Bio

Missy McJunkins Duke regularly represents employers, both private and public, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Wage & Hour Division of the Department of Labor, as well as related federal and state court litigation. She also represents school districts throughout Arkansas concerning employment matters, including discipline, discharge, and leave issues. She has extensive experience advising entities on compliance with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and defending such entities in FOIA litigation.

Missy is a former Chair of the Arkansas Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section and an active member of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section and Wage and Hour Committee, the American Employment Law Council, and the Arkansas Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors. She was appointed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe as Commissioner on the Arkansas Early Childhood Commission and as a member of the Arkansas Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She also served a six-year term on the Arkansas State Board of Law Examiners and two three-year terms on the Arkansas Continuing Legal Education Board, both appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Missy was also appointed by Governor Mike Beebe as Special Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court for the case styled as 09-1011, Grand Valley Ridge LLC., Tom A. Terminella a/k/a Thomas A. Terminella v. Metropolitan National Bank.

Missy has been included in Best Lawyers in America since 2009, Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2008, and Chambers & Partner’s list of top attorneys since 2013. Missy is active in the community, volunteering with the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and Young Men’s Service League and having served on the Boards of Directors for Reach Out and Read Arkansas, Fulbright Elementary PTA, Junior League of Little Rock, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and Central Arkansas Executives Association. In 2015, Missy received a Little Rock School District Volunteers in Public Schools Award for her school volunteer work and in 2011, Missy was named an Arkansas Business 40 Under 40.

Honors

  • Best Lawyers in America 2024
    • Employment Law / Management
    • Education Law
    • Immigration Law
    • Municipal
  • Chambers & Partners 2023
    • Top Labor & Employment Opportunity
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers in Labor and Employment, 2017-2023
  • Arkansas Life: Top Attorney 2020
  • “Best Lawyers in Little Rock” – Little Rock Soirée, 2020 & 2017
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers “Rising Stars,” 2008-2014
  • Arkansas Business 40 Under 40, 2011
  • Articles Editor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review, 1998-1999
  • Participant, National Trial Competition

Affiliations

  • Arkansas Bar Association
    • Past Chair, Labor and Employment Section
  • Arkansas Bar Foundation Board of Directors
  • Fulbright Elementary PTA, Past Member of the Board of Directors
  • Junior League of Little Rock, Sustainer and Past Member of the Board of Directors
  • Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Past Member of the Board of Directors
  • Reach Out and Read Arkansas, Past Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member, Board of Directors, Past Chair, and provides volunteer legal services for VOCALS – Volunteer Organization, Center for Arkansas Legal Services
  • Central Arkansas Executives Association, Bylaws Chair and Past Member of the Board of Directors

Education

  • University of Arkansas at Little Rock, J.D., with honors, 1999
  • Harding University, B.S., summa cum laude, 1996

Admissions

Arkansas, 1999

United States District Courts, Eastern & Western Divisions of Arkansas

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

United States Supreme Court