Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, was celebrated as the 2025 recipient of the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law during a ceremony held at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art on April 16, 2025.
Paul W. Grimm, a retired federal judge and director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, presented Justice Jillani with the prize (35:53), and afterward, Justice Jillani delivered a keynote address (40:10).
Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, recipient of the 2025 Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law, joined Paul W. Grimm for a conversation about his life and jurisprudence at Duke Law School.
In this module, you will learn about the roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes of judges. This module explores the various ways federal and state judges get their jobs, what it means to be fair and impartial, and the legal principles, ethical codes, traditions, and guidelines that constrain judicial decision-making.
In this learning module, you will learn about the vital role of citizens in supporting and engaging with the judicial system. It explores the various types of jury service, opportunities to voice support for reform and change in the courts, and how to become an educated consumer of news and information about judges and courts. From serving as a juror to voting to sharing accurate news, American citizens have the right and responsibility to engage with the courts and ensure that the judicial branch fulfills its constitutional obligations.
In this module, you will learn about the rule of law and the constitutional foundation of the U.S. judicial system. The U.S. Constitution outlines a government system that balances power among three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. This module explores the powers and responsibilities of the judicial branch, how the judiciary and U.S. law have developed over time, and how state and federal courts work together to resolve disputes, protect our individual rights and liberties, and uphold the rule of law.
United States District Judge Esther Salas was awarded the 2024 Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal at an event held at Duke Law School to recognize her heroic efforts to strengthen security for judges and their families.
Dean Kerry Abrams moderates a panel discussion with three of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s former law clerks: Duke Law Professors Lisa K. Griffin (clerked in 1997-98) and Matthew Adler (clerked in 1992-93) and Duke Law alumna Sarah Boyce ’12 (Deputy Attorney General & General Counsel, NC Department of Justice, clerked in 2015-16).
This conversation was hosted as part of celebrations at Duke University on April 8, 2024, honoring the life and legacy of Justice O’Connor, the 2024 recipient of the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law.
Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was celebrated as the 2024
recipient of the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law during a private ceremony held at Duke
University on April 4, 2024.
During the ceremony, John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, delivers remarks
and a slideshow presentation honoring Justice O’Connor’s life and legacy (29:58) and Scott
O’Connor accepts the prize on behalf of his late mother (18:15).
In its opening issue of Volume 73 (2023), Duke Law Journal published "Fact Stripping," written by Duke Law's own professors, Joseph Blocher and Brandon L. Garrett. In this interview, Judge Paul W. Grimm (ret.) of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law asks the authors about the concept of fact stripping and a current trend of appellate courts assuming fact-finding power over trial courts. The authors suggest Congress may want to reallocate factfinding power to trial courts through legislation.
Members of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), the 2023 recipient of the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law, discuss their efforts to coordinate an emergency evacuation of women judges in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in 2021. The panel includes Justice Susan Glazebrook of the New Zealand Supreme Court, Justice Mona Lynch of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Judge Vanessa Ruiz of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Judge Patricia Whalen of the Vermont State Court, and Judge Robyn Tupman of the District Court of New South Wales.
The Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law presented the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) with the Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law at a ceremony hosted at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art on March 1, 2023. The IAWJ was honored for their remarkable efforts to help evacuate, support, and resettle Afghan women judges after the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021.
FEATURING REMARKS BY:
Join the four candidates for North Carolina's highest judicial office as they engage in a nonpartisan candidates forum, moderated by Professor Marin K. Levy. The candidates for the two open seats are Trey Allen, Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dietz, Court of Appeals Judge Lucy Inman, and North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Sam Ervin IV.
Presented by the Duke Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the Bolch Judicial Institute.
Cosponsored by North Carolina Club and Government & Public Service Society
Duke Law Professor James (Jim) E. Coleman Jr., the 2022 recipient of the Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal from the Bolch Judicial Institute, will be honored during a program (live-streamed here) at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Sept. 7, 2022. In addition to receiving a medal, Professor Coleman will talk with David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, about his distinguished career as a criminal defense attorney and civil rights leader.
ABOUT PROFESSOR COLEMAN
On May 20, 2022, the Bolch Judicial Institute held a ribbon cutting celebration for the Bolch Prize pedestal installed at Duke Law School. The pedestal encases a glass shield — an enlarged version of the actual Bolch prize — with descriptive text and a list of all previous recipients. Appearing in this slideshow and taking part in the ceremony were:
Senior Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat (Duke Law J.D. ’57) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit talks to David F. Levi about his experience as a student at Duke Law School, how his relationship to the school has evolved, and the importance of maintaining the conversation between the bench, bar, and academy.
This episode of Judgment Calls is from a live event, which was recorded on April 7, 2022, during Judge Tjoflat’s visit to Duke Law School as the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Distinguished Judge in Residence.
In this episode, Professor Marin K. Levy treats David F. Levi, director of the Duke’s Bolch Judicial Institute, to an inside look at her successful Twitter account. Levy’s engaging and insightful threads spotlight hidden gems from judicial history and little-known facts about the bench, including firsts for women and people of color.
Jennie Lee Anderson (partner, Andrus Anderson LLP) and David Kessler (partner, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP) discussed the updates made to the Third Edition of the Guidelines and Best Practices for Implementing the 2015 Discovery Amendments.
Ms. Anderson and Mr. Kessler were part of the working group that produced the Guidelines, and their discussion covers both a plaintiff and defendant perspective on the meaning of proportional discovery in a wide range of contexts. The Guidelines are freely available on the Bolch Judicial Institute's website.
David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and president of The American Law Institute, leads a panel discussion about the legal strike force “SG3” that assembled in response to the Trump campaign's challenges to the 2020 election.
Judge Jacqueline Nguyen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit joined Professor David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, for a discussion about her career and time on the bench.
Historian David Kennedy of Stanford University gives a brief presentation of U.S. presidential history, highlighting some of the major changes to the office in the last 200 years. This history prefaced a discussion about Trump's presidency for the first episode of the “Beyond COVID” series, co-produced by the Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School and the American Law Institute.
Also appearing: David F. Levi, Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and Levi Family Professor of Law
Professor Jack L. Goldsmith of Harvard Law School characterizes Trump’s abuses of power, the rise of populism, and other points raised in his book “After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency,” co-authored with Bob Bauer of NYU Law School.
His discussion was part of the first episode of the “Beyond COVID” series, “The U.S. Presidency: Looking Forward,” co-produced by the Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School and the American Law Institute.
Also appearing: David F. Levi, Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and Levi Family Professor of Law
Harvard Law Professor Daphna Renan explains the two conflictual but ultimately interdependent understandings of the American presidency: The president is both an individual and an institution. Her full article on the topic, "The President's Two Bodies," was published in the Columbia Law Review and is available at this link: https://columbialawreview.org/content/the-presidents-two-bodies/
David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and president of the The American Law Institute, leads a panel discussion on the future of the American presidency. Panelists include David Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University; Daphna Renan, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Terry Moe, William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; and Jack L. Goldsmith, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University.
Sponsored by the Bolch Judicial Institute and the American Law Institute.
David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, talked with Judge Andrew Oldman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit about his career, rise to the bench, and judicial philosophy during Judge Oldham's time as "Distinguished Judge in Residence" at Duke Law School.
Judge Carla Archie of the North Carolina Superior Court talks with Ann Yandian, program director at the Bolch Judicial Institute, about writing her capstone thesis for Duke Law's Master of Judicial Studies program.
In this video, Judge Archie explains how and why she chose the topic of recidivism in the courts, and she talks about the writing process more broadly, such as the process for selecting her faculty advisor and how she managed to complete her thesis while handling a full caseload as an active judge.