Duncan de la Feld (J.D. ’24) has a gift for language and a love for volunteering. These two characteristics have been the underpinnings of his life choices.
He's proficient in French and Arabic (Moroccan) and intermediate in Spanish and Farsi—skills he used for five years teaching English as a second language at Dean College in Massachusetts. While teaching, he made plans to join the Foreign Service, but he didn’t pass the oral exam. De la Feld is quick to point out that this roadblock was for the best. Instead, he joined the Peace Corps and went to Morocco in 2008.
“The Peace Corps was truly transformative,” de la Feld recalled. The group arrived in a small town with limited resources to help a small community overcome hardships. De la Feld said that experience gave him the confidence to take on any challenge.
After the Peace Corps, while searching for his next role, he filled his time volunteering with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Atlanta. He taught English classes and worked in the organization’s donation center, which blossomed into a full-time job first as a donation coordinator, then as a volunteer coordinator.
When the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated his role at the IRC, de la Feld returned to volunteering, this time at a local nonprofit that assists unaccompanied youth asylum-seekers through the legal process. As he contemplated his next step, law school came to mind as a way to continue helping others.
De la Feld looked at schools in the Atlanta area and settled on Georgia State University College of Law after talking to Professors Lauren Sudeall and Darcy Meals, who led the Georgia State Law Center for Access to Justice at the time.
Duncan de la Feld (J.D. '24)
“They made it clear that if any of us wanted to be a part of this program, we’d have to work for it. I was sold on GSU immediately,” said de la Feld.
Even in law school – juggling the demands of being a – de la Feld continued to volunteer, and he set his eyes on earning the College of Law’s Pro Bono Award, given each spring to a student who dedicates the most time to pro bono legal work. De la Feld received the award in 2024 after volunteering 300 hours of his time with local community organizations.
He participated in two alternative spring break programs: one with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and another with the Georgia Legal Services Program. He also completed two externships with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and one with Atlanta Legal Aid – where he continued to volunteer after they had formally ended. He described both as opportunities to learn about legal aid, make connections and remind himself why he came to law school.
“Having the [award] is great, but what I hope it represents is the example to everyone else that even with law school – and children or whatever your extra challenge is – there is also time to use our legal powers to help the community purely for the sake of helping,” said de la Feld.
He credits several for the encouragement to keep going – including Professors Lauren Sudeall, Tanya Washington, Darcy Meals and Cortney Lollar.
Professor Washington recalled de la Feld being a model student in her civil procedure and family law courses.
“Duncan asked really insightful questions and offered thoughtful observations that enhanced our class discussions greatly,” recalled Washington. “I have no doubt those qualities will make him a skilled attorney."
Written by Alexandra Shimalla