Thomas G. Hungar argues at the COA. Aaron C. Hayes/Daily Report. 11/17/2009

More than two years after leaving Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to serve as the top lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas Hungar is returning to the firm as a partner in its appellate and complex trial litigation practice groups, the firm confirmed Tuesday.

Hungar had initially left Gibson Dunn in 2003 to serve as deputy U.S. solicitor general under the George W. Bush administration. He returned in 2008 as a leader on the firm's appellate and constitutional law team before departing in 2016 to serve as the general counsel to the House under the leadership of former Speaker Paul Ryan. Hungar succeeded Kerry Kircher as House general counsel.

“We are delighted that Tom has returned to Gibson Dunn,” said Ken Doran, chairman and managing partner of the firm. “Tom's public service, as deputy solicitor general and most recently as general counsel of the House of Representatives, has enhanced his experience and reputation. Our clients will benefit from the insight Tom has gained into all three branches of government that few lawyers in the country share.”

Hungar served only a few months as the House's top lawyer before the 2016 election, which ushered in Republican control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

In that time, Republicans moved swiftly to erase more than a dozen regulations finalized in the waning days of the Obama administration and passed tax reform legislation, as Democrats accused their GOP counterparts of undercutting investigations into the Trump administration and turning a blind eye to questionable conduct by cabinet members.

Hungar's departure from Capitol Hill coincided with the Democrats winning back control of the House and reinstalling Nancy Pelosi as speaker. House Democrats have vowed to vigorously investigate Trump's administration and businesses, along with drug companies and various other industries. In late December, Pelosi picked Douglas Letter, a former top lawyer at the Justice Department who'd joined the Georgetown Law Center faculty in 2018, to serve as the House's next general counsel.

In an interview earlier this month, Hungar described Letter as a “superb choice” for House Democrats, describing the veteran DOJ appellate lawyer as a “great lawyer and a great guy.”

As general counsel, Hungar was called on to represent the House's institutional interests both as a party and friend-of-the-court. He capped his tenure as the House's top lawyer by leading the arguments against former FBI Director James Comey's challenge to a subpoena issued by the House Judiciary Committee. Comey would end up dropping his court challenge after reaching an agreement to testify.

Hungar oversaw the defense of the House Intelligence Committee's push for bank records from the private investigation firm Fusion GPS, which came as part of a congressional probe into the funding and creation of a dossier containing various claims about Trump's ties to Russia. In January 2018, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington rejected Fusion GPS's bid to block the House committee's investigation, concluding the subpoena was “issued pursuant to a constitutionally authorized investigation by a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

In a statement provided to The National Law Journal on Tuesday, Hungar said he was “thrilled” to be returning to Gibson Dunn.

“Gibson Dunn's robust appellate and litigation practice is unmatched, and I'm looking forward to returning to private practice alongside my former colleagues and friends,” he said.

Hungar, a Yale Law School graduate and former clerk to now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, has argued more than two dozen cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. He joins an appellate team brimming with veteran advocates, including partners Theodore Olson, Theodore Boutrous, Miguel Estrada, Helgi Walker and Mark Perry.

“One of Tom's greatest contributions as general counsel was his work behind the scenes. As senior committee counsel running very difficult investigations it was invaluable to know that if something made its way into court, Tom would be defending you,” said McDermott, Will & Emery counsel Sam Dewey, a former senior counsel for oversight and investigations on the House Financial Services Committee. “That gave you immense freedom to do your job and, when necessary, to be aggressive.”

Dewey added: “You just didn't have to worry about the eventuality of litigation on a point of congressional power. You knew you had one of the very best appellate lawyers in the country on your team and that he would always have your back and would take care of the situation.”

 

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