Career
Born to Carl F. and Catherine Lettow in Iowa Falls, Iowa, Lettow received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1962. He was a law clerk to Judge Ben C. Duniway, United States. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, from 1968 to 1969, and to Chief Justice Warren East. Burger, Supreme Court of the United States, from 1969 to 1970. Lettow served as Counsel to the Council on the Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President from 1970 to 1973.
He then joined the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, first as an associate from 1973 to 1976, and then as a partner until 2003.
During that time, he argued three cases in the United States. Supreme Court and more than 40 cases in the federal courts of appeals, and handled numerous cases in federal trial courts. While at Cleary, Gottlieb, Lettow was active with educational institutions and bar organizations.
He also was chairman of the Environmental Controls Committee of the Section of Business Law, American Bar Association, from 1983 to 1987. Lettow also received and a Master of Arts in history from Brown University in 2001.
On July 14, 2003, Lettow was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate, and entered on duty on July 22, 2003. Lettow maintains an interest in academic research on historical topics, particularly in the Tudor-Stuart period in England and the corresponding colonial period in the United States. He also sustains an interest in agriculture and farming. metropolitan areas.
