The Hon.

Carolyn

N.

Lerner

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 prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation for reporting wrongdoing and waste, fraud and abuse. 

Judge Lerner was a partner in the employment and civil rights firm, Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman from 1997-2011.  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 Georgetown University Law Center and George Washington University Law School.

Judge Lerner attended NYU Law School 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.