or additional educational needs in navigating programs and resources in the Department of Defense, identify areas of improvement that affect those families, and create long-lasting systematic changes in the laws and regulations that affect those families. In addition, she has mentored associates in her firm and fellow insolvency professionals as they navigate their careers.