The Volokh Conspiracy
[Orin Kerr, January 3, 2007 at 12:00pm] Trackbacks
Judge Levi To Become Dean at Duke Law School:
One of the very best district court judges in the country, Judge David F. Levi of the Eastern District of California, has decided to leave the bench to accept the position of Dean at Duke University Law School. The Duke press release is here. I'm with Howard that this is "wonderful news for Duke Law School, but a sad loss of a very talented judge for the federal judiciary."

  Peter Lattman has a lot more over at the WSJ Law Blog. Lattman's very interesting post includes a reaction from Chief Justice Roberts: "The federal judiciary is sorry to lose one of its finest judges, but our loss is certainly Duke Law School’s gain. I have personally benefited from his counsel on several occassions, and look forward to his leadership in the legal academy."
Tracy Johnson (www):
So, will he now start filing amicus briefs?
1.3.2007 1:08pm
Kempermanx (mail):
Do you think the new Dean can get Predient Brodhead to apologize to the Duke LAX players when Nifungu drops all his charges?

Do you think you might cover Nifong's Bar Complaint? Or are dishonest, the words of the Bar complaint, attorneys not a good subject for attorneys to discuss.

Where would the discussion lead, right?
1.3.2007 1:11pm
John Roberts (www):
This is exactly what I've been talking about.
1.3.2007 1:12pm
Jeff Shultz (mail):
Will his first action be to criticize the president and board of Duke U. over the "rape" fiasco and their less than balanced response?
1.3.2007 1:12pm
ReVonna LaSchatze:
Any news if he'll be making more than Nick Saban at Bama?
1.3.2007 1:18pm
LawClerk1 (mail):
The entire Eastern District Bar is bummed. Good for him, but super-weak for the rest of us. He is easily one of the best 4 or 5 district judges in the Country, and maybe the best.

LC1
1.3.2007 1:27pm
Mark Field (mail):
Will he get a pay increase?
1.3.2007 1:36pm
Karl2007 (mail):
Mark field,

Yes, and in the WSJ article he says it is a big part of why he left.
1.3.2007 1:44pm
Mary Katherine Day-Petrano (mail):
Chief Justice Roberts can rest his case.
1.3.2007 2:36pm
e:
Anyone have a link to the USNWR ranking of Federal District Judges? I've been told my crim proc prof is one of the best.

Is there a shortage of qualified people ready to step into the judgeship? I suspect many people could be great judges and be happy with a measely low 6 figure salary. Of course some brilliant people are politically indifferent and will therefor never be appointed.
1.3.2007 2:36pm
Houston Lawyer:
Could the change in control of the Senate have anything to do with his change of positions? He looks like he would have been an excellent candidate for an appellate court, but maybe his politics now makes such a move less likely.
1.3.2007 3:04pm
wcb:
Having attended Duke's law school, I can promise you that no ideological conservative (particularly one who would have been opposed by the Senate) would have been selected for this position.

And I'm glad to see that Brodhead has better judgment on this issue than on his early support for Nifong.
1.3.2007 3:50pm
Richard Riley (mail):
I am a Duke Law alum too, and I agree that a forthright conservative is unlikely to have been appointed as dean, or accepted by the faculty.

The WSJ item linked by Orin points out, however, that Levi was appointed to the bench by the first President Bush in 1990, and that he had been named as a U.S. Attorney in 1986 which means he was nominated to that post by Reagan. So I doubt he's any sort of full-throated liberal either.

This appointment strikes me as a good move by Duke.
1.3.2007 4:10pm
Charlie (Colorado) (mail):
Like all Duke decisions, it is motivated by the perception that Levi will be successful at attracting donors.
1.3.2007 7:09pm
SP:
But where does he stand on the very important issues of our time, such as whether or not to allow JAG recruiters on campus?
1.3.2007 10:36pm

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