Cooley continues to expand its commercial litigation practice on the East Coast with the addition of Raymond P. Tolentino as partner in Washington, DC.

Tolentino served as special assistant to the president and senior associate White House counsel until January 2025, advising senior White House officials on civil rights, constitutional and regulatory issues. Before his government service, Tolentino was a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink, where he litigated a range of commercial, constitutional, civil rights and election law matters. Tolentino will represent Cooley’s innovative clients in a range of complex commercial cases, government-facing litigation and investigations.

“Everyone who knows Ray describes him as extremely talented and beloved,” said Ian Shapiro, chair of Cooley’s global litigation department. “We also worked alongside him as co-counsel in Sines v. Kessler, the successful lawsuit against white nationalists and neo-Nazis who organized the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and we know firsthand what kind of special person and lawyer he is.”

In addition to his White House service and private practice, Tolentino previously served as special counsel to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary and held several prominent clerkships, including at the US Supreme Court, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also held teaching roles at Howard University School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Cooley’s litigation department comprises more than 460 lawyers in the US and Europe and has emerged as the leading litigation practice for the representation of tech, life sciences and other innovative companies. Tolentino is the most recent next-generation star to join the department, following a recent group of seven partners joining the firm in San Francisco.

“I have long admired Cooley’s deep bench of talented litigators, and I am thrilled to return to private practice at a firm that offers an unparalleled global platform, a collaborative and entrepreneurial culture, and a profound commitment to client service,” said Tolentino. “I look forward to working alongside my exceptional new colleagues and the firm’s innovative clients.”

This news story was originally published on the firm’s website.