Law Clerk Addict

Court:

United States Court of Federal Claims

Title:

Judge

Chambers:

Washington, DC

Status:

Active

Nomination Information:

Educational Background:

President:

George W. Bush

Law School:

Case Western Reserve University, J.D., 1973

Nominated:

2003

Other Schools:

Case Western Reserve University, B.A., 1970

Confirmed:

2003

Prior Federal Judicial Service:

None

Professional Career History:

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Braden litigated complex civil cases in private practice before both trial and appellate courts. In particular, her work in the intellectual property area received favorable notice in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Law Journal, Journal of the American Bar Association, and Interfaces on Trial: Intellectual Property and Interoperability In The Global Software Industry. In 1996, Judge Braden was honored by the Computer Law Association for winning multiple decisions in the Eastern District of New York, the Eastern District of Texas, the Second Circuit, and a certified question to the Supreme Court of Texas in Computer Assocs. Int’l, Inc. v. Altai, Inc., a landmark case that changed the application of copyright law to computer software. In 1998, she also won a companion case brought in France before the Cour de Appel de Paris. In the United States Supreme Court, she represented Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and a coalition of twenty-one universities and major research institutions in the 2001 Festo case, resulting in an unanimous opinion, instructing lower courts to apply the doctrine of equivalents in a flexible manner to avoid disrupting settled expectations in the inventing community. She also represented the American Library Association before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Texaco Inc. v. American Geophysical Union, a landmark copyright case concerning the scope of the fair use doctrine.

In addition, Judge Braden represented a wide variety of client interests before almost every major department and federal agency, testified before the United States Congress on a variety of matters, and was a principal advocate of the Emergency Oil and Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999, which established a $1 billion federal loan guarantee program to assist bankrupt and troubled steel mills and small oil companies.

Prior to entering private practice, Judge Braden served as Senior Counsel to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and his predecessor, who was Acting Chairman and a Commissioner (1980-1985). In both positions she was responsible for advising on antitrust and consumer enforcement actions and handling congressional relations. From 1973-1980, Judge Braden was a Senior Trial Attorney in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. She joined the Department under its Honor Law Program and initially was assigned to the Cleveland Regional Office, where she assisted in the trial of the first antitrust felony case and served as lead counsel in numerous criminal bid rigging cases and major merger investigations. In 1978, she was assigned to the newly formed Energy Section as lead counsel in a proceeding that conditioned the nuclear licenses of several electric utilities, bringing Texas into the national power grid. From 1978–1980, Judge Braden also represented the Department of Justice at OECD meetings in Paris, London, and Dusseldorf. During her tenure in government, Judge Braden received numerous Superior and Outstanding Performance Merit awards and in 1984, she received the Federal Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

Most Recent Notifications::

Decision	Status	Date
No notifications have been submitted for this judge yet.
[view all notifications for this court]

Most Recent Blog Posts:

June 23, 2009 Notices (partial)	June 24, 2009

Law Clerk Demographics (2010-11 Term)

Law School	Clerk Type	Hired As	J.D. Year
We have no law clerk information for this judge yet.