Federal Court of Justice of Germany
After graduating, Harms worked as a prosecutor in Hamburg until she became a judge at the regional court ("Landgericht") of Hamburg. During 1983 and 1987 she was a judge at the finance court ("Finanzgericht") of Hamburg. Afterwards she was appointed as a judge at the Federal Court of Justice of Germany in 1987, where she later became a presiding judge as well. She became the Attorney General of Germany in June 2006, an office which she held until reaching the age limit in 2011.