Senior Judge David G. Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Judge J. Michelle Childs (LLM’16) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Chilton Varner, partner, King & Spalding, have joined the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Advisory Board.
Pictured Above: Hon. David G. Campbell (left), Hon. J. Michelle Childs (middle), and Chilton Varner (right)
“On behalf of the entire board, I am pleased to extend an official welcome to our three new members,” said Peter Kahn, chair of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Advisory Board and Senior Counsel, Williams & Connolly LLP. “The Institute will undoubtedly benefit from their decades of combined experience and commitment to our core mission of protecting, preserving, and defending the rule of law.”
The Bolch Judicial Institute Advisory Board is charged with guiding the programs and activities of the Bolch Judicial Institute. The Board advises on long-range planning, program development, budgetary matters, and the selection of recipients for the Bolch Prize, an annual prize recognizing individuals or entities who have distinguished themselves in the preservation or advancement of the rule of law. Sitting judges serve on the Board in an honorary capacity and do not participate in fundraising efforts or specific financial decisions. See the full list of current members here.
Paul W. Grimm, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and a former federal judge, said that he looks forward to working with the board members on several of the Institute’s new initiatives.
“Having had the privilege of working in the past with Judge Campbell, Judge Childs, and Chilton Varner, I am thrilled that they are willing to share their remarkable knowledge and experience with the Advisory Board of the Bolch Judicial Institute,” he said. “Their expertise and areas of interest, especially in international judicial relations and rule of law initiatives, civic engagement and education, and civil discourse will be particularly useful as the Institute prepares to expand its programming in these areas.”
About the New Advisory Board Members
Hon. David G. Campbell
Judge David G. Campbell is a Senior United States District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Judge Campbell was confirmed to the court in 2003 and assumed senior status in 2018. From 2016 to 2020, he chaired the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Federal Courts, the committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States that oversees the work of the federal courts’ five advisory committees on the federal rules of civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appellate procedure, and the federal rules of evidence. He served as chair of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure from 2011 to 2015, and as a member of the committee from 2005 to 2011. Judge Campbell currently chairs the federal courts’ Committee on International Judicial Relations.
Judge Campbell is a member of the American Law Institute; a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; has worked with the courts of Botswana, The Gambia, Namibia, South Africa, and Turkey on judicial case management and related issues; and has taught civil procedure and constitutional law at Arizona State University and Brigham Young University.
Following his graduation from the University of Utah Law School, Judge Campbell served as a law clerk for Justice William H. Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court and for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He worked as a commercial litigator for 20 years with the Phoenix law firm of Osborn Maledon before joining the bench.
Hon. J. Michelle Childs
Judge J. Michelle Childs was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in July 2022. She holds her undergraduate degree in management from the University of South Florida Honors College, a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, a Master’s in Personnel and Employment Relations from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business, a Master’s of Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law, and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Service from the University of South Carolina.
From 1992 to 2000, Judge Childs worked at Nexsen Pruet, ultimately serving as partner. From 2000 to 2002, Judge Childs served as the deputy director for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation’s Division of Labor. From 2002 to 2006, Judge Childs served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. In 2006, the South Carolina General Assembly elected her as a state circuit court judge. During that time, Judge Childs served as chief administrative judge for the General Sessions, which is South Carolina’s criminal court, and as chief administrative judge for the state’s business court. In 2010, she was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, where she served until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit.
Chilton Varner
After more than 30 years as the first female partner in King & Spalding’s litigation practice, Chilton Varner is now a senior counsel in that firm’s litigation practice. She has a long history representing the firm’s clients in mass tort litigation, class actions, and multi-district litigation and has served as trial and appellate counsel for a number of the country’s largest pharmaceutical, medical device, and automotive manufacturers. She is routinely and widely cited as one of the nation’s top litigators.
Mrs. Varner was appointed to the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 2004 and reappointed by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2007. In that role, she participated in drafting amendments governing electronic discovery and changes to the rules governing summary judgment, expert discovery, and information-gathering from third parties and corporate executives. In 2012-13, she served as president of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She currently serves as president of the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society.
Mrs. Varner holds a J.D. from Emory University, with distinction, and an A.B. from Smith College, with distinction.