--- title: "Nicole Gina Berner | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicole-gina-berner" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Nicole Gina Berner U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - State: National federal courts - Role: U.S. Circuit Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - American-Israeli lawyer and judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on March 19, 2024 - Adjunct professor, Vanderbilt Law School, 2023-2024 - Service Employees International Union, Washington, D.C., 2006-2024; associate general counsel, 2006-2014; deputy general counsel, 2014-2017; general counsel (on full-time retainer from law firm), 2017-2024 - Visiting attorney in Jerusalem (1999–2000) and litigation associate at Jenner & Block (2000–2004) - Law clerk, Hon. Thelton E. Henderson, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 1997-1998 - Law clerk, Hon. Betty Binns Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1996-1997 - Law clerk for Judge Betty Binns Fletcher (9th Cir.) (1996–97) and Judge Thelton E. Henderson (N.D. Cal.) (1997–98) - Partner at James & Hoffman, P.C., on retainer for SEIU - As a Fourth Circuit judge, Berner hears appeals from federal district courts in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, as well as from certain federal agencies ### Education - B.A. in Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988, and later obtained a J.D. and M.P.P. from Berkeley’s School of Law and Goldman School of Public Policy in 1996. ### Additional information - The Senate confirmed her 50–47 on March 19, 2024. - General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) from 2017–2024, also serving as associate and deputy general counsel earlier. - President Biden nominated Berner on November 27, 2023 to fill a vacancy created by Diana Gribbon Motz’s senior status. - Staff attorney, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Washington, D.C., 2004-2006 - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2000-2004 - Private practice, Jerusalem, Israel, 1999-2000 - Born 1965 in Woking, England. - Date of birth: 1965 - Board service with Jobs for Justice, National Partnership for Women and Families, and American Constitution Society. - She also studied at the University of Haifa in Israel, where she later co‐founded the advocacy group Bat Adam for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. - Berner was born to American parents in England and later grew up in Oakland, California. - Birth place: Woking ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### appellate oral argument Scope: courtwide In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation. Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761561) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761561) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761561) - [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) - [Judge Nicole Gina Berner](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761561) - [Wikidata: Nicole Berner](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123458712) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicole-gina-berner", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicole-gina-berner", "name": "Nicole Gina Berner | KnowJudges", "description": "Nicole Gina Berner, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 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