Duncan Morrow ‘22
Hi, Duncan! Welcome to the Hot Bench. To start off—where are you from?
I’m originally from just outside of Oakland, California: a town called “Pleasanton,” which is, in retrospect, a hilarious name for a suburb. Right at the end of high school, my parents moved up to Portland, Oregon, so I’ve spent a lot of time up there as well. When I go “home” for the holidays, I’m going to Portland. It’s a really great city; I’m a huge fan of the Pacific Northwest in general.
What are you involved in at UVA Law?
I’m a fellow in the Law and Public Service Program and in the Employment Law Clinic with LAJC (the Legal Aid Justice Center), which I suppose are the big things for me. I’m also in the National Lawyers Guild, and of course, the standard journal stuff (Law and Social Policy!).
What drove you to UVA Law (why law school, and why UVA)?
After college, I worked briefly at a labor union, which I really enjoyed. I worked pretty often with the union’s legal department, working on wage-and-hour enforcement and alongside lawyers who were advising the organizers. It was work I really, really enjoyed, and it kinda convinced me that I’m actually interested in how the law works.
What type of law are you planning to practice after law school?
I’m definitely on the public service track — love not having a job in my 3L year — it doesn’t fill me with a sense of impending doom at all. I’m primarily interested in labor and employment. I would love to do something either on the union side or for the government.
What are your favorite hobbies?
Probably the things I spend the most of my free time doing are either watching movies, thinking about movies, and hiking. My dad is much more outdoorsy than I am, but he used to bring me on overnight backpacking trips, climbing mountains in the Sierra Nevada once or twice a year. I’ve tried to carry that outdoorsy vibe with me since, although I’m not doing anything impressive. I’ve also gotten exceptionally into Microsoft Flight Simulator lately, but no one wants to hear about that. Film is the big thing.
How many movies would you estimate you’ve seen, and what are a couple of your favorites?
During quarantine, I started keeping track of everything I’ve watched, and I pretty easily hit 200 last year alone. I think I may have breached that a few times in undergrad, so you can do the math if you want! As for my favorites, I really love Chungking Express, this weird little love story that functions as a great portrait of Hong Kong in the ’90s. It’s so full of energy and noise and life; I just love it. I also really love High and Low, which is this epic Japanese crime story from the 1960s that was pretty obviously a huge influence on Parasite. And, since it’s spooky season, John Carpenter’s The Thing rules and is the absolute best.
If you didn’t go to law school, what would you want to do instead?
I’d like to think it would be something artistic! Writing, filmmaking, anything like that. Something involving telling stories.
Lightning Round!
Favorite pizza topping?
Mushrooms.
Favorite fruit?
Blackberries.
Favorite Charlottesville restaurant?
Really love Maru; Korean food’s my fav.
What place in the world would you most like to visit?
Hong Kong.
---
dkm8m@virginia.edu