Juliana Vergara Duque

Becoming a lawyer has been part of Julie Vergara Duque’s game plan since childhood. From the time she enrolled in law school, she knew she wanted to use her expertise to improve other people’s lives and help them navigate legal challenges.

In 2024, she joined the Deuterman Law Group as an associate attorney in the workers’ compensation practice, working primarily out of the Winston-Salem office. As a native Spanish speaker, she will focus her practice on cases involving Spanish-speaking clients who have been injured on the job.

Julie’s family immigrated from Colombia when she was a child, and an attorney’s work on their behalf made a lasting impact. It was one of the reasons she decided to pursue a career in law.

She graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2019, and earned a B.A. in criminology from Pennsylvania State University in 2016.

Julie has varied experience working with people dealing with complex, stressful and life-changing legal issues. Previously, she was an intake attorney evaluating personal injury, auto accidents and workers’ compensation cases at a Durham law firm. Julie also has represented victims in domestic violence cases and refugees seeking asylum through her work with Legal Aid of North Carolina and Human Rights First in New York.

In law school, she volunteered with the Innocence and Justice Clinic to help free wrongfully incarcerated people from prison. That work earned her the law school’s CALI Excellence for the Future Award and Dean Suzanne Reynolds Award.

Her firsthand experiences have shaped Julie’s understanding of what her clients are going through.

Two members of her family work in the construction industry, and that has provided an insider’s view of the workers’ comp system. She’s helped other relatives deal with insurance companies after car accidents. On a more personal level, Julie is recovering from a painful knee injury and ACL surgery that continues to impact her life and mobility.

These personal experiences have given her a deeper empathy for her clients and a stronger commitment to ensuring they receive the justice, compensation and medical treatment they’re entitled. Her aim is to treat clients with compassion and respect, simplify the legal process, and make the experience as pleasant as possible.

Julie’s other past work experience includes positions at the Wake Forest University School of Law Library, Justice at Work in Philadelphia, the Law Offices of Wallace & Graham in Salisbury, and the Santos Law Group in her hometown of Allentown, Pa.

When she’s not sidelined by injury, Julie enjoys Zumba and playing soccer with her family. She lives in Winston-Salem with her husband, and their dog, Hercules.