Marian Blank Horn


Marian Blank Horn is a Senior Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

Early life, education, and career

Born in New York City, Horn attended the Fieldston School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College, Columbia University, and a Juris Doctor from the Fordham University School of Law, in 1969. She was an assistant district attorney in Bronx County, New York, and then entered private practice as a litigator with the firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin and Kahn.
From 1973 to 1975, Horn was a project manager for a Study of Alternatives to Conventional Criminal Adjudication, and an adjunct professor at American University's Washington College of Law. She then joined the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Energy/Federal Energy Administration, and in 1979 became the Office's deputy assistant general counsel for Financial Incentives, Office of General Counsel.
From 1981 to 1986, she worked in the United States Department of the Interior, where she assisted the Associate Solicitor and helped administer the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. In 1985, Horn was promoted to principal deputy solicitor, where she supervised all the Regional and Field Offices of the Solicitor's Office in the Department and acted as the chief lawyer to the Secretary and Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Federal judicial service

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Horn as judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. She was reappointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and assumed senior status on March 9, 2018.

Personal life

Judge Horn is the daughter of Werner and Mady Blank. Her father was a German judge removed from the bench in Berlin by the Nazis for being Jewish. She is married to Robert J. Horn, who is also a lawyer. They have three daughters.