| James C. Duff | |
|---|---|
| President and CEO of the Freedom Forum | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 15, 2011 |
James C. Duff is the president and CEO of the Freedom Forum, the nonpartisan foundation dedicated to the First Amendment and media issues and which runs Washington, D.C.’s Newseum, the First Amendment Center, and the Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Duff graduated magna cum laude from the University of Kentucky Honors Program in 1975 with a degree in political science and philosophy, where he was Phi Beta Kappa and was a "walk-on" on the university’s basketball team. After studying at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1974, he returned to the U.S. in 1975 and worked for four years as an aide in the chambers of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.[1] He graduated from Georgetown Law School in 1981,[2] then worked at the law firm Clifford and Warnke, where in 1990 he became a partner. In 1991, a large contingent of Clifford and Warnke lawyers and staff, including Mr. Duff, merged with the firm of Howrey and Simon.[3] Duff's practice focused on antitrust and commercial litigation and international trade.
From 1996 to 2000, Duff was Chief Justice William Rehnquist's Administrative Assistant, now called "Counselor to the Chief Justice," [2] serving as his liaison with the other branches of government and as Executive Director of the Judicial Fellows Commission. Preceding Sally Rider as the equivalent of the Chief Justice's chief of staff,[4] Duff assisted Rehnquist in his roles as chair of the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Federal Judicial Center Board and as presiding officer of the U.S. Senate’s 1999 presidential impeachment trial.
From 2000 to 2006, Duff served as the managing partner of the Washington office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, a law firm based in Memphis, Tennessee.[5][6] There he represented the Federal Judges Association before Congress[7] as well as the Freedom Forum.. He also represented the University of Kentucky's federal government interests in Washington and at the request of NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, in 2006 he authored an overview and report to the NCAA on its rules and procedures. Duff has taught Constitutional Law at Georgetown University as an adjunct professor for ten years.
In September 2005, Duff was a pallbearer at Rehnquist's funeral,[1][8] alongside seven of Rehnquist's former law clerks. Duff authored a tribute to Chief Justice Rehnquist in the November 2005 edition of the Harvard Law Review [9] and spoke at the unveiling Ceremony for the William H. Rehnquist bust in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court in December 2009.
From July 2006 through September 15, 2011, Duff served as Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. He was appointed in April 2006 by United States Chief Justice John Roberts.[10] On May 31, 2011, Duff announced [11] that he was stepping down to assume his current position at Freedom Forum.
Duff and his wife, Kathleen Gallagher Duff, live in Bethesda, Maryland, and have three children.[10]