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.
BJI News
Dr. Michele Statz joins BJI!
January 30, 2026
To advance its core mission of promoting judges’ health and wellness, Berkeley Judicial Institute (BJI) is thrilled to announce Michele Statz, PhD, as BJI’s inaugural Director of Judicial Wellbeing. Dr. Statz will be responsible for enhancing our current offerings and designing new programs and resources that support judges across all aspects of their lives. Honoring judges’ occupational, physical, social, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual health, this position will strengthen connections across the judiciary and help sustain judges in their important work.
A leading researcher in both judicial wellbeing and access to justice, Dr. Statz is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She is also a member of the Affiliated Faculty at the University of Minnesota Law School, an Affiliated Scholar with the American Bar Foundation, and the Leonora Montgomery Scholar of Excellence at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Dr. Statz partners regularly with court systems to provide organizational-level data and innovative tools to support the whole health of judges and court staff.
Dr. Statz also is a regular educator with BJI, and her popular course, “Cultivating Healing and Health in the Judiciary,” will be offered again this spring. Stay tuned for the official course announcement in the next few weeks.
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.
Educating the Community about the Judiciary - Judge Jeremy Fogel
Judge Jeremy Fogel (U.S. District Judge, Northern District of CA, ret.) shares how he reaches out to the community to educate those outside of the judiciary, whether high school students, jurors, retirement home residents, or the general public, about the Constitution, the work of a judge, and more. He emphasizes that civic education requires more than just teaching about the three branches of government; it requires listening to what people believe and know, and meeting them where they are. Judge Fogel says judges need to be good explainers and good listeners, both of which are very teachable skills. His tip for those interested in educating the public about the judiciary is to ask, “Tell me more about what you’ve heard?”
The following are slides Judge Fogel uses in teaching high school students: Rule of Law