Patricia Elaine Campbell-Smith (born 1966) is a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. It was established by statute in 1982 as the United States Claims Court, ...

and former Chief Special Master of that court. She served as

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

from October 21, 2013 to March 13, 2017.

Biography

Campbell-Smith was born in 1966 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree, cum laude, in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

in 1987, from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. 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 1992, from

Tulane Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,Martin Leach-Cross Feldman Martin Leach-Cross Feldman (January 28, 1934 – January 26, 2022) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Education and career Feldman was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the ...

and as a law clerk for Judge Sarah S. Vance of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (in case citations, E.D. La.) is a United States federal court based in New Orleans. Appeals from the Eastern District of Louisiana are taken to the United States Court of Ap ...

. Campbell-Smith then worked at the law firm of Liskow & Lewis in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. From 1998 to 2005 she served as a career law clerk for Judge

Emily C. Hewitt Emily Clark Hewitt (born May 26, 1944) is a former judge and chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Early life Hewitt was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from the Roland Park Country School in Baltimore and in 1966, ...

of the

. She became a Special Master of the United States Court of Federal Claims in 2005 and Chief Special Master in 2011, serving in that role until she was confirmed to the court in 2013.

Claims Court service

On March 19, 2013, 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 Campbell-Smith to serve as a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, to the seat vacated by Judge

Lawrence Baskir Lawrence M. Baskir (born January 10, 1938) is a Senior judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims serving since 1997. He was chief judge from 2000 to 2002 and a judge on the court from 1998 to 2013 before assuming senior status in 2013. ...

, who retired April 1, 2013. The

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

held a hearing on her nomination on May 8, 2013, and reported her nomination to the floor by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

on June 6, 2013. The Senate confirmed her nomination by

on September 17, 2013. She received her commission on September 19, 2013 and took the oath of office the same day. Her commission will expire on September 18, 2028, and her term will end that day, unless she is reappointed. On October 21, 2013 President

designated Campbell-Smith to serve as Chief Judge of the

. She served as Chief Judge until March 13, 2017, when she was succeeded in that position by Judge Susan G. Braden.

Notable cases

Following the shutdown of the federal government in 2013, Campbell-Smith ruled that the federal government violated federal labor law and may owe damages to employees affected by the shutdown. If employees seek damages, the ruling could raise the cost of the shutdown significantly.

References

External links

*
United States Court of Federal Claims page on Patricia Elaine Campbell-Smith
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell-Smith, Patricia Elaine 1966 births African-American judges African-American women lawyers African-American lawyers Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni Judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims Living people Lawyers from Baltimore Tulane University Law School alumni United States Article I federal judges appointed by Barack Obama 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges