Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Covington & Burling LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Covington & Burling
- Designation: Washington, D.C.
- Head Count: 738
- Gross Revenues: $650,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $880,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,265,000
- Year Over Year Change: 1
The first nongovernment tenant on Pennsylvania Avenue, Covington & Burling was and is a Washington firm. They have a world capital strategy—with outposts in Beijing, Brussels, and London. And they long ago checked the New York box, scooping up a corporate boutique that has grown into a 100–lawyer office. But this is the firm that’s defined as home to Dean Acheson before he became U.S. secretary of State under President Harry Truman, and more recently to Eric Holder before he was named attorney general. And its bread–and–butter work is what you’d expect of a major D.C. firm: regulatory matters, antitrust, international trade, guidance on public policy issues, and a busy appellate practice. Covington’s litigation group is first–tier, too: It was a finalist for The American Lawyer’s 2008 Litigation Department of the Year, and earned an honorable mention in 2010.
While the firm is certainly no nonprofit, it is one of the most civic–minded around, regularly ranking in the top three on The American Lawyer’s pro bono survey. On the 2011 survey—on which Covington placed first—the firm’s lawyers averaged a whopping 167 pro bono hours each, nearly 25 hours more than the number two firm. Covington’s pro bono work runs the gamut—everything from representing Guant namo detainees to work involving gay rights, education, homelessness, police misconduct, and nonprofit incorporation—and an innovative rotation program places attorneys within D.C. –based legal service organizations like the Children’s Law Center and the Neighborhood Legal Services Program.
Covington was also one of the few bright spots during the recent economic downturn. While other firms were slashing their attorney rosters, Covington’s head count grew nearly 25 percent between 2008 and 2010. The firm was number two on The American Lawyer’s Recession Performance Index, with both revenues and attorney levels benefiting from a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent between 2007 and 2009. Little wonder, then, that the firm has generally been scored well by its junior lawyers, placing twenty–fifth on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey. Indeed, nearly a century after its founding, Covington & Burling seems to be in better shape than its law–making neighbors.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 45 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 45 | 1 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 53 | 2 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 19 | 1 | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 1 | 3 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 71 | 3 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 25 | 15 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 66 | 7 | Summer programs |
In the News
Alsup Awards $203 Million Against Wells Fargo, Again
Vanessa Blum : The Recorder : May 15, 2013
Personal Notes on Lawyers
: New York Law Journal : May 15, 2013
Brent Lewis has joined the structured finance and securitization practice at Hunton & Williams as of counsel, while Robert Trainor has joined Covington & Burling as senior of counsel in the life sciences practice, and more.
Political Scandal Could Leave IRS Gun Shy
Todd Ruger : The National Law Journal : May 15, 2013
A growing controversy in Washington involving the Internal Revenue Service could mean big changes in the way the agency regulates the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, according to election law experts.
The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200
Diane Jeantet : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Dickstein Shapiro loses a partner to Jones Day in Washington, D.C.; Bryan Cave poaches five attorneys from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and a former Dewey & LeBoeuf partner, most recently with Linklaters, joins KPMG. The Churn is constant. Please send all announcements to thechurn@alm.com.
Scandal Could Change How IRS Regulates Political Groups
Todd Ruger : The National Law Journal : May 14, 2013
A growing controversy in Washington involving the Internal Revenue Service could mean big changes in the way the agency regulates the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, according to election law experts.
Media Mashup: AP, Bloomberg Lean on Outside Counsel
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
Both The Associated Press and Bloomberg L.P. have retained outside counsel this week after finding themselves caught up in two very different controversies, with the AP fighting back against the Justice Department's seizure of reporters' and editors' phone records amid a government leaks probe, and Bloomberg under fire for allegedly using its ubiquitous terminals to tap into the personal information of company clients.
Fenwick Sets Course for China
Julia Love : The Recorder : May 13, 2013
CIVIL ACTIONS
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
The following cases were recently filed in the Washington-area district courts. This information is provided by the district courts' official online bulletins.
Can China Change CFIUS?
Anthony Lin : The Asian Lawyer : May 13, 2013
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has emerged as perhaps the largest single obstacle to Chinese M&A activity in the U.S., and rejection of a number of attempted deals, especially in the high-tech sector, has fueled perceptions among Chinese business leaders that CFIUS is stacked against them. Now, China's government and business leaders are pushing back.
INADMISSIBLE: For Donald Verrilli, A Collective Embrace
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
On April 25, veterans of the Supreme Court bar came together to show Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. some love and blunt the criticism that has been aimed at him. Plus: Lamberth's rebuke, putting the U.S. criminal code on a diet, Cooke's Michael Jackson connection, Moreno leaves DOJ, the Justice Potter Stewart Award, and Humenik joins Covington in this week's column.
- Adams and Reese
- Akerman Senterfitt
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Allen & Overy
- Arthur Cox
- Ashurst
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- Baker & McKenzie
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- Cooley
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- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Diamond McCarthy
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- Freehills
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- Kutak Rock
- Lane Powell
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- Linklaters
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- Margolis Edelstein
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- McKenna Long & Aldridge
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- Moore & Van Allen
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- Moses & Singer
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- Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus
- Norton Rose
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- Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,
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- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
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- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
- Perkins Coie
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- Potter Anderson & Corroon
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- White & Case
- Wiley Rein
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
- Winston & Strawn
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
- Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor
