Steven N. Berk
Steven Nathan Berk (born July 2, 1959) is an American lawyer and former judge. He served as an Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2016 to 2021, when he was dismissed following an internal investigation. Education and career. He was born in Chicago and graduated from Niles West High School in 1977. Berk earned his Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in 1981, Master of Science from the London School of Economics in 1982, and J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1985. From 1983 to 2009 he worked in private  practice in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. From 1989 to 1992 he was a staff attorney for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. From 1990 to 1995, Berk worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia as Assistant United States Attorney. From 2000–2003, he left practicing law to found a social networking site, iHappen. He then returned to practice law and from 2009 to 2016 he worked his own law firm, Berk Law PLLC. D.C. Superior Court. President Barack Obama nominated Berk on November 30, 2015, to a 15-year term as an associate judge  on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to the seat vacated by Harold L. Cushenberry, Jr. On March 2, 2016, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on his nomination. On April 25, 2016, the Committee reported his nomination favorably to the senate floor. The Senate confirmed his nomination on June 23, 2016, by voice vote. He was sworn in on July 29, 2016. On November 1, 2021, following an investigation by the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure, Berk was involuntarily retired from office. He was also alleged to  having discriminated against a female law clerk, who testified to the House Judiciary Committee on March 17, 2022 about how he openly discriminated against her, and would only communicate through the male clerk. Personal life. Berk is married to his wife, Jenny, and they have two sons, Corey and Jacob.