Carolyn N. Lerner was appointed to the United States Court of Federal Claims by President Biden on February 18, 2022. Judge Lerner joined the Court after serving for four years as the Chief Circuit Mediator for the federal courts in the District of Columbia Circuit.
From 2011-2017, Judge Lerner was the senate-confirmed head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the independent agency that enforces the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). It also protects federal employees from retaliation, as well as other unfair employment practices.
From 1997 until 2011, Judge Lerner was a partner at an employment and civil rights firm, Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman. While at the firm, she served as a federal court-appointed Special Master in a sexual harassment and retaliation class action. Judge Lerner previously was an adjunct professor at both Georgetown University Law Center and George Washington University Law School.
Judge Lerner attended New York University School of Law where she was a Root-Tilden public interest scholar. She clerked for Chief United States District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr., in the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Lerner earned a bachelor's degree from the Honors College at the University of Michigan, and as an undergraduate was awarded the Harry S. Truman public service scholarship.
Judge Lerner is an Honorary Board Member of the Washington Council of Lawyers, a public interest bar association.
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