Berkeley Judicial Institute

The Berkeley Judicial Institute (BJI)’s mission is to build bridges between judges and academics and to promote an ethical, resilient and independent judiciary. Read more about its mission.

Judges in the Community

Watch as BJI goes one-on-one with judges across the nation committed to making positive change in their community, and listen as they share the programs and initiatives close to their heart, striving to forge a new, interconnected future for the judicial world.

High School Law Day - Judge Michelle M. Harner and Elizabeth Corinne Wiggins

Judge Michelle M. Harner (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, D. Md.) and Elizabeth Wiggins (Research Division Director, Federal Judicial Center) share their work in creating a High School Law Day, allowing high school students to visit a Washington D.C. courthouse and interact with a moot court competition for law students, in an effort to encourage the “young up and coming moot court competitors to-be.”

You can learn more about their inspiring work and details of the program here: 

High School Law Day Description and Note of Gratitude

Schedule for High School Law Day 2025

Final Schedule for Law School Moot Court Competition


BJI News

“Skeptical Bench”

January 9, 2024

BJI Executive Director Judge Jeremy Fogel (ret) spoke to CBC about some of the legal and political implications of the immunity arguments under consideration in former President Trump’s appellate case.

Watch now — “Skeptical Bench”