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.[4] The firm has additional offices in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Seoul, and Shanghai.
In 1988, Covington opened a London office, followed by a Brussels office in 1990. In 1999, Covington merged with a 60-lawyer New York firm called Howard, Smith & Levin and also opened its first West Coast office in San Francisco.[8] 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.[citation needed]
On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump revoked security clearances held by Covington & Burling law firm employees who had provided pro bono services to former Special CounselJack Smith, the prosecutor in two since-ended criminal cases charging Trump. 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.[9] The memorandum signed by Trump terminates the clearances of "Koski and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith during his time as Special Counsel, pending a review and determination of their roles and responsibilities."[10]
Pro bono work
Covington's pro bono work focuses on providing legal services to people in local communities. Attorneys at the firm can participate in a six-month rotation program and work at each of three DC-based legal service organizations: Neighborhood Legal Services Program, the Children's Law Center, and Bread for the City.[citation needed]
Covington provided pro bono work for special counsel Jack Smith who brought two criminal cases against Donald Trump.[13] 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.[13]
Attorneys at Covington & Burling have been Guantanamo Bay attorneys for Ahmed al-Ghailani,[14] 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.[15] 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.[citation needed]
According to The American Lawyer's annual pro bono survey, Covington lawyers spent 3,022 hours on Guantanamo litigation in 2007, "the firm's largest pro bono project that year". Lawyers 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.[citation needed]
Covington also co-authored one of three petitioners' 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, though they did not participate in litigation over the Guantanamo Bay prison itself.[16]
Pro bono accolades
First in Pro Bono Hours per Lawyer, 2019 and 2020—The American Lawyer[17]
Law360, Pro Bono Firm of the Year, ranked No. 1 (2015).[18]
DC Bar Association, Thurgood Marshall Award for commitment to excellence in the fields of civil rights and individual liberties (2006).[19]
Notable clients
State of California
The State of California hired Covington & Burling attorney and former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder to represent the state in legal matters related to the first Donald Trump administration's actions.[20][21]
Commonwealth of Australia
According to press reports and filings with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Covington & Burling assisted the government of Australia in pursuing the legislation to create a new visa category reserved exclusively for nationals of Australia following the enactment of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement.[22] The Covington team included Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gold, Roderick DeArment, David Marchick, Elizabeth Letchworth, Les Carnegie, and Brian Smith.[22] 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.[23]
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