Robert B. Hetherington

Partner

Phone: (301)762-7770
Fax: (301) 926-7444
Email: hetheringtonr@mcwilson.com

Bob is the principal member of the Insurance Defense, Personal Injury, and Criminal Defense practice groups. He works primarily in the areas of civil litigation, catastrophic personal injury claims, toxic torts, products liability, admiralty and maritime law involving personal injuries, and criminal defense.

Throughout the course of his career, Bob has tried hundreds of civil and criminal cases to verdict and handled numerous other claims, arbitrations, and appellate proceedings primarily in the State and Federal courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Bob has also served on numerous professional committees and boards, and he has been very active with the Bar Associations for the jurisdictions in which he is licensed.

Bob was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in Texas, Georgia and Hawaii before returning to the Washington Metropolitan Area on a permanent basis in 1974. He attended Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, Maryland, and completed his undergraduate studies at Mt. St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he was graduated magna cum laude in 1982. In 1985, he received his law degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Starting in his first year of law school, Bob clerked for McCarthy Wilson in Rockville, Maryland. Upon graduating from Catholic University, he served a one-year clerkship for The Honorable William C. Miller, Associate Judge of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. He returned to the firm as an associate in 1986 and became a partner in 1994. He is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia and several Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Bob has tried over 170 jury trials to verdict throughout the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia and in the Federal Courts of Maryland and D.C.

Bob has been very active in the Montgomery County Bar Association and has served on its Executive Committee as its Treasurer, as an at-large member, and as Chair of the Nominations and Elections, Circuit Court Bench Bar and Administration of Justice Committees. He has also lectured for the Montgomery County Continuing Legal Education Program offering instruction on Deposition and Trial Techniques. Under the Circuit Court Differentiated Case Management Program in Montgomery County, he serves as a mediator. He was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to the Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission and served on the Commission for eight years, the last three as its Chair. He is currently serving as the Chair of the Committee to Elect the Sitting Judges for the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland.

Outside of his profession, he has served on the President’s Council of Mt. St. Mary’s College and as Chair of the Parents’ Club of Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland. An avid boater and hunter, Bob enjoys all sports. He has been active in various area athletic associations and has coached baseball, basketball and soccer. Other interests include golfing and cooking. Bob and his wife, Marlena, are the proud parents of five sons, Bobby, Brian, Sean, Kyle and Billy. They also have four wonderful daughters-in-law and twelve grandchildren. They currently reside in Rockville, Maryland.

Federal Bar Association; Maryland Chapter Board of Governor's (2013 - 2019)
Montgomery County Bar Association [Treasurer – Montgomery County Bar Foundation; Special Appointment – Member, Transition Committee; Treasurer – BAMC; Assistant Treasurer – Montgomery County Bar Foundation; Treasurer- Elect – BAMC; Committee Chair – Nominations and Elections Committee; Poll Captain, Committee to Retain the Sitting Judges of Montgomery County, Maryland; Executive Committee; Bar Leader, Montgomery County Maryland Bar Foundation; Special Appointment – Member, Committee on Committees; Committee Chair – Administration of Justice Committee; Committee Chair – Circuit Court Bench Bar Committee; Member, District Court Bench-Bar Committee; Member, Personal Injury Litigation Section; CLE Lecturer on Trial and Deposition Techniques.]
Member of Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission for CB 11th Commission District- Montgomery County, Maryland (2015- 2023); Chair (2020-2023)
Member of the Hogan re-election campaign, Montgomery County Legal Team (2018)
Chair of Campaign to Elect the Sitting Judges on the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland (2023-present)
Maryland State Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA) (Associate Member)
Guest lecturer on Trial Techniques/Tactics, MSBA Annual Meeting (2004)
Delta Mu Delta
Monsignor Tierney Honor Society
George Henry Miles Honor Society
Guest Speaker, “Legal Consequences of Underage Drinking”, Parents’ Club of Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, Maryland (2006- present)
Chair, Parents’ Club of Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, Maryland (2003 – 2005)
Class Networking Representative, Parents’ Club of Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, Maryland (2000 - 2003)
Member, President’s Council of Mt. St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland (2000 – 2004)
Maryland Super Lawyers
District of Columbia Super Lawyers
Instructor on “Tort Law Negligence” and “Anatomy of a Personal Injury Law suit” Judicial College of Maryland Department of Judicial Education.