List of Duke University School of Law alumni

Following is a list of notable alumni of the Duke University School of Law.

Academia

 * Garrett Epps, 1991 – professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law
 * Pamela Gann, 1973 – president of Claremont McKenna College
 * Robert W. Hillman – distinguished professor of law at University of California, Davis
 * Ben F. Johnson, 1949 – dean of the Emory University School of Law and Georgia State University College of Law
 * Ivan C. Rutledge – dean of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
 * Michael P. Scharf, 1988 – professor of law and director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law
 * Rodney A. Smolla, 1978 – president of Furman University
 * Michael Sorrell, 1994 – president of Paul Quinn College
 * Kenneth Starr, 1973 – president of Baylor University, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, United States Solicitor General, and Independent Counsel during the Clinton Administration
 * Zephyr Teachout, 1999 – professor of Fordham University School of Law

Business

 * John H. Adams, 1962 – founding director of the Natural Resources Defense Council
 * John Canning Jr., 1969 – co-founder of Madison Dearborn Partners and co-owner of Milwaukee Brewers
 * Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, 1957 – chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services and father of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus
 * Gary Lynch, 1975 – chief legal officer of Morgan Stanley
 * Happy R. Perkins, 1980 – former vice president and general counsel of GE Energy
 * Gao Xiqing, 1986 – vice chairman, president, and chief investment officer of the China Investment Corporation



Entertainment

 * Keith Lucas, non-degreed – Academy Award-nominated writer and producer of Judas and the Black Messiah
 * Bascom Lamar Lunsford, 1913 – folk musician
 * Tucker Max, 2001 – humorist and entrepreneur (associated with "fratire")
 * Charlie Rose, 1968 – host of the Charlie Rose Show on PBS
 * Teddy Schwarzman, 2006 – Academy Award-nominated film producer, known for The Imitation Game
 * Angela Seo, 2015 – avant-garde musician best known for her work in experimental band Xiu Xiu
 * David H. Steinberg, 1993 – writer and director for film and television

Government

 * Michael Dreeben, 1981 – Deputy Solicitor General of the United States, and a member of the legal teams involved in the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller
 * Michael Elston, 1994 – former chief of staff and counselor with the Office of the Deputy Attorney General
 * John Jay Hoffman, 1992 – Attorney General of New Jersey
 * Kenneth Starr, 1973 – United States Solicitor General, Independent Counsel during the Clinton Administration, president of Baylor University, and dean of Pepperdine University School of Law

Judiciary

 * Cheri Beasley, LLM 2018 – first Black female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
 * Charles Becton, 1969 – North Carolina Court of Appeals judge
 * Garrett Brown Jr., 1968 – U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey chief judge
 * J. Michelle Childs, LLM 2016, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina judge
 * Robert L. Clifford, 1950 – Supreme Court of New Jersey associate justice
 * Curtis Lynn Collier, 1974 – U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee senior judge
 * Colm Connolly, 1991 – U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware judge
 * Timothy J. Corrigan, 1981 – U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida judge
 * Mark A. Davis, LLM 2018 – North Carolina Supreme Court associate justice
 * James C. Dever III, 1987 – U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina judge
 * Bernice B. Donald, LLM 2018 – United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit judge
 * Allyson Kay Duncan, 1975 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit judge
 * Christine Durham, 1971 – first female justice of the Utah Supreme Court
 * Richard Gergel, 1979 – U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina judge
 * Paul W. Grimm, LLM 2016 – United States District Court for the District of Maryland judge
 * David Gustafson, 1981 – United States Tax Court judge
 * Eva Guzman, LLM 2014 – Texas Supreme Court justice
 * Todd M. Hughes, 1992 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judge; first openly gay U.S. Circuit Court Judge
 * Carolyn Kuhl, 1977 – Los Angeles Superior Court judge
 * Denise Majette, 1979 – former Georgia state judge and former U.S. House of Representative from Georgia
 * Sarah A. L. Merriam, LLM 2018,– United States District Court for the District of Connecticut judge
 * Mandisa Maya, 1990 – president of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
 * Graham Calder Mullen, 1969 – U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina senior judge
 * David Nuffer, LLM 2018 – United States District Court for the District of Utah judge
 * William H. Pauley III, 1977 – U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York senior judge
 * Johnnie B. Rawlinson, LLM 2016 – United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit judge
 * Robin L. Rosenberg, 1989 – U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida judge
 * Allison Jones Rushing, 2007 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit judge
 * Kenneth Starr, 1973 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia judge
 * Gary S. Stein, 1956 – Supreme Court of New Jersey associate justice
 * Donna Stroud, LLM 1914 – North Carolina Court of Appeals judge
 * A. William Sweeney, 1948 – Supreme Court of Ohio justice
 * Patricia Timmons-Goodson, LLM '14 – North Carolina Supreme Court associate justice
 * Michael B. Thornton, 1982 – United States Tax Court judge
 * Gerald B. Tjoflat, 19'57 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit judge
 * Ernest C. Torres, 1968 – U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island judge
 * Peter Verniero, 1984 – Supreme Court of New Jersey associate justice and New Jersey Attorney General
 * Sarah Hawkins Warren, 2008 – Georgia Supreme Court associate justice and Georgia Solicitor General
 * Charles K. Wiggins, 1976 – Washington Supreme Court associate justice
 * Don Willett, 1992, LLM 2016 – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit judge and Texas Supreme Court justice
 * Mary Ellen Coster Williams, 1977 – U.S. Court of Federal Claims senior judge

Law

 * Marc Elias, 1993 – partner at Perkins Coie LLP, general counsel for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign
 * Jeffrey Lichtman, 1990 – criminal defense attorney
 * Arlinda Locklear, 1976 – lawyer, the first Native American woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court

Literature and journalism

 * Ben Fountain, 1983 – novelist known for Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
 * Monty Sarhan, 1999 – CEO and publisher of,Cracked magazine

Military

 * Dan McCarthy, 1983 – JAG chief prosecutor, United States Navy

Politics



 * David Addington, 1981 – chief of staff and former legal counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney, Willis Smith, U.S. Senate from North Carolina
 * Claude Allen, 1990 – former Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
 * Daniel T. Blue Jr., 1973 – North Carolina Senate and former speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives
 * Susan Bysiewicz, 1986 – Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and former Connecticut Secretary of State
 * Bill Campbell, 1977 – Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
 * Jim Courter, 1966 – U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey
 * Nick Galifianakis, 1953 – U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina
 * Tom Grady, 1982 – U.S. House of Representatives from Florida
 * Jaime Aleman Healy, 1979 – Panama's Ambassador to the United States
 * Darren Jackson, 1996 – House Minority Leader, North Carolina House of Representatives
 * Mike Levin, 2005 – U.S. House of Representatives from California
 * Denise Majette, 1979 – U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia
 * David McKean, 1986 – U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, former Director of Policy Planning
 * Floyd McKissick Jr., 1984 – North Carolina Senate
 * Jerry Meek, 1997 – former Chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party
 * Richard Nixon, 1937 – 37th President of the United States
 * Manuel Sager, 1985 – Swiss Ambassador to the United States
 * Dave Trott, 1985 –U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan
 * Mike Turzai, 1987 – Speaker of the House, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
 * William B. Umstead, 1921 – former Governor of North Carolina, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives for North Carolina

Religion

 * D. Todd Christofferson, 1972 – Apostle, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sports

 * Jay Bilas, 1992 – ESPN commentator and former Duke Blue Devils basketball player and coach
 * Jim Drucker 1976 – ESPN legal correspondent, commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association, and commissioner of the Arena Football League
 * Matt Jones, 2003 – radio host and controlling owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling
 * Drew Rosenhaus, 1990 – sports agent and owner of Rosenhause Sports
 * Quin Snyder, 1995 – head coach of the Utah Jazz
 * Zachary Kleiman, 2013 – general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies

Fictional alumni

 * Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie – fictional character portrayed by Catherine Bell on JAG, earned her law degree from Duke University School of Law.
 * Sam Seaborn – fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on The West Wing, graduated from Duke Law School