Carol Chien-Hua Lam (Chinese: 林剑华; pinyin: Lín Jiànhuá; born June 26, 1959) is a former United States attorney for the Southern District of California.

Lam began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1985 to 1986.

Lam convicted several high-ranking members of the Chicago organized crime family La Cosa Nostra; obtained a guilty plea and a civil settlement of $110 million from National Health Laboratories, Inc. in a Medicare fraud case; and briefed and argued the first appellate case upholding the constitutionality of "roving" wiretaps.

[3][4][5][6] Subsequent to the dismissal,[7] the administration claimed that Lam did not allocate sufficient resources to prosecuting border crimes, echoing US Representative Darrell Issa's (R-CA) complaints.

Rudi M. Brewster, United States Senior District Court Judge, that Qualcomm and its counsel engaged in egregious legal misconduct.

Denying that it paid kickbacks to doctors for referrals of patients to Alvarado, Tenet paid $21 million to the government, agreed to sell Alvarado Hospital[14] and admitted that the case has led to "significant reforms" at hospitals around the country and that the company had been "distressed" to learn of "excessive payments" to some doctors.

[16] The Los Angeles Times, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel[17] and Senator Chuck Schumer,[18] and others, asserted that Lam was investigating Jerry Lewis, suggesting that her firing by the Bush administration was politically motivated.

[21] Mel Kay, founder, chairman and president of Golden State Fence Co., and manager Michael McLaughlin were sentenced to serve three years of probation and perform 1040 hours of community service.

[23] In a follow-up call with Battle, Lam requested additional time to ensure an orderly transition from office.

On January 5, 2007, Battle said her request was "not being received positively" and that Lam "should stop thinking in terms of the cases in the office".

[23] Many prominent Democrats, including Senators Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, allege that Lam's firing was part of a broader, vengeful move against prosecutors that have pursued political corruption cases that damaged the careers of Republican politicians, or that were not loyal enough to either the Republican Party or the administration.

[25] In her own defense, Lam echoed the Justice Department's August letter, emphasizing quality prosecutions over sheer quantity.

[2] United States Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, a Republican member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, stated on his April 1, 2007, appearance on NBC's Meet the Press broadcast: Carol Lam, it's amazing to me she wasn't fired earlier because for three years, members of the Congress had complained that there had been all kinds of border patrol captures of these people, but hardly any prosecutions.

She was a former law professor, with no prosecutorial experience, and the former campaign manager in Southern California for Clinton, and they're trying to say that this administration appoints people politically?

Lam has been frequently mentioned as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States by observers of Barack Obama's administration.