Meet William S. Duffey, Jr
William S. Duffey, Jr., was a United States District Judge in Atlanta before he retired in 2018. When he assumed the bench in 2004, Judge Duffey was the United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. Before entering public service, Judge Duffey was a partner at King & Spalding, a large international law firm where he was a litigator. He has handled interesting and complex cases during his career, such as the internal corporate investigation of the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, prosecuted fraud and internal drug cartel cases, and presided over a national product liability case involving hip replacements, and two international terrorism trials.
Richard Miller courtroom sketch used for television reporting in United States v. Sadequee
After retiring, Judge Duffey continues to work as a lawyer, but in specialized engagements. He consults with lawyers and clients about their cases, applying insight about the presentation of evidence and arguments to courts and juries which he developed during the decades he litigated cases, and presided over them as a trial judge. Judge Duffey also brings this experience to mediation and arbitration assignments. Committed to understanding the nature of the dispute, Judge Duffey pays attention to the relationship between the parties and the intangible influences that impact dispute resolution. He still devotes considerable time to nonprofit work including as a member of the grant committee of the Atlanta Foundation, working to retire medical debt for the poor, advising young lawyers about their careers and calling, and providing pro bono services to those unable to afford counsel.
Judge Duffey's commitment to nonprofit work is evidenced throughout his career. He served as Board Chair of the Georgia Wilderness Institutes program for incarcerated youth; was Chair of the Board of the Kennesaw State University Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery, which he and his wife founded; was Board Chair of the Atlanta Track Club; President of the Eleventh Circuit District Judges Association; served on the board of the AETC Public Television and Radio Station; served as a member of the Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions Committee; was a Founding Member of the New Century Forum at the Atlanta Commerce Club; and co-founded the Coverdell Leadership Institute.
He has received a variety of service awards including the Drake University Distinguished Alumni Award, Kennesaw State University President's Award, Atlanta Track Club Chairman's Award, and a Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa) awarded by Piedmont University. He is a frequent speaker on professionalism at legal conferences. He has been active in international legal events including presenting at a conference on the role of faith in a democracy, held in Vienna, Austria for members of the Romanian parliament and government officials. Judge Duffey spoke at USAID conferences throughout Ukraine where he traveled on nine occasions to make presentations to Ukrainian judges and public officials on judicial ethics and the role of an independent judiciary in a democracy. More recently, he represented the United States at a conference hosted by Pope Francis at the Vatican, at which he and other judicial officers and law enforcement officials from around the world addressed the issue of organized crime and human trafficking.
(1/2) Photographs of organized crime and human trafficking conference at the Vatican in Rome, Italy
(2/2) Photographs of organized crime and human trafficking conference at the Vatican in Rome, Italy
Personal photograph with members of the Ukrainian judiciary and Chief of the USAID Mission in Kiev, Ukraine