Covington Lobbyist Richard Hertling Picked for Federal Claims Court Seat
Richard Hertling, who joined Covington & Burling in 2013, is a lobbyist who's advocated for some of the country's biggest companies.
April 26, 2018 at 01:49 PM
4 minute read

Covington & Burling attorney Richard Hertling, a lobbyist who's advocated for some of the country's biggest companies, was nominated Thursday for a seat on the U.S. Federal Claims Court, where he would oversee big-dollar government contract disputes and other cases against the United States.
Hertling joined Covington's public policy and government affairs practice in 2013. Before his hiring, Hertling had been a longtime congressional staffer. From 2003 to 2007, he worked at the Justice Department, serving as acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legislative Affairs and principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy.
Hertling declined to comment on his nomination.
At Covington, Hertling's lobbying clients included Microsoft, the Motion Picture Association of America, Qualcomm Inc. and the National Association of Broadcasters, according to disclosure filings. Until earlier this year, he had also lobbied on behalf of Georgetown University for an “extension of of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” the Obama administration's policy for allowing certain immigrants to be protected from deportation.
For Microsoft, his recent lobbying work has addressed immigration visas for high-skilled workers and corporate tax reform, according to a disclosure filed earlier this month. In the first three months of this year, he lobbied for Qualcomm on patent reform and intellectual property issues. He also lobbied on intellectual property issues for the Motion Picture Association of America, the top lobbyist for the film industry, according to a recent disclosure filing.
Following his stint at the Justice Department, Hertling advised U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson's presidential campaign before he returned to Capitol Hill, where he rose to become chief counsel of the House Judiciary Committee.
His arrival at Covington came on the heels of the firm hiring former Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Howard Berman. Hertling, of counsel at the firm, was described by Dan Bryant, the leader of Covington's global public policy practice at the time, as a “workhorse with as wide and deep a grasp of policy issues as anyone in Washington—on issues that matter a lot to our clients and the business community.”
Hertling's nomination comes two weeks after Covington tax partner Emin Toro was picked for a slot on the U.S. Tax Court. Another partner, Andrew Smith, is in line to become the director of the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection bureau. Smith, who served from 2001 to 2005 as an assistant to the director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau, is expected to take over the bureau in May, Bloomberg BNA reported this month. The bureau director position does not require Senate confirmation.
Another President Donald Trump nominee to the Federal Claims court, Maureen Ohlhausen, is pending in the Senate. Ohlhausen would make the jump from the FTC, where she has been the interim chairwoman since early last year. Trump nominated Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison partner Joe Simons to lead the agency.
Read more:
Covington, McGuireWoods Partners Among New Slate of Judicial Nominees
How Skadden's Michael Scudder Got Trump's Nod for Seventh Circuit Seat
Trump Picks Judges 'He Can Relate To,' McGahn Tells CPAC
Report: Trump's Judicial Nominees Have Most 'No' Votes So Far
Great Reshaping: How Trump Is Changing Game on Judicial Nominations
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All

Trump's DOJ Delays Releasing Jan. 6 FBI Agents List Under Consent Order
3 minute read

Judge Grills DOJ on Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order
Trending Stories
- 1How Clean Is the Clean Slate Act?
- 2Florida Bar Sues Miami Attorney for Frivolous Lawsuits
- 3Donald Trump Serves Only De Facto and Not De Jure: A Status That Voids His Acts Usurping the Power of Congress or the Courts
- 4Georgia Hacker Pleads Guilty in SEC X Account Scam That Moved Markets
- 5Trump's Pick for SEC Chair Likely to Stymie Shareholder Proposals from ESG Advocates
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250