This profile is part of the NLJ's 2018 Litigation Department of the Year special package. Find a full list of winners and finalists here.

From challenging President Donald Trump's executive actions and adovcating for foreign companies amid Trump's “America First” agenda to defending a former Trump administration official in Robert Mueller's Russia probe, Covington & Burling appeared at the center of Washington's hottest controversies perhaps more frequently than any other D.C. firm. It's also one of a few firms to go up against both Trump and Mueller and emerge with outcomes it deemed victorious.

“Many firms are strong in one area or a couple of areas. We stand out, I think, across the board,” said John Hall, co-chair of Covington's litigation practice.

Covington represented Trump's former National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, in special counsel Mueller's probe. The firm also advocated on behalf of the University of California in its suit against Trump for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The firm also helped the National Football League score big wins and said it achieved success for Takata Corp., the Japanese auto parts company.

Steve Anthony, a Covington litigation partner, represented Flynn in the Mueller probe and called the experience a “great honor.” Flynn pleaded to a single count of lying to investigators, which was widely viewed as a major victory. Anthony declined to answer how Flynn's fate would have been different if Covington had not gotten involved.

The firm's successes for the NFL and against Trump over DACA all came at the hands of a single federal judge.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1999, sided with University of California president Janet Napolitano. Covington represented the former Obama administration Homeland Security secretary pro bono against Trump in the DACA case.

Alsup also ruled in favor of Covington's lawyers again when Covington helped the NFL's 32 teams fight off a class action suit brought by retired players. And he ruled for the firm when it defended a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit brought by a San Francisco 49ers cheerleader.

Hall said it was “coincidental” that Alsup presided over so many key victories for Covington.
“No one's going to get the perfect judge on a wheel every time,”
Hall said.

Covington also negotiated a criminal resolution for Takata, the Japanese company, following a multiyear investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division involving the company's defective airbags. Takata pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties.

Firm Facts

Name of firm: Covington & Burling
Founded: Washington
Total number of attorneys: 941
Litigators as percentage of firm: 61.5 percent
Litigators as percentage in D.C: 73 percent
Litigation partners firmwide: 160
Litigation associates firmwide: 332
D.C. litigation partners: 95
D.C. litigation associates: 250

Keys to Success

  • Blessed with having one of the largest litigation practices in D.C. of any firm.
  • Diversity [of practice areas] is the firm's strength and also its calling card.
  • The ability to staff litigation matters with multi-disciplinary teams that leverage the firm's deep regulatory and government expertise provides us a unique advantage.
    —John Hall