Meet one of our newest Council Members, John Duffield! Let’s get to know him:

Current place of employment?
Legal Aid of Western Michigan

Law school?
The University of Michigan Law School

Objectives/goals related to your new position as Council Member–i.e. what do you want to accomplish?
By joining the YLS Council, my hope is to step a little out of my comfort zone, try new things, be exposed to new ideas and perspectives that I otherwise wouldn’t have been exposed to, sharpen my understanding of my own practice and the practice of others, and to build new connections and friendships which will hopefully last long past my time on the Council. 🙂

Favorite thing about your geographic region in Michigan?
Living in West Michigan means I’m only a couple of hours away from family and friends despite the fact they live quite far apart from one another. My husband and I can travel to Detroit to see my family, travel to St. Joseph to see his family, and travel to Wisconsin to see our nephews relatively easily from here. Plus, we’re only 40 minutes or so from the beaches of Lake Michigan.

Why did you choose to pursue a legal career?
As far as I know, you only get one shot at life; once our time is up, that’s it. With that in mind, I was born into a much more privileged situation that many others. I felt an obligation to make the most of my one shot at life and make the greatest possible positive difference for the most people I could. I see the law and my position as an attorney as my main avenue to make that difference.

What advice do you wish you knew when you were starting your legal career that you know now?
Don’t define your own success by the benchmarks of others. It’s okay to take time to figure out what you want to do, and even taking the time to figure out what you don’t want to do is a legitimate endeavor.

What is surprising about your job that others may not know?
I often find myself using skills that I acquired in positions unrelated to the legal field (e.g. sales and math) in my everyday practice. I’ve found that building relationships with my clients and with the court often takes skills which aren’t exclusively legal.

What do you like to do in your spare time (i.e. hobbies and interests)?
I exercise, play a lot of video games, during the summer I bike on the Kal-Haven Trail, and I’m also a member of a book club with some friends from undergrad.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
The ability to speak every language fluently.

If you could have lunch with any person, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

Welcome, John!