Q&A with Duncan Manley
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Q&A
Q&A with Duncan Manley
Duncan Manley is a trial lawyer with more than 50 years of experience. He is a graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science. Thereafter, he was accepted to and graduated from the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, obtaining his commission as an ensign. After completing his Naval service, he entered Vanderbilt University School of Law and, upon graduation, began his legal career with the law firm of Rives, Peterson, Pettus & Conway. In due course, Manley was made a partner and subsequently served on the firm’s Executive Committee and was managing partner for many years. In 2001, the firm was renamed Christian & Small LLP and is located in Birmingham, Alabama. He has been active in Primerus for two decades, serving as chairman of the Primerus Defense Institute from 2004-07.
Q: Before becoming an attorney, what was your first job?
A: I sold newspapers on the street and in a hospital when I was young. Later, I became a sacker in a grocery store, a driver delivering flowers during holidays, a laborer at a lumber company and after college, joined the U.S. Navy, attended and graduated from the Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS), and served on ships homeported in California.
Q: What motivated you to pursue a legal career?
A: I always wanted to be a lawyer. My mother wanted me to be a minister and when I told her I was going to law school she cried, mostly because I was not going to seminary and she did not think so well of lawyers at the time.
Q: Who was your chief mentor and how did he or she influence your career?
A: I have had several mentors in my lifetime. All were associated with the practice of law and most were partners in the law firm that I joined in 1966 and which I am still a member of. They are all deceased now. I am the only surviving lawyer of the lawyers who were in the firm when I joined it.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A: The senior partner in my firm in 1966 gave me two pieces of advice I never forgot. (1) Never speak disparagingly about another lawyer. It will come back to haunt you. (2) If you are dumb enough to play cards with a client, NEVER WIN.
Q: What is one thing you would like to learn to do?
A: I don’t know where this came from but I have always enjoyed working in my yard perhaps because in many cases you can immediately see the results of your handiwork. I think that I would enjoy being a landscape architect.
On an annual fly-fishing trip out west, Duncan Manley strikes a pose with his sons, Duncan and Clay.
Q: What is your proudest career achievement?
A: Of course, every win of a jury trial would have to be a proud moment. A close runner-up would be acquiring new business for my firm. A verdict concludes a case, while getting a new client is a new beginning. Serving as managing partner of my firm for many years was a career achievement I will always cherish.
Q: What other career path might you have chosen?
A: As mentioned above, I think I would have enjoyed a career in landscape architecture.
Q: What is your most treasured material possession?
A: My house, which my wife, Celeta, and I helped design and which we moved into in 1997. Our children were grown by then so we did not have a lot of wear and tear, and it still feels and looks like a new house.
Q: What is your happiest childhood memory?
A: Coming home from OCS in December 1960 by train and meeting my family and future wife at the train station in Nashville.
Q: What is your favorite movie and book?
A: I don’t have a favorite movie, but I do enjoy mysteries, especially, Sherlock Holmes movies. The Bible is my favorite book. I attend two Bible study classes and attend church every Sunday.
Duncan Manley
Q: What is the most awe-inspiring place you have visited?
A: There are two, actually. South Africa, where Celeta and I went on safari and also visited Cape Town. To see, up close, many wild animals was an unbelievable experience. We also visited Israel and traveled throughout the country with a tour group and a rabbi and Episcopal priest. Our guide was brilliant and contributed so much to educating us about the country, its history, politics, and aspirations.
Q: What are your favorite leisure time pursuits?
A: I was a runner for many years but age has caught up with me, so now I read a lot.
Duncan Manley and his wife, Celeta, on a scenic cruise with a glacier as a backdrop.
Q: What is your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
A: Several years ago, I began collecting sayings and quotes which I often use to make a point. There are so many that I have saved and it is impossible to pick a single favorite. Here are two among many:
“Be good to people. You will be remembered more for your kindness than any level of success you could possibly attain.”
-Unknown
“There are those whose lives affect all others around them. Quietly touching one heart, who in turn, touches another. Reaching out to ends further than they would ever know.”
-William Bradfield
Q: Who is on your guest list for the ideal dinner party?
A: My wife, of course, and many of my Primerus friends, too many to mention, but especially Bea and John Brydon.
Q: Name the top three items on your bucket list?
A: Return to Israel. Return to Paris and the south of France. Become a great-grandfather.