Elaine Debra Kaplan (born December 18, 1955) is the chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

She received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1979, from the Georgetown University Law Center.

She began her career as a staff attorney in the Solicitor's Office of the United States Department of Labor.

From 1984–98, she worked for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), with increasing levels of responsibility.

[6] On March 19, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Kaplan to serve as a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims, to the seat vacated by Judge Christine Odell Cook Miller.