Delbert R. Terrill, Jr.

Senior Of Counsel

For over 15 years as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) with the federal government, Judge Terrill presided over complex, multi-party litigation, most recently at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He is the only actively litigating former ITC ALJ in private intellectual property practice. At the ITC, Judge Terrill presided over complex patent and trademark-related Section 337 cases, including the largest patent and trademark cases in ITC history -- each of which was heard and decided by him in less than one year.  Judge Terrill was also a key ALJ for cases in the high tech sector such as those involving modems, semiconductors, abrasives, display controllers and software.  During his ten years at the FERC, he was never reversed.  From 2005-2007 and 2007-2008, he was counsel at White & Case and Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, respectively.

Prior to the FERC and the ITC, Judge Terrill was an ALJ and Hearing Examiner, respectively, at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and U.S. Department of Defense’s Directorate for Industrial Security Clearance Review.  He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and defended government “whistleblowers” for the Office of Special Counsel.

His legislative and public policy experience includes time on Capitol Hill as legislative counsel to Sens. John Melcher and Edward Zorinsky and Republican and Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives.  While on the Hill, he helped write the Copyright Reform Act of 1976, the codification of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the uniformity of truck weight and length laws as well as the economic deregulation of the airline, trucking, rail and telecommunications industries.  He served as an attorney at the White House Presidential Clemency Board under President Gerald Ford.

In private practice, he worked for a Washington, D.C. law firm in corporate litigation, where he was involved in the largest unfriendly takeover attempt of its time.

Judge Terrill was featured in the January 2007 issue of the ABA Journal Cover Story “NEXT! What You’ll be Talking About in 2007 - Patent Rocket Docket.”