Lerner served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Julian A. Cook of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. From 1991 to 1996, she was a litigation attorney at Kator, Scott, Heller & Huron in Washington, D.C. In 1997, she was a founding partner of the law firm Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman, practicing at that firm until 2011. From 2003 to 2005, she served as the Special Inspector for the Office of Special Inspector at the D.C. Department of Corrections. She was also the Special Master for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a sexual harassment and retaliation class action.[3] She was previously unanimously confirmed to head the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, where she served from 2011 to 2017.[2] Since 2018, Lerner has been an adjunct law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and was previously an adjunct law professor at George Washington University Law School from 2007 to 2010.[4] From 2017 to 2022, she was the chief circuit mediator for the U.S. Courts of the D.C. Circuit.[2]
Claims court service
On June 30, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lerner to serve as a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. On July 13, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Lerner to the seat vacated by Judge Margaret M. Sweeney, who assumed senior status on October 23, 2020.[5] A hearing on her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to take place on August 11, 2021, but was postponed.[6] On October 6, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] On October 28, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote, with Senators Mike Lee, Josh Hawley, and Marsha Blackburn voting "nay" on record.[8] On December 18, 2021, the Senate confirmed Lerner by a voice vote.[9] She received her judicial commission on February 17, 2022.[4] She took the oath of office on February 18, 2022.[10]
