Destiny Duncan Sworn In on June 5

Upon completing law school and successfully passing the bar exam, attorneys are formally welcomed into the legal profession through a swearing-in ceremony. On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, Destiny Duncan (L) was sworn in before the Honorable Michael W. Flannelly (R), in the presence of her family, friends, and colleagues.

Destiny currently serves as a law clerk for Judge Flannelly, having previously interned at the York County Bar in Spring 2023 while still in law school. She was also honored as the recipient of the 2021 Richard P. Noll Scholarship provided by the Bar Foundation. We are incredibly proud of Destiny and are thrilled to welcome her as an attorney in York County.

Judge Flannelly offered the following remarks during the ceremony:

Welcome to the York County Judicial Center and to the swearing-in ceremony of Destiny Duncan. Today marks a very special day in the life of an attorney. Just like a wedding vow transforms two people into a married couple, the taking of an oath transforms a law school graduate into an attorney.

The journey to get to this point is a long one. The itch to become an attorney usually starts in high school. In my generation, the itch started when your English teacher assigned “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I am not sure what inspires the current generation – maybe “Law & Order.” The student realizes that he or she needs to get good enough grades to get into law school. In addition to getting good grades, you also need a good score on the LSATs. By this time, many of those who started on the journey have fallen by the wayside. For those remaining, you need to survive the first year. At the start of my law school, the dean gave a cheery speech in which he told us to look to the person to the left and the person to the right, he then said that the odds were that one of those persons would be gone after the first year. He was not wrong about that.

Assuming you make it to graduation, you then move onto the bar exam. The overall passing rate for the February 2024 Bar Exam in PA was 48%. Nowadays, you find out if you passed the bar by logging onto a website on 4 p.m. on a designated Friday afternoon. Imagine for a second the sheer agony of sitting in front of your computer at that very moment. If you have jumped through all of those hoops, then and only then do you have the privilege of sitting in the seat where Destiny sits right now.

I have had the pleasure of having Destiny as my law clerk since August of 2023. She is a skilled researcher and writer whose work product is always terrific. Destiny has an excellent work ethic. As a former law clerk myself, I can honestly say that an important part of the job is putting up with your judge’s idiosyncrasies. Destiny does this with good humor and courtesy.

Before I get to administering the oath, I would be remiss if I first didn’t discuss Destiny’s journey to get to this point. I just saw a look of concern pass over Destiny’s face and rightly so – I have done my homework.

Destiny’s early academic career was with Logos Academy. Destiny attended Logos Academy from kindergarten through high school. Destiny was the salutatorian of the first graduating class. A Logos teacher described Destiny as a hard worker who could grasp complex issues. No matter what the task, Destiny performed with excellence.

Destiny’s academic excellence continued on at York College. Destiny was inducted into both the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society and the Alpha Chi National Honor Society. Destiny graduated in the top 10% of her graduating class.

As a result of her outstanding work at York College, Destiny was admitted into Widener School of Law. To add a degree of difficulty to law school, Destiny worked full-time job in Court Administration while attending law school.

It is my practice to take new clerks around to introduce them to court staff. With Destiny, she ended up introducing me to people. Needless to say, Destiny is a well liked and respected employee here at the Judicial Center.

It is too soon to know exactly where Destiny will go with her legal career. All I can say is that she will represent her clients with skill, diligence and compassion. Abraham Lincoln once said “Be sure to put your feet in the right place and then stand firm.” I know that wherever Destiny plants her feet in her legal career she will surely stand firm.