Clifford Winter Duke is a Dallas-Fort Worth criminal defense lawyer and Senior Trial Attorney at Michael & Associates Criminal Defense Attorneys with more than two decades of legal experience and a career dedicated to criminal defense. Since earning his law degree in 2004, Mr. Duke has represented individuals facing criminal charges ranging from Class C offenses to the most serious felony allegations, including capital murder cases.
Mr. Duke attended Gonzaga University, where he completed both his undergraduate studies and legal education, earning his Juris Doctor in 2004. After law school, Mr. Duke moved to Texas to begin his legal career practicing plaintiff's law and criminal defense. In 2008, he joined the Dallas County Public Defender's Office, where he spent the next seventeen years representing indigent Texans accused of criminal offenses. During his tenure, he handled cases at every level of the criminal justice system, from municipal offenses and misdemeanors to serious felony prosecutions and capital murder charges.
Mr. Duke's extensive criminal defense experience has provided him with firsthand knowledge of the legal, procedural, and constitutional issues that arise throughout the criminal justice process. Having represented clients facing a broad spectrum of criminal allegations, he understands the significant impact that criminal charges can have on a person's freedom, reputation, career, and future.
In addition to his courtroom practice, Mr. Duke has been an active leader within the Texas criminal defense community. He is a Past President of the Collin County Young Lawyers Association and the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He currently serves as a Director of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and as a Board Member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Project, where he helps support the education and training of criminal defense attorneys throughout Texas.
About Michael & Associates Criminal Defense Attorneys
Michael & Associates Criminal Defense Attorneys is a criminal defense firm with a unique model: the high-touch, personalized attention of a boutique firm, backed by the resources and collective experience of a 40+ lawyer defense team.
Every client is assigned a dedicated Senior Trial Attorney who owns the defense from intake through resolution. That attorney focuses on a specific county and court — practicing there regularly and knowing the judges, the prosecutors, and the local tendencies that shape outcomes. Cases are not rotated, reassigned, or passed to junior attorneys (the firm doesn't employ any).
Behind that lead attorney is a team of forty criminal-defense lawyers with more than 1,000 jury trials between them, including attorneys Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, ten Super Lawyers honorees, ACS-CHAL Forensic DWI Lawyer-Scientists, former prosecutors, former judges, and former law-enforcement professionals, including a former FBI agent.
That structure gives clients the 40-on-1 advantage: one senior lawyer leading your case, backed by the collective knowledge of 40+ criminal-defense attorneys. It means the prosecutor is not up against one lawyer — they're up against a brain trust.
The firm's main metric is client satisfaction, which is measured using standard CSAT surveys to every client at the conclusion of the case. The firm has achieved a 98.5% client satisfaction rate based on 1,840 survey responses. The full breakdown by case type is below:
- DWI: 97.8% CSAT (781 responses)
- Assault & Domestic Violence: 99.5% CSAT (368 responses)
- Other: 98.7% CSAT (158 responses)
- Drug Charges: 98.6% CSAT (142 responses)
- Motion to Revoke Probation: 97.8% CSAT (134 responses)
- Theft & Fraud: 100% CSAT (106 responses)
- Driving Offenses: 98.7% CSAT (75 responses)
- Weapons: 98.1% CSAT (52 responses)
- Sex Offenses: 100% CSAT (24 responses)
Data from September 2022 through May 6, 2026.
The firm's 2025 trial record was 65% favorable outcomes with a 50% outright acquittal rate. A 5.0 rating on Google. More than 1,400 five-star reviews on Google, Avvo, BBB, and Martindale, an A+ BBB rating, and combined criminal-defense experience exceeding 540 years. Attorney caseloads run well below ABA recommendations. Case reviews are free. No trial fees - ever.
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AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
