2022 Year-End Report: Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law

Judge Paul W. Grimm Appointed Director of Bolch Judicial Institute

Judge Paul W. Grimm

U.S. District Court Judge Paul W. Grimm of the District of Maryland, a 2016 graduate of Duke Law’s Master of Judicial Studies program, will become the David F. Levi Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and Professor of the Practice effective Jan. 1, 2023, succeeding David F. Levi, who has served as director since the Institute’s founding in 2018.

“Judge Grimm will be an inspiring leader for the Bolch Judicial Institute and an outstanding addition to the Duke Law faculty,” said Kerry Abrams, James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the School of Law. “He not only brings a judge’s experience and insight gained from 25 years on the federal bench but also a scholar’s commitment to the study of the judiciary and judicial processes. Under David Levi’s leadership, and in just a few short years, the Institute has become a leading voice for strengthening the rule of law, advancing judicial independence, and studying and improving the administration of justice. Judge Grimm brings the experience, enthusiasm, and vision needed to take it into its next phase. I look forward to working with him.”

Judge Grimm served 25 years as a federal judge; he was a magistrate judge for 15 years prior to his appointment to the district court in 2012. A widely recognized expert on electronic evidence, discovery, and civil procedure, Judge Grimm has served on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and has taught courses on evidence and civil procedure at the University of Maryland School of Law and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is a retired lieutenant colonel of the United States Army and served as a Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps officer on active duty and in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“It is an enormous honor to be joining this extraordinary faculty, led by such a dynamic dean, and to be able to work with them and the students at Duke,” said Judge Grimm. “To be able to work with the Bolch Judicial Institute to promote and further the visionary accomplishments that David Levi has achieved is the opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to bringing on board new initiatives that will strengthen the rule of law and judicial independence, both at home and abroad. I am profoundly grateful for the generosity of Carl and Susan Bolch and all our donors who have made it possible for the Institute to achieve so much in such a short time.”

The Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian

Professor James E. Coleman Jr. receives the Lemkin Medal at Duke Law School.

James E. Coleman Jr. received the 2022 Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal on Sept. 7 during a ceremony held at Duke Law School. The John S. Bradway Professor of the Practice of Law, director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, and director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke Law, Coleman has been a beloved member of the faculty for more than 25 years and is a nationally recognized leader in pursuing justice for the wrongfully convicted and for death penalty reform.

His career has been distinguished by his efforts to protect the constitutional rights of every person accused of a crime to a robust defense and to due process, whether for serial killer Ted Bundy, whom Coleman represented during death-row appeals in Florida, for three Duke’s men’s lacrosse players wrongly accused of rape, or for dozens of individuals serving long prison sentences for crimes they did not commit. Throughout his career and his time at Duke, Coleman has worked to ensure that the justice system is true to its constitutional commitments — often in the face of personal insults and threats.

“Professor Coleman has always stood for the highest ideals of our justice system,” says David F. Levi, Levi Family Professor of Law and Judicial Studies and director of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law. “He has shown generations of law students, as well as so many of his colleagues, that lawyers must stand for justice, even when the client is reviled by the public and stands accused by the government.”

“Over the years I have known Jim Coleman as an outstanding lawyer and committed professor and counselor to his students, and a brilliant advocate for the rights of the accused,” adds former Solicitor General Ted Olson. “He has been and is a beacon of leadership in the field of civil rights and a courageous advocate for those in need of legal assistance, particularly individuals who are the object of public anger, misunderstanding, and antipathy.”

The Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal honors individuals who work to protect the rule of law in their everyday work, in ways large and small. It is named for Raphael Lemkin, a one-time Duke Law faculty member and one of the leading 20th-century scholars of human rights. The Bolch Judicial Institute honored Benjamin Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg Trial prosecutor, with the inaugural Lemkin Medal in 2020.

“If I could’ve picked anything about my career that would have been special to me to be recognized, it would be being a guardian of the rule of law,” Coleman said during the medal ceremony. “I hold myself responsible in holding others accountable.”

The Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law

Judge J. Clifford Wallace speaks at the 2022 Bolch Prize ceremony.

The Hon. J. Clifford Wallace, chief judge emeritus of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, received the 2022 Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law during a ceremony in San Diego, Calif., on Friday, March 18. The ceremony featured remarks from several distinguished speakers, including colleagues from the J. Clifford Wallace Inn of Court, who paid tribute to Judge Wallace’s tireless service to the courts and to the rule of law.

Through more than 50 years of service as a federal judge, Judge Wallace has led multiple efforts to improve the administration of justice in his circuit and in the federal courts, served his community and church through a wide variety of leadership roles, and advised judiciaries around the world on the development of the rule of law and the administration of justice. He has traveled to more than 70 countries, often at his own expense, to advise and work with judges and governments to strengthen judicial processes, improve court structures, and develop innovative solutions to logistical and legal challenges.

Speakers at the ceremony included Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Judge David Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona; Manuel Sager, a former ambassador to the United States from Switzerland and a member of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Advisory Board; D. Todd Christofferson, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a 1972 graduate of Duke Law School; Susan Bass Bolch, co-founder of the Bolch Judicial Institute; and David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and a former U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of California, where he was a colleague of Judge Wallace’s. Each praised Judge Wallace’s contributions to the rule of law around the globe, noting that as he helps to improve judicial systems from China to Pakistan to Uganda to Russia, Judge Wallace helps improve the societies and communities in which the courts operate.

“Cliff has always been focused on the fact that the rule of law is ultimately not just something for lawyers, it’s actually something for people who need justice,” said Singapore Supreme Court Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon by video. “You can have the best system in the world, but if you can’t access it because it is too arcane or too alien in any of a number of ways, it just remains a theoretical construct. Cliff’s work has focused on getting this message across to judges, and in particular, to chief justices, who, as people who head judiciaries, have the opportunity to shape their systems in such a way that they can actually take steps to deliver the values by implementing policy changes. I can’t think of a better recipient of this prize.”

Judge Wallace said he has focused his life’s work on strengthening the rule of law because it offers “the hope of fundamental fairness, distinguished from a rule developed by an individual such as a political executive or some other person in power.” But, he said, the rule of law cannot be effective in countries that do not have a separate, independent judicial system to enforce laws. “However well-intentioned each country’s constitution and declarations may be, the judiciary must be strong enough to implement the rule of law. It was this realization that started me on the path 50 years ago of strengthening judiciaries worldwide, so that the rule of law could be implemented. My five decades with this effort has taught me that we will never finish with this project. There will always be more to be done, in some country somewhere, to strengthen a judiciary, so the judiciary in turn can protect the rule of law.”