Lawrence J. Block

For the American crime fiction writer, see Lawrence Block.

Lawrence J. Block (born 1951) is a former American federal judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims who was confirmed on October 2, 2002. He retired on January 8, 2016.

Education and Experience

Judge Block received a B.S. degree from New York University in 1973, graduating magna cum laude. He received his law degree from The John Marshall Law School in 1982, and after law school he clerked for the Honorable Roger J. Miner, United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of New York. Mr. Block served as an Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University School of Law from 1990-91.

From 1983-1986, Block was an associate with the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where his substantive areas of practice included constitutional claims involving Commerce Clause and Commercial Speech issues, financial services litigation, as well as merger and acquisition, securities, labor and administrative law litigation.

From 1986 to 1990, Block was an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice. Block started out as a litigation attorney in the Department’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and then from 1987–1990, Judge Block served as Senior Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Legal Policy and Policy Development, where he specialized in constitutional law, particularly in the areas of federalism, takings law, separation of powers, presidential power and foreign affairs issues. He also worked extensively on regulatory and environmental issues, particularly with the White House on the Bush Administration's Clean Air Act proposal.

From 1994-2002, Judge Block served as Senior Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he worked on a number of significant issues including property rights legislation, punitive damages and class action court reform bills, the cost-benefit analysis regulatory reform act, tobacco policy, litigation and arbitration policy, and First Amendment, privacy and attendant constitutional issues arising out of high technology legislation and governmental programs.

Nomination and Confirmation

Block was nominated by George W. Bush on September 4, 2001, to a seat vacated by Eric G. Bruggink. He was confirmed by the Senate on October 2, 2002, and received commission on October 3, 2002. He retired from active service on January 8, 2016.

Publications

In 1987, Judge Block was awarded the Attorney General's Special Achievement Award for an article entitled "A New Look At Plurality Decisions", which was published in March 1988.

Personal

Born in New York City, and a resident of Connecticut and New Jersey, Judge Block has resided in Alexandria, Virginia, over the last sixteen years.

External links

U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1982-present Block, Lawrence J., Federal Judicial Center