Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has additional offices in the United States, as well as in Belgium, China, England, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates.
History
Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward B. Burling founded Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., on January 1, 1919.
In 1988, Covington opened a London office that was followed in 1990 by opening a Brussels office. In 1999, Covington merged with Howard, Smith & Levin, a New York firm of 60 attorneys and the firm opened its first West Coast office in San Francisco. In 2008, Covington entered into a strategic alliance with Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy, a Qatar-based transnational law firm and think-tank, for the joint provision of legal and consulting services in the Middle East.
Targeted by second Trump administration
On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump revoked security clearances held by employees of the Covington & Burling law firm who had provided pro bono services to former Special Counsel Jack Smith, the prosecutor in two criminal cases charging Trump that were dropped following the results of the 2024 election. Smith received $140,000 in free legal services from the firm, according to a January 10 disclosure by his office. Politico reported that at least two attorneys at the firm, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, have represented Smith.
Major Cases
During 2018-2023, Covington defended AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and McKesson Corporation in a lawsuit alleging that the companies, manufacturers of prescription opioids, grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use of those drugs and failed to properly monitor suspicious prescription orders, thus contributing to the opioid epidemic.
In 2021, Covington defended Monsanto Company in a products liability lawsuit alleging that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides cause harmful health effects such as cancer. Numerous health studies have linked Roundup exposure to certain forms of cancer, including leukemia. The lawsuit alleged that the company failed to warn customers of possible design defects that could cause cancer and thereby breached express and implied warranty for product safety. Covington argued, on behalf of Monsanto, that the Environmental Protection Agency was responsible for the product's harms. The case is currently ongoing.
Pro bono work
Covington's pro bono work focuses on providing legal services to people in local communities. Attorneys at the firm may participate in a six-month rotation program and work at each of three D.C.-based legal service organizations: Neighborhood Legal Services Program, the Children's Law Center, and Bread for the City.
Covington's pro bono work includes representation in Buckley v. Valeo, Griffin v. Illinois, and Korematsu v. United States. They supported the District of Columbia in District of Columbia v. Heller, arguing that the District's ban on the possession of handguns and its storage provisions for other firearms in the home is not implicated by the Second Amendment.
Covington provided pro bono work for special counsel Jack Smith who brought two criminal cases against Donald Trump. After Trump became president for the second time, the Trump administration retaliated against Covington by pulling the security clearances of staff at the law firm.
Representation of Guantanamo Bay inmates
Attorneys at Covington & Burling have been Guantanamo Bay attorneys for Ahmed al-Ghailani, fifteen Yemenis, one Pakistani, and one Algerian being held at Guantanamo Bay. The firm obtained favorable rulings that detainees have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions. The court ruled in March 2005 that the government could not transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to foreign custody without first giving the prisoners a chance to challenge the move in court.
According to an annual pro bono survey of The American Lawyer, Covington attorneys spent 3,022 hours on Guantanamo litigation in 2007, "the firm's largest pro bono project that year". Attorneys from the firm who have become administration officials, such as Lanny Breuer, have been advised by ethics officials to recuse themselves in matters involving detainees represented by their former firms, but not from policy issues where they were not personally and substantially involved.
Covington also co-authored one of three petitioner briefs filed in Boumediene v. Bush "and was responsible for several detainee victories" in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, although they did not participate in litigation over the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Pro bono accolades
- First in Pro Bono Hours per attorney, 2019 and 2020—The American Lawyer
- Law360, Pro Bono Firm of the Year, ranked No. 1 (2015)
- D.C. Bar Association, Thurgood Marshall Award for commitment to excellence in the fields of civil rights and individual liberties (2006)
Notable clients
State of California
The government of California hired Covington & Burling attorney and former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder to represent the state in legal matters related to actions of the first Donald Trump administration.
Commonwealth of Australia
According to press reports and filings with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, following the enactment of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Covington & Burling assisted the government of Australia in pursuing the legislation to create a new visa category reserved exclusively for nationals of Australia. The Covington team included Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gold, Roderick DeArment, David Marchick, Elizabeth Letchworth, Les Carnegie, and Brian Smith. On November 20, 2012, the LegalTimes reported that the Embassy of South Korea had hired Covington & Burling to advise on a similar visa for Korea. Covington of counsel Brian Smith and senior international policy adviser Alan Larson reportedly led the matter, assisted by senior counsel Martin Gold and associate Jonathan Wakely.
Current and former attorneys
References
External links
- Covington & Burling LLP Website
- National Law Review Profile
