Looking Back: Celebrating 10 Years at Duke

This issue of Judicature looks in the mirror. Duke Law School assumed the mantle and mission of Judicature after its previous publisher of nearly a century, the American Judicature Society, disbanded in 2014. Within a year, Duke had launched Judicature into a new era — and we are the beneficiaries.

Beginning with this edition and throughout Volume 109, Judicature celebrates its first decade at Duke. The Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School has become Judicature’s fitting home. Established by Carl and Susan Bolch in 2018 to better the human condition through studying and promoting the rule of law, the Bolch Judicial Institute has upheld and expanded Judicature’s unique role in educating, informing, and influencing the judiciary. Three times a year, thousands of judges and subscribers look forward to receiving the latest, eye-catching copy in the mail. Each edition highlights different perspectives on real-world topics — from enduring challenges to cutting-edge innovations that affect federal and state courts — with a focus on the judiciary. This edition, for instance, features articles on the importance of the Rule 16/Rule 26 conference, lessons from jury selection, and a panel discussion about the challenges facing today’s judiciary — a reprise of a similar discussion in that first Duke edition ten years ago.

Judges can become siloed in performing their duties, and Judicature offers an essential opportunity to share ideas and information across professional and geographic distances and develop and strengthen our shared values as judges. As a member and now chair of Judicature’s board of editors, I appreciate the open, collaborative nature of the board and staff. As a judge, I cherish the platform that Judicature offers for judges to share and learn as well as to celebrate those who contribute to our profession (see Judge Vince Chhabria’s tribute to Judge Charles “Chuck” Breyer). As a lawyer, I am grateful for Judicature’s leadership in strengthening bench-bar-academy partnerships and improving the administration of justice.

As a citizen, I applaud the Bolch Judicial Institute’s steadfast commitment to the rule of law, demonstrated through Judicature and other Institute programs. The judiciary faces a growing wave of intemperate, unfounded attacks. Judges and their families have been threatened and even harmed, jeopardizing judicial independence and public confidence in the system. This edition of Judicature highlights the Institute’s fall 2024 Defending the Judiciary Conference, which educated judges and lawyers on defending against these attacks and cultivating greater transparency, accessibility, and public trust. That conference led to an ongoing initiative, through which the Bolch Judicial Institute is leading a national coalition of bar associations, lawyers, judges, and other stakeholders in developing strategies to defend judicial independence and educate the public about the judicial branch. Materials developed through this project are freely available on the Institute’s website. It is amazing and encouraging work that Judicature will continue to share.

As a centerpiece of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s mission, Judicature is a vital platform for thoughtful, creative consideration of the shared labor of the bench, bar, and academy in strengthening the judiciary and advancing the rule of law. The work of the Bolch Judicial Institute and Judicature continues — more relevant and important than ever — and so does ours, as the readers, contributors, and supporters who make it possible.

Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
Chair of the Judicature Editorial Advisory Board