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Justice Bob Edmunds: Teach Your 1Ls Well

Former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Edmunds asked his High Point University School of Law 1L legal writing class if they’d ever heard of “The Paper Chase.” One student quickly found the 1973 movie on Google. It’s the one that opens with John Housemans’ apocryphal “skulls full of mush” soliloquy to first-year law students.

Edmunds is a jurist-in-residence at the law school that launched in August 2024 with 70 first-year law students and is in its own 1L year of teaching students to “think like a lawyer.” He brings to the classroom his experience thinking like a private practice lawyer, a prosecutor and a judge.

NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Edmunds

From the Beginning

Edmunds grew up in Greensboro. He received his law degree from the UNC School of Law and served two years as a line officer in the United States Navy.

He returned to Greensboro and practiced law for all of one day before he was hired for a position as an assistant district attorney in Guilford County. In 1986, Edmunds was appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina by President Ronald Reagan.

Edmunds served on the NC Court of Appeals from 1998 to 2000 and on the NC Supreme Court from 2000 until 2016. After he lost his re-election bid, he joined the appellate practice team at Fox Rothschild.

Teaching Legal Analysis

In 2024, former SOCNC Chief Justice Mark Martin offered Edmunds the position of the law school’s first jurist-in-residence. The two had served on the Supreme Court together. Edmunds, who calls Martin “Chief,” jumped at the opportunity to teach law.

“I enjoy their enthusiasm and watching them learn and hone the skills they will need as lawyers. As a baby boomer, I like hearing the viewpoints of those two generations, or so, behind mine. I enjoy relearning the areas of law that I am teaching,” said Edmunds.

His students grew up in an era when anybody with a laptop or a smartphone could share their views and opinions with the world online. For Edmunds, the objective is teaching them to keep their opinions to themselves.

“It’s natural for students, when confronted with a scenario, to have an initial impression of a proper or ‘just’ outcome. Such an impression may be inconsistent with what the law allows or requires. Once the students become lawyers, their responsibility will be to give legal advice, not to share a personal opinion,” said Edmunds.

“I’m telling my students; I don’t care how you feel about it. You give it a legal analysis. You will be graded on how well you defend your corner, not how you feel about the case.”

However, in recent years, a confluence of events has forced judges to bring some of their personal feelings to the bench.

“Back when I was a U.S. attorney, which was a presidential appointment, and when I was on the bench, I had to realize before I took or sought any of those jobs that the day may come when I’d have to make a decision that would cost me my career. Fortunately, that day never came, but you’ve got to be prepared to do that if you want to do the job legitimately,” said Edmunds.

“You might have to make a decision that means somebody who the public has decided is guilty of a crime isn’t charged or the U.S. Attorney’s Office might approve an investigation or take to trial someone who is politically powerful and can see to it that the Department of Justice asks for your resignation. Those things can happen.”

Real World Perspective

Edmunds and Dean Mark Martin in front of Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law

That kind of real-world perspective comes from Edmunds, as well as roughly 80 distinguished judges and lawyers on the extended faculty at HPU Law. “Having outsiders, not all of whom will be judges, will show students that a law degree opens many career doors beyond those students traditionally consider, such as joining a firm or opening their own office.”

“They will hear both the good and the not-so-good from corporate attorneys, government attorneys, different types of judges, academics, and practitioners in many fields. They will also hear a variety of opinions and beliefs on a wide spectrum of legal topics. They will see the law is not monolithic.”

The Golden Rule

Edmund’s office and his classroom are in the health sciences building. That will change in the fall when the new 77,500-square-foot, three-story, Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law opens for the 2025-26 school year. The $46 million building will house eight classrooms, a 13,000-square-foot law library, and three courtrooms.

According to Edmunds, the foundation of the law school is based on HPU President Nido Qubein’s vision as a “God, family, and country university.”

Courtroom artist rendering of a 1986 case. Edmunds far right

“A central aspect of values-based schooling for lawyers is ensuring that students understand that the golden rule applies with particularity to us as lawyers,” said Edmunds. “What we try to teach is professionalism. It’s how we deal with clients. How you deal with other lawyers. How you deal with the ethical issues.

“To thrive as a lawyer, the students need to treat everyone in the legal system with consideration and respect,” he continued. “Opposing attorneys are not evil. Clerks can save you from your own mistakes. Courthouse janitors are working men and women. Everyone watches the lawyers and knows who the jerks are. And who the good ones are.”

Edmunds said these principles are especially important in North Carolina, where many of his law students may someday wind up opposing each other in court.

“Professionalism tends to suffer in large jurisdictions where a lawyer can do something to another lawyer, essentially stab him or her in the back without repercussions because they’ll never run into each other again. Our students will be running into each other for their entire careers.

“They’re learning the ropes, and we want them to understand that you want to try a case, you want to do your best, and you want to shake hands with your opponent when it’s over, and we’ll go at it again tomorrow,” said Edmunds.

I asked him what he hoped future lawyers would say they learned from him at HPU Law.

“I learned to think creatively within the confines of the law. I learned how to work with other lawyers and judges. I learned to keep my sense of humor and how to keep a balance in my life.”

Edmunds and a bobblehead his wife gave him to keep him humble

At a Glance

Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law
High Point University
One University Parkway
High Point, NC 22768
[email protected]

Positions

  • Jurist in Residence
  • Teaching Legal Writing and Criminal Law
  • Appellate Practice with Fox Rothschild, LLP

Education

  • LL.M. in the Judicial Process, University of Virginia School of Law, 2004
  • Juris Doctor, University of North Carolina School of Law, 1975
  • Bachelor of Arts, Vassar College, 1971

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

  • American Bar Association
  • North Carolina State Bar
  • North Carolina Bar Association
  • Greensboro Bar Association
  • High Point Bar Association
  • Appellate Judges Education Institute, President
  • American Law Institute

PROFESSIONAL HONORS

  • Chief Justice’s Professionalism Award
  • Greensboro Bar Association Distinguished Service Award
  • Order of the Long Leaf Pine
  • James E. Cross Leadership Award

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • BarCares of North Carolina Board of Directors
  • Guilford Inn of Court
  • Greensboro Rotary Club
  • NC Equal Access to Justice Foundation
  • NC Institute of Political Leadership
  • NC Bar Foundation Board of Directors

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