Waldron is the former clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey
EDRM is pleased to welcome James Waldron, the former clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, as director of EDRM at Duke Law.
In his EDRM role, Waldron will help set direction for EDRM by guiding project teams, working with members and sponsors on programming, and expanding EDRM’s relationships with courts, judges, law firms, and new vendor partners.
Waldron’s three decades of experience in the courts and stellar reputation among judges will prove instrumental in helping EDRM achieve its goal of bringing all sectors of the legal profession together to advance e-discovery and information governance, said John Rabiej, director of the Center for Judicial Studies at Duke Law, which acquired EDRM in August 2016.
“Jim brings a wealth of experience in the courts and unique expertise in the practical ways that technology can best improve litigation and the administration of justice,” added George Socha, co-founder of EDRM. “His tremendous energy and enthusiasm for advancing EDRM’s efforts will undoubtedly bring many new and interesting angles and partners to our work.”
“I am very excited to be joining Duke Law School and continue the excellent work that has been done by George Socha with the EDRM community,” said Waldron. “It is a great privilege to be able to work and learn from George. I hope to combine my 40 years of experience with the federal courts in the areas of technology, case administration, and information management to provide for a vital and organic experience in the areas of information governance, security, discovery, and analytics.”
During his tenure as clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, Waldron developed a national reputation for technical savvy and strategic leadership. He was one of four bankruptcy court clerks to be charged with bringing online a new generation of electronic case management and filing system; the system went live in New Jersey in 2015. He also led the redesign and standardization of websites for district and bankruptcy courts, and the template he created has been adopted by 90 percent of courts nationwide since 2012.
Waldron served on the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from 2000 through 2016. He has also advised or supported numerous organizations such as the National Conference of Bankruptcy Courts, the Clerks’ Advisory Committee, the National Forms Modernization Committee, the United States Courts’ Information Technology Advisory Committee, the Unified Communication Future Project, and the Director’s Council for Automation Planning for the Judiciary. He chaired the BANCAP Users Group, the Bankruptcy Case Management and Statistics Umbrella Group, and the ground-breaking Electronic Self-Representation Initiative, which seeks to provide education and access to the Courts for those unable to afford legal representation. He was selected by his peers as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, Class of 2015. In 2010, he was presented with the Donald A. Robinson Meritorious Service Award by the United States District Court, the Lawyers Advisory Committee, the Association of the Federal Bar and the Historical Society of the United States District Court in recognition of his extraordinary contributions.
“With Jim, you get someone who is both very smart and extremely easy to get along with — he’s going to befriend everyone he meets,” Rabiej said. “As we are building this new community of diverse professionals and perspectives in this rapidly changing field of e-discovery and legal technology, Jim’s personality and leadership will be incredibly important. He is already working closely with our members and sponsors to get our TAR project off the ground, to identify new and continuing projects for the community to focus on, and to find ways for the EDRM community to provide leadership and educational resources to the entire legal profession. People are going to want to work with him.”
Waldron lives in New Jersey with his wife, Dr. Kate Waldron, and can be reached at james.waldron@law.duke.edu or 919-613-7053.
