Nicole Berner
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Nicole G. Berner is a labor and employment, civil rights, and reproductive rights attorney. Berner is currently General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and a partner at the law firm James & Hoffman[1].
Early life and education
Berner was born on April 3, 1965, in Woking, United Kingdom, and attended Skyline High School in Oakland, California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. After living and working for several years in Israel, she then concurrently completed a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1996, earning Order of the Coif. During this time, she served as an articles editor for the Berkeley Women’s Law Journal.[2] [3]
Career
Berner served as a law clerk for Judge Betty Binns Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then as a law clerk for Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She later worked as a litigation associate at Jenner & Block where she participated in trial and appellate court civil litigation. Berner then served from 2004 to 2006 as a staff attorney at Planned Parenthood Association of America. Berner joined SEIU’s legal department in 2006 and was named General Counsel of the organization in 2017.[4] [5] In this role, she represented SEIU and its local union affiliates in a range of cases in state and federal courts, including supporting the Affordable Care Act, legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act and marriage discrimination, and in successful voting rights cases. In 2023, Berner was also named an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School.[6]
Berner is currently barred in California, the District of Columbia, and Maryland, and is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as several U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit Courts and U.S. District Courts.[7]
Affiliations
Berner is a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Labor and Employment Law; American Law Institute[8]; and the National Employment Lawyers Association. Berner holds fellowships with the American Law Institute[9], the American Bar Foundation, and the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Personal life
In 1996, Berner was a petitioner in a landmark case that challenged the refusal of the Israeli government to register her eldest son as a child born to two Israeli citizens abroad because he had two mothers. After years of litigation, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a historic decision requiring the Ministry of Interior to record both mothers a parent of their son.[10] The case is widely considered one of the major civil rights rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court.[11]
Berner lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, where she raised her three sons.
References
- ^ "Nicole G. Berner". James & Hoffman, P.C. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Volume 9, 1994". Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Volume 10, 1995". Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "SEIU Appoints New General Counsel". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "SEIU announces new General Counsel". SEIU - Service Employees International Union. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Biography". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Nicole G. Berner Profile | Washington, DC Lawyer | Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Members". The American Law Institute. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Ten Fellows Named New Members of American Law Institute". American Bar Foundation. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Sontag, Deborah. "Matan Has Two Mommies, and Israel Is Talking". New York Yimes. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Izenberg, Dan (9 December 2007). "High Court: Recognize lesbian parents". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.