U.S. COURTS - Key Persons
Brian H. Corcoran was appointed as a Special Master of the United States Court of Federal Claims on January 13, 2014. He graduated cum laude, with high honors in his major, from Dartmouth College in 1988. He received his J.D. in 1991 from the University of Virginia School of Law. He was designated Chief Special Master by the court to succeed Nora Beth Dorsey, effective October 1, 2019.
Mr. Corcoran is a seasoned trial attorney with experience in a wide variety of legal matters, including intellectual property, general commercial disputes, tax matters, and pro bono civil rights and employment discrimination actions. Until 2008, he was employed in the private sector, rising to the level of partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Corcoran worked for the Department of Justice, Tax Division, as a trial attorney, where he obtained numerous permanent injunctions against fraudulent tax preparers and the promoters of illegal tax schemes across the United States.
Mr. Corcoran is admitted to the bars of New York and the District of Columbia, as well as numerous federal district courts.
Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit launched the circuit-wide civic education initiative -- Justice For All: Courts and the Community -- to increase public understanding of the role and operations of the courts and bring courts closer to the community. Judge Victor Marrero of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York co-chairs the project. The initiative involves the federal courts of the Second Circuit, which comprises the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. We do not seek to put courts on a pedestal. Rather, our purpose is to help increase points of contact between the courts and the communities we serve, to facilitate mutual understanding, and help to ensure that the courts are accessible and effective public institutions. In our activities, we seek the participation of the various communities in which courts function. To that end, our mission encompasses two principal approaches: to bring the communities to the courts, and to bring the courts to the communities. In particular, we seek to encourage, develop, and support programs in civic education for all members of the public, especially students, and to engage the community through outreach efforts.