Elaine Debra Kaplan (born December 18, 1955) is the
chief judge of the
United States Court of Federal Claims.
She served as General Counsel of the
United States Office of Personnel Management from 2009 to 2013, and as acting director of the office in 2013.
Early life and career
Kaplan was born in 1955 in
Brooklyn, New York. She received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 from
Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
. She received a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
, cum laude, in 1979, from the
Georgetown University Law Center.
She began her career as a staff attorney in the Solicitor's Office of the
United States Department of Labor. From 1984–98, she worked for the
National Treasury Employees Union
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is an independent labor union representing 150,000 employees of 31 departments and agencies of the United States government. The union specializes in representation of non-supervisory federal employees ...
(NTEU), with increasing levels of responsibility. In 1998, she was unanimously confirmed by the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
to serve as the head of the
United States Office of Special Counsel and served five years in that position.
From 2003–04, she served as of counsel at the law firm of Bernabei and Katz. From 2004–09, she served as Senior Deputy General Counsel at the NTEU. From 2009–13, she was the General Counsel of the United States Office of Personnel Management.
Kaplan took the office of Acting Director in April 2013, after Director
John Berry's four-year term expired.
Claims Court service
On March 19, 2013, President
Barack Obama nominated Kaplan to serve as a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, to the seat vacated by Judge
Christine Odell Cook Miller.
The
Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on May 8, 2013, and reported her nomination to the floor by
voice vote on June 6, 2013. Her nomination was confirmed on September 17, 2013 by a 64–35 vote. She took the oath of office from Chief Judge
Patricia E. Campbell-Smith on November 6, 2013. On March 2, 2021, President
Joe Biden designated Kaplan as Chief Judge.
Personal
Kaplan is open about her
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
identity.
See also
*
List of LGBT jurists in the United States
References
External links
*
United States Court of Federal Claims page on Elaine D. Kaplan
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Elaine Debra
1955 births
Living people
Binghamton University alumni
Directors of the United States Office of Personnel Management
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims
Lesbians
LGBT appointed officials in the United States
LGBT judges
LGBT lawyers
LGBT people from New York (state)
New York (state) Democrats
People from Brooklyn
United States Article I federal judges appointed by Barack Obama
United States Department of the Treasury officials
21st-century American judges