Andrew Bradt, UC Berkeley law professor and associate dean of J.D. Curriculum and Teaching, was appointed as the associate reporter to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules for a five-year term beginning Jan. 1.

“I was thrilled when I found out but also surprised because I didn’t know that I had been nominated,” Bradt said.

Appointed by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, associate reporters are considered leading experts in their respective fields, the U.S. Court’s website reads.

Bradt is a Harvard Law School graduate, a former federal law clerk, a former attorney in private practice and a law professor since 2012. He specializes in federal civil procedure, which is the focus of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, according to Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

“Professor Bradt is ideally suited for this role,” Chemerinsky said in an email. “It is a terrific honor to be chosen and a great opportunity for him.”

Bradt noted that the Judiciary Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, composed of practicing lawyers, law professors, state chief justices and Department of Justice officials, proposes amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that govern all civil procedures in U.S. federal courts.

It is important that the rules are continually assessed to ensure that they are keeping up with the changing world and serving the purposes of the court, according to Bradt.

The committee relies greatly on the services of the reporter and associate reporter who draft memoranda analyzing possible rule changes, generate committee notes and materials and review the public comments received on rule changes.

“(Bradt) has established himself as one of the country’s most productive and respected scholars in civil procedure and complex litigation,” Fordham University law professor Howard Erichson, who co-authored “Complex Litigation—Cases and Materials on Advanced Civil Procedure” with Bradt, said in an email. “Working for the civil rules committee requires diligence, level-headedness, good judgment, and a prodigious command of the rules of procedure, and Professor Bradt has all of these things.”

Bradt said while he does not have any specific plans for his role at the moment, he is focusing on learning the ropes and aiding the committee in its current agenda.

Bradt added he perceives his greatest challenge to be following in the footsteps of his predecessor, University of Michigan law professor Edward Cooper.

“To attempt to step into his shoes is extraordinarily daunting,” Bradt said.

Regardless of the challenges Bradt may face in his new position, he said he is excited about the opportunity to work with other leading experts in the field.

Bradt said he is also thankful for the support he has received from the UC Berkeley administration for pursuing his new role as associate reporter.

“I’m really grateful to be at Berkeley, which is so unfailingly supportive of its faculty’s contributions to public service,” Bradt said.