Richard A. Hertling was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims in June 2019.  Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Brown University and received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.  He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.

Upon graduating from law school, Judge Hertling clerked for Judge Henry A. Politz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1985-86.  Following his clerkship, he was hired through the Attorney General’s Honors Program and served as a Trial Attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, litigating constitutional and regulatory cases, from 1986 until January 1990. 

In January 1990, Judge Hertling began his Capitol Hill career, serving on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee as minority chief counsel of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and the Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, and as chief counsel of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information, while also serving as chief counsel to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA).  Subsequently, Judge Hertling became senior counsel to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, while also handling Judiciary Committee and other legal issues for its chairman, Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN).  Following that position, he became chief of staff to newly elected Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), and then returned to the Governmental Affairs Committee as minority staff director.  Upon the retirement of Senator Thompson, Judge Hertling served as deputy chief of staff and legislative director to newly elected Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

In July 2003, Judge Hertling was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy at the Department of Justice and in 2005 was named the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy.  In 2007, he was appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Justice.

Judge Hertling was appointed minority deputy chief of staff and policy director of the House Judiciary Committee in 2008, becoming the committee’s staff director and chief counsel in 2012.

In 2013, Judge Hertling joined a prominent Washington law firm as of counsel in its public policy group and practiced at the firm until his appointment to the court

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