Covington & Burling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Covington & Burling LLP is a leading international law firm with offices in Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Founded in 1919, the firm advises multinational corporations on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. Covington & Burling LLP consistently ranks among the top 20 on The American Lawyer’s prestigious "A-List", based on financial performance, pro bono activity, associate satisfaction, and diversity [1]. The firm is also referred to by Chambers Global as "one of the world’s preeminent law firms" [2] and has an overall prestige ranking of 11 by Vault.[3]
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[edit] Accolades
Covington & Burling was ranked #2 (tie) on the 2007 Schiltz 100, a ranking that inversely correlates profits per partner and firm prestige [4].
[edit] Firm History
Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward B. Burling founded Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, on January 1, 1919.
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.
[edit] Firm clients
Major companies that have been represented by attorneys of the firm include: Bank of America, Bunge, Creekstone Farms Quality Beef[5], Deere & Company, Eastman Kodak Company, Eli Lilly, General Electric Company, Giorgio Armani, Halliburton, IBM Corporation, Harley-Davidson, match.com, Microsoft Corporation, Morgan Stanley, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, National Football League, Phillip Morris, Procter & Gamble, Southern Peru Copper Corporation, Verizon.
[edit] Pro Bono
Covington’s pro bono work focuses on providing legal services to economically disadvantaged individuals and families in local communities. Attorneys at the firm participate in a six-month rotation program and work at each of three DC-based legal service organizations: Neighborhood Legal Services Program[6], the Children’s Law Center[7] and Bread for the City[8].
Covington's pro bono work includes representation in such landmark cases as Buckley v. Valeo, Griffin v. Illinois[9], and Korematsu v. United States. However, the firm's pro bono program encompasses a range of areas, including freedom of expression and religion; civil rights and civil liberties; gay rights; family law; education; landlord/tenant; homelessness; employment; criminal and court-appointed cases; police misconduct; environmental law; fairness in government procurements and grants; intellectual property; non-profit incorporation and tax.
The firm’s recent pro bono matters include:
- Continued representation of Yemeni nationals being held at Guantanamo Bay, and have obtained favorable rulings that detainees have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions. The court ruled in March of 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.
- Preparing an amicus brief on behalf of a number of social scientists in the Cook v. Rumsfeld case challenging the military’s don't ask, don't tell policy.
- Filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in support of the Planned Parenthood challenge of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
[edit] Pro bono accolades
- The American Lawyer "Pro Bono Report", ranked No. 1 in its annual Pro Bono Survey (2006).
- The American Lawyer "Pro Bono Report", ranked No. 1 seven out of the last 12 years.
- DC Bar Association, Thurgood Marshall Award for commitment to excellence in the fields of civil rights and individual liberties (2006).[10]
- Human Rights Campaign, "Ally for Justice" award for providing outstanding legal guidance to the HRC (2006).
[edit] Current and Former Attorneys
- Dean Acheson
- John R. Bolton
- Abram Chayes
- Stuart E. Eizenstat
- Adrian S. Fisher
- Nicholas Johnson
- Burke Marshall
- Alfred H. Moses
- Chuck Ruff
- Paul Tagliabue
- Paul Warnke
- Togo D. West, Jr.
[edit] External links
- Covington & Burling LLP Website
- Chambers Global Profile
- Vault Profile
- Neighborhood Legal Services Program
- Children's Law Center
- Bread for the City
- Human Rights Campaign
- Senate Office of Public Records
- Peter Kaplan, "Tobacco Lawyer Denies Deception on Secondhand Smoke
- Philip Morris, "Corporate Affairs: corporate cost review
- The Bottom Line,The Hill, May 4, 2004,"
- LawPeriscope Profile
