Allyson K. Duncan

The honorable Allyson K. Duncan spent fifteen years on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2003 to 2019. She was nominated to the federal judiciary by President George W. Bush and confirmed by a unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate.

Prior to the bench, she clerked for Judge Julia Cooper Mack on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals before joining the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as an appellate attorney, eventually rising to agency counsel. She later taught law as an associate professor at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) and served as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and as a commissioner on the North Carolina Utilities Commission before joining Kilpatrick, Townsend and Stockton in Raleigh as a partner.

Hailing from Durham, North Carolina, Judge Duncan graduated first in her class at Hampton University in 1972 and went on to receive her law degree from Duke University in 1975. Her numerous accomplishments include becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the first African-American president of the North Carolina Bar Association, and the first African-American woman to sit on the Fourth Circuit.

Judge Duncan is a past president of the Federal Judges Association (FJA), the organization representing Article III United States judges. Additionally, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed her to chair the International Judicial Relations Committee, which coordinates and responds to requests for judicial assistance in other countries. She is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as the president of the North American/Asian Group of the International Association of Judges.

Since leaving the bench, Judge Duncan has worked as a court-appointed neutral, mediator, and arbitrator with JAMS Dispute Resolution Service.