Nominated by Bill Clinton Preceded by James Lawrence King | Name Joan Lenard Role Judge | |
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Spouse(s) Howard B. Lenard, former city attorney for North Miami Beach, FL Alma mater Rockland Community College
Roger Williams University
David A. Clarke School of Law (formerly Antioch School of Law) Education Rockland Community College, Roger Williams University, David A. Clarke School of Law | ||
Joan A. Lenard (born 1952) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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Early life and education
Lenard was born in 1952 in Amityville, New York. She received her Associate of Arts degree from Rockland Community College in 1972, her Bachelor of Arts from Roger Williams College in 1973, and her Juris Doctor from Antioch School of Law (now known as the University of the District of Columbia David E. Clark School of Law) in 1976.
Career
Lenard worked for the Office of the State Attorney in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida (Dade County) from 1976 to 1982, serving as assistant state attorney from 1976 to 1978, as chief of the Consumer Fraud Division from 1978 to 1980, and as chief of the Consumer and Economic Crime Division from 1980 to 1982. Lenard served as a Dade County Court judge from 1982 to 1993 and as a circuit judge for the Family Division of the 11th Judicial Circuit from 1993 to 1995.
Federal judicial service
President Bill Clinton nominated Lenard to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on September 29, 1995, to the seat vacated by James Lawrence King. Confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 1995, she received commission on December 26, 1995. She assumed senior status on July 1, 2017.
Notable case
Lenard was the presiding judge in the third trial of the Liberty City Seven, after the first two trials ended in mistrials. She also has presided over the Moisés Maionica case, the civil trial of Juan López Grijalba, a Honduran Army colonel, who was found responsible killings and kidnappings in Honduras during the 1980s and was ordered to pay $47 million to several torture victims and surviving relatives, and the case of the Cuban Five.