Thurgood served in each branch of the federal government. He was a member of the White House senior staff in the Clinton Administration, holding the position of assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary from 1997 to 2001. In that position, he was President Clinton’s liaison between the president and the executive branch agencies. He was a member of the President’s Management Council and the Continuity in Government team and he directed White House responses to natural disasters and transportation emergencies, including commercial aircraft crashes. Thurgood co-chaired the White House Olympic Task Force and coordinated the involvement of the federal government in the preparations for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Prior to his appointment as Cabinet Secretary, Thurgood was director of legislative affairs and deputy counsel to Vice President Al Gore. He held a position on the Senate leadership staff and played a leading role on a wide range of legislative priorities throughout the first term of the Clinton Administration. Before that, he was counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, as well as the Governmental Affairs Committee. He worked on legislative initiatives ranging from antitrust, criminal procedure, corporate crime, insurance, intellectual property and telecommunications, to consumer protection, transportation safety and product liability.

Thurgood began his legal career as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Barrington D. Parker of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, working on a full docket of cases, including United States v. B&O Railroad and United States v. Hinckley.

He serves on the boards of Corrections Corporation of America, Ethics Resource Center and the Ford Foundation and was appointed by President George W. Bush on the recommendation of Senator Harry Reid to serve as a member of the board of governors of the United States Postal Service where he currently serves as chairman. He is also a principal in Bingham Consulting.

Thurgood is a member of the firm's Diversity Executive Committee and serves as the co-chair of the firm’s Washington Hiring Committee.