Lauren McFerran is an American lawyer and government official who is a member and chairman of the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

. She is one of three Democrats currently serving on the board. Prior to serving on the board, she worked as a law clerk, in private practice, and as a labor lawyer for the

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction also extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Sena ...

(HELP Committee).

Biography

McFerran received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

and her

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 ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

. From 2001 to 2002, McFerran served as a law clerk for Chief Judge

Carolyn Dineen King Carolyn Dineen King (born January 30, 1938, in Syracuse, New York) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her chambers are in Houston, Texas. Education and career Born in Syracuse, N ...

on the

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

. From 2002 to 2005, she was an associate attorney at the law firm Bredhoff & Kaiser. She then served in multiple roles as a staff member for the HELP Committee in the U.S. Senate, including as senior labor counsel for committee member Senators

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

and

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iowa' ...

from 2005 to 2010, as chief labor counsel for the committee from 2010 to 2014, and as deputy staff director from 2012 to 2014. In November 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated McFerran to the National Labor Relations Board to fill a seat previously held by Nancy F. Schiffer. Obama had initially sought to appoint Sharon Block, who had served on the board under a recess appointment, but withdrew her nomination due to Republican opposition. He nominated McFerran instead, who was confirmed and began her term on December 17, 2014. McFerran's initial term expired on December 16, 2019, after which no Democrats were left on the board. After her term expired, the remaining Republican members on the board released a flurry of decisions favorable to management. In March 2020, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced that he would re-nominate both McFerran and

Marvin Kaplan Marvin Wilbur Kaplan (January 24, 1927 – August 25, 2016) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Best known as Henry Beesmeyer in '' Alice'' (1978–1985). Early years Kaplan was born on January 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, t ...

, whose term was due to expire in August 2020, to the board. Both were confirmed, and McFerran began a second term on the board on July 29, 2020. On January 20, 2021, incoming president Joe Biden announced McFerran would be the new chairman of the board, replacing

John F. Ring John F. Ring is a corporate lawyer and former government official. Ring was a member of the National Labor Relations Board from 2018 to 2022, serving as chair from 2018 to 2021. He was formerly co-chair of the labor and employment law practic ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McFerran, Lauren 21st-century American lawyers Living people National Labor Relations Board officials Year of birth missing (living people) Yale Law School alumni Rice University alumni