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
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