Lia Hudgins grew up between South Florida and North Carolina, going back and forth between her Dominican family and her American one. She deeply values her upbringing and believes it influenced her decision to work in the legal field. Working at James Gay Law as a Legal Assistant is her first venture into doing so.

Lia is a proud first-generation college graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Teacher License in Secondary Social Studies. She was also President of her university’s rowing team and co-founded a student organization for other first-generation students. She decided on Chicago in her junior year and moved to the city immediately after graduation. Though she loved teaching and misses North Carolina, Lia always planned to transition to the legal field and was excited to join the team at James Gay Law. She believes that there is still much to be done in the world of law and would like to attend law school in the next few years.

Outside of work, Lia is an artist and an avid reader. She enjoys following archaeology news and believes she should always be moving forward.