Royce C. Lamberth

Royce C. Lamberth was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Columbia on November 16, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from May 1, 2008 to July 15, 2013, at which time he became a Senior Judge.

Judge Lamberth, a native of San Antonio, Texas, graduated from the University of Texas, receiving a B.A. degree in 1966 and from the University of Texas School of Law, receiving an LL.B degree in 1967. He served as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army from 1968 to 1974. After service at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and in Vietnam, Judge Lamberth served in the Litigation Division of the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Army at the Pentagon from 1971 to 1974.

Judge Lamberth served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1987. He was Chief of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office, 1978 - 1987.

Judge Lamberth is married to the former Janis K. Jost of San Antonio. He is former Chairman of the Federal Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association, and a member of the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and the District of Columbia Bar.

Judge Lamberth is also former Chairman of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Federal Bar Association. The Federal Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct for Federal Lawyers, finally approved in October 1990, were drafted by Judge Lamberth's Committee.

Judge Lamberth was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to be Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on May 19, 1995. That appointment ended May 19, 2002.

Judge Lamberth served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from May 2008 to July 2013. He also served as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Automation and Technology from 1990 to 1996.