Rob McDuff is a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer who directs the George Riley Impact Litigation Initiative of the Mississippi Center for Justice. He was one of MCJ’s founders in 2003 and served on its board for many years.

Rob joined the MCJ staff in 2017 to lead the newly formed George Riley Impact Litigation Initiative.  Under his leadership, Impact Litigation has undertaken a variety of matters, including cases involving voting rights, free speech, reproductive rights, and a seminal criminal justice case securing the freedom of Curtis Flowers, who endured 23 years in prison in Mississippi despite significant evidence of innocence in a case marked by extreme prosecutorial misconduct.

Before joining the MCJ staff, Rob built a private practice in Jackson, which began in 1992, focusing on criminal defense and civil litigation, primarily civil rights, in Mississippi and elsewhere.  Even after joining MCJ, he continues his private practice part-time, representing clients outside of MCJ’s portfolio in criminal cases and some civil cases.

Rob has argued four cases in the U.S. Supreme Court involving civil and constitutional rights and has represented clients in a variety of matters over the years.  He has received many awards, including the William Robert Ming Advocacy Award of the national NAACP; the Frederick Douglass Award of the Southern Center for Human Rights; and the Pro Bono Service Award of the International Human Rights Law Group.

A native of Hattiesburg, Rob is a graduate of Millsaps College and Harvard Law School.