After serving for 29 years, Senior D.C. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel will step down from the bench in August to join Hogan Lovells' litigation practice in Washington, where he'll focus on pro bono work.

The law firm confirmed Judge Tatel's plans Friday in a statement to Law360. Judge Tatel had worked at Hogan & Hartson — Hogan Lovells' premerger name — as a partner and founder of the firm's education practice from 1979 until he was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in 1994. He assumed senior status with the court in May 2022. 

"We are extremely happy to be welcoming Judge Tatel back to the firm after a long and illustrious career on the bench," said Des Hogan, the firm's global head of the litigation, arbitration and employment practice group. "Upon his return, Judge Tatel will join our litigation practice, and will focus on pro bono work."

Judge Tatel, 81, who has been blind since the age of 30, began his legal career as an instructor at the University of Michigan Law School before entering private practice with the law firm now known as Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago.

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