The award honors Levi’s lifelong commitment to strengthening the rule of law and the institutions that sustain it.
David F. Levi, president of the American Law Institute (ALI), founding director of the Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School, and former dean of Duke Law School, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Susan and Carl Bolch Jr. Prize for the Rule of Law. The prize recognizes Levi’s career of service to the judiciary and justice system and his extraordinary leadership in bringing together judges, lawyers, scholars, and policymakers to improve the administration of justice and support democratic institutions. He will be honored during a ceremony at Duke University in April 2026.
Throughout a career that has included service as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, nearly two decades on the federal bench, including four as chief judge, dean of Duke Law School, and now the presidency of the ALI, Levi has worked to strengthen the institutions that support a fair and functional justice system. In each role, he has emphasized collaboration and cooperation, bringing together judges, practitioners, scholars, and other stakeholders to address challenges facing the judiciary and to reinforce the norms of impartiality, integrity, and public service that underpin the rule of law.
“David has spent his career building and strengthening the institutions that protect the rule of law,” said Kerry Abrams, the James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke Law School. “From his work on the federal bench to his leadership of the Bolch Judicial Institute, he has shown a steady commitment to judicial independence and to the idea that a fair and impartial judiciary is essential to democracy. The Bolch Prize recognizes the importance of this work and the impact it continues to have on our legal system.”
A Career Rooted in Strengthening Democratic Institutions
Levi’s dedication to improving and strengthening the institutions that uphold the rule of law and supporting the people who work within them spans decades and multiple sectors of the legal profession. As U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, he emphasized fairness in federal prosecution while overseeing significant public corruption cases, reinforcing through leadership and example the principle that democratic institutions must be protected from criminal misuse.
During his 17 years as a U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of California, including four years as chief judge, he presided over complex civil and criminal litigation and contributed to modernizing the civil justice system through service on several federal rules committees. He served as chair for the federal courts’ Civil Rules Advisory Committee and the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, roles in which he worked to improve procedural fairness and strengthen the administration of justice.
“David’s influence on the federal courts and on judicial education cannot be overstated,” said Paul W. Grimm, the David F. Levi Professor of the Practice of Law and director of the Bolch Judicial Institute. “His work on the civil rules helped modernize the justice system; his creation of the Bolch Judicial Institute offered judges a venue for rigorous study and reflection; and his continued leadership of the ALI helps shape the law itself. He exemplifies the dedication to institutional integrity that this prize is designed to honor.”
Universities and the Rule of Law
Levi has long emphasized the role of universities and law schools in supporting a healthy legal system through training, scholarship, and public service. As the 14th Dean of Duke Law School, he expanded faculty, strengthened financial aid, and supported programs that connected academic work to the practical needs of courts and practitioners. His efforts reflected a conviction that educational institutions play a distinct role in preserving democratic norms by fostering informed and civil debate and research.
“For the rule of law to prevail, individuals need to embody it compellingly enough for others to feel the force of its value,” said Richard Brodhead, President Emeritus of Duke University. “With his intellect, charm, and boundless love of his field, David has advanced this cause on the bench, as a professor and dean, and as leader of a critical national resource, the American Law Institute. He has few peers as a representative of law as a fundamental human good.”
Dedication to Judicial Education
Levi has also worked to support the professional culture that enables judges to carry out their responsibilities with independence and integrity. After stepping down as dean of Duke Law School in 2018, he became the founding director of the Bolch Judicial Institute. Levi worked closely with founders Carl Bolch Jr. (JD’67) and Susan Bass Bolch to build and advance the Institute’s mission of bettering the human condition by studying and promoting the rule of law.
The Institute’s work now includes the Defending the Judiciary initiative, the Civics Break course, and the Master of Judicial Studies degree for sitting judges — programs that reflect Levi’s belief that an informed public and a strong, independent judiciary are essential to a healthy legal system. He is an emeritus member of the Institute’s Advisory Board.
Levi was also instrumental in bringing Judicature, the scholarly journal on judging, to Duke Law School. Under the Institute’s stewardship, Judicature has strengthened its role as a forum for thoughtful discussion about judging, courts, and the rule of law. The journal’s expanded programming and readership have encouraged conversation across jurisdictions and within the broader legal community.
“David is a very worthy recipient of the 2026 Bolch Prize and a great friend to the North Carolina Judicial Branch,” said Paul Martin Newby, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. “As co-chair of the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, his foresight helped make North Carolina the first state in the nation with electronic access to every court; together with his strategic partnership in our trauma-informed courts project, these initiatives have strengthened the judiciary’s ability to fulfill its constitutional mandate to administer justice without favor, denial, or delay. I congratulate David on this well-deserved recognition.”
Guiding Thoughtful Development of the Law
Since 2017, Levi has served as president of the ALI, guiding the organization’s work to clarify, modernize, and develop the law through careful scholarship and broad professional engagement. Under his leadership, the ALI has continued its tradition of producing Restatements, Model Codes, and other influential works that shape legal doctrine nationwide.
In addition to his work with the ALI, Levi has contributed to national efforts aimed at strengthening access to justice and improving the administration of law. He served on the board of directors of Equal Justice Works from 2010 to 2013, chaired the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System from 2014 to 2016, and co-chaired the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice in 2015. He later served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States in 2021 and is a member of the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation.
“David and I first crossed paths when, as chair of the Standing Committee, he was working on class action reform,” said Diane P. Wood, retired chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, director of the ALI, and senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. “It was a true privilege to work with him, and happily, that was only the beginning. Over the ensuing three decades, principally through our work with the ALI, he has been a colleague, a friend, and an inspiration in our mutual pursuit of justice and the rule of law. Throughout that time, he has been a model of courtesy, openness to competing viewpoints, and fairness. I can imagine no one more worthy of the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law than David, and I look forward to celebrating this well-deserved honor.”
About the Bolch Prize
The Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law is awarded in accordance with the Bolch Judicial Institute’s founding documents, which specify that the Prize “shall be given by the Bolch Judicial Institute to recognize the lifetime achievement of an individual or a single or series of acts of an individual or an organization creating, promoting, or preserving the importance of the rule of law nationally or internationally.”
The recipient is selected by the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Advisory Board and honored during a ceremony at Duke University. The prize includes a custom artwork and a significant monetary award. Past prize recipients are: retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (2019); Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke of the South Africa Constitutional Court (2020); retired Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (2021); Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2022); the International Association of Women Judges (2023); and the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (2024); and Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani (2025).
The 2026 Bolch Prize ceremony will be held at Duke University in April 2026.
For more information, contact: bolchjudicialinstitute@law.duke.edu.