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Duke Law School announced Thursday it will take over publication of Judicature, the scholarly journal of the American Judicature Society (AJS), which is dissolving. Duke Law’s Center for Judicial Studies will be responsible for publishing Judicature.

“The missions of the Center for Judicial Studies and Judicature are closely aligned,” said Duke Law Dean David F. Levi. “The center is well positioned to combine its institutional strengths in law and political science with Judicature’s reputation for scholarly and empirical legal writing in ways that will promote an understanding of judicial institutions and law reform.”

The acquisition ensures continued publication of Judicature, a nearly century-old journal of research and opinion about the American judicial system. Day-to-day operations of the journal will be handled by the center, which is funded in part by a $5 million grant from The Duke Endowment.

“We are excited to carry on AJS’s legacy by providing a stable financial foundation for Judicature and a commitment to maintaining the high quality for which it has been known,” said Levi, a former United States district judge who chairs the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System. “We plan to bring a fresh perspective to Judicature, tailoring its articles to focus particularly on matters relevant to judges and the improvement of the administration of justice.”

AJS was founded in 1913 to advance knowledge of the American judicial system and advocate for judicial selection reform. It announced on Sept. 24 that it would dissolve and distribute its assets.

“We are very pleased that Judicature has a new home at Duke Law School,” said Tom Leighton, president of AJS.

Established in 2011, Duke Law’s Center for Judicial Studies supports, collects, and publishes new research on judicial institutions and judging and serves as an important resource for scholars studying the judiciary. The center’s academic co-directors, Professors Jack Knight and Mitu Gulati, are leading experts in judicial studies, judicial behavior, and political science.

One of the center’s primary purposes is to advance the study of the judiciary through interdisciplinary scholarship and cooperative thinking from multiple perspectives. Its programs include the only post-graduate masters degree offered to sitting federal and state judges by a law school. The first class of judges graduated in May 2014. It is anticipated that the judges in the masters program will take a leading role in the editing of Judicature.

"Judges across the country have historically anticipated each issue of Judicature landing on their desks,” said Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who is pursuing an advanced degree at Duke Law. “Now, paired with one of the nation's finest law schools with a unique insight into the real world work of judges, its pages should be even more interesting to those who study and care about judicial process everywhere."

For more information on the Duke Law Center for Judicial Studies, please visit http://law.duke.edu/judicialstudies/.