Michael C. Duff, J.D.
Professor
School of Law
William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law
Education
B.A., West Chester University of Pennsylvania (1991), Philosophy, summa cum laude
J.D., Harvard Law School (1995)
Practice Areas
Professor Duff currently teaches courses in Torts, Labor Law, Workers’ Compensation Law, and Occupational Safety and Health. He has previously taught Bankruptcy, Employee Benefits Law, and Administrative Law. He was a trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board for a decade, and before that engaged in the private practice of workers’ compensation law. He was a union grievance steward, organizer, and blue collar worker for fifteen years before attending law school.
Research Interests
Professor Duff is especially interested in the intersection of workers’ compensation, tort, and constitutional law. He is focused on the extent to which injured workers are entitled to a certain minimum baseline of benefits; and writes frequently on whether the grand bargain of workers’ compensation is entitled to constitutional protection. He is informed and inspired in this justice work by the memory of his grandfather, a Harlan County, Kentucky coal miner who died of black lung in his early fifties. Professor Duff also writes frequently on labor issues arising under the National Labor Relations Act from the unique perspective of a former blue collar worker who participated as a unionist personally and directly in labor disputes while working his way through college.
Publications and Media Placements
Professor Duff is widely considered a national expert on workers’ compensation law and on the National Labor Relations Act. He has written on labor, constitutional, employment, and injury law issues, and has been quoted on such matters in various national publications. He is the author (or co-author) of textbooks, treatises, and scholarly articles in these subjects. He is also the founder and co-editor of the highly regarded Workers’ Compensation Law Professors’ Blog.
Professional Organizations and Associations
Professor Duff is a member of the American Law Institute, the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, a scholar-member of the Center for Progressive Reform, and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He is also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the National Civil Justice Institute.