Teri Duncan

Teri Duncan has been practicing law since 2000, when she graduated cum laude from the University of New Mexico School of Law. After 6 clerking for Judge Lynn Pickard of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, Teri joined the Appellate Division of the New Mexico Public Defender Department, where she practiced before the Court of Appeals and the New Mexico Supreme Court. In 2003, Teri joined the defense team for Terry Lynn Nichols, who faced the death penalty for his alleged role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Mr. Nichols was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment. Upon her return to New Mexico in 2004, Teri joined the law firm of Freedman Boyd Hollander et al., eventually becoming a partner in that firm. Teri left the firm in 2012 to start her own practice. Teri practices primarily in the areas of criminal defense and civil rights. She has represented clients charged with a variety of criminal offenses, from misdemeanor crimes to capital murder. Her civil rights practice includes lawsuits against law enforcement for the use of excessive force and other constitutional violations, as well as litigation on behalf of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. In addition to her legal practice, Teri is co-author of Wharton’s Criminal Evidence, Wharton’s Criminal Procedure, and the 2023 edition of Everytrial Criminal Defense Resource Book. She is also co-chair of NACDL’s Death Penalty Committee and chairperson of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association’s CLE Committee.