2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling is a “brain trust” law firm known for quietly (and smartly) going about its business—antitrust, litigation, white collar defense & investigations, corporate, intellectual property, export controls, data privacy and cybersecurity, and regulatory work—with particular strengths in the sports, insurance, life science/pharma, energy, tech, and media/entertainment industries.

Capital Roots

Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward B. Burling founded their firm in Washington, DC, in 1919, with a (then unique) concept of focusing on regulatory issues. Since its founding, most members of the Fortune 200 have worked with Covington. The firm played significant roles in many of the leading legal matters that arose from the New Deal. Later, in the 1950s, Covington lawyers wrote the key briefs in the Steel Seizure cases. As the federal government expanded, so did Covington, attending to issues involving the FDA, IRS, FAA, FCC, and other multilettered agencies. With this Washington-based practice, it’s no wonder that the firm has numerous former government officials among its ranks.

Major League

Covington counsels across myriad industries including technology, life sciences, financial services, AI, entertainment and media, digital health, consumer brands, and sports.

The firm is known for its white collar team, which boasts more than 100 lawyers—including former high-profile government lawyers—and sits comfortably within Vault’s top five firms for White Collar Defense & Internal Investigations. Clients regularly call on the firm to handle matters involving crisis management, the False Claims Act, internal investigations, regulatory issues, shareholder litigation, whistleblower claims, and other matters.

One simply can’t discuss Covington without mentioning its robust sports practice. With more than 50 years of experience, Covington’s sports law department is an all-star team. The group has represented the likes of MLB, MLS, NASCAR, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the USGA, and the USTA. The firm also counsels college sports leagues on a variety of matters and advises both the pros and colleges on their broadcast contracts. The sports practice is multifaceted, but Covington lawyers meet the challenge, handling everything from antitrust, collective bargaining, financings, insurance, media rights, and regulatory affairs to sponsorships and tax.

Giving Associates a Voice

At Covington, when associates speak, people listen. The firm’s Associate Advisory Committee includes both associates and partners and provides an outlet for associates to offer opinions on firm decisions. The firm also offers a confidential process for associates to request advice through “associate ombudspersons.” An ombudsperson is a senior lawyer from whom associates can seek confidential advice.

• Covington represented Biogen in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Human Immunology Biosciences.
• Covington led a joint defense group's effort on behalf of Procter & Gamble to defeat a $14 billion multidistrict litigation accusing more than 20 companies of making and selling ineffective over-the-counter decongestants.
• Covington helped the Can Manufacturers Institute secure a highly publicized win when the U.S. International Trade Commission unanimously shot down tariffs on tin-mill steel imports from Canada, China, and Germany despite calls for the duties by the U.S. steel industry, the United Steelworkers, and several lawmakers.
• Covington achieved an important appellate victory for Monsanto in Roundup litigation, convincing the Third Circuit to disagree with the rulings of the Ninth and Eleventh Circuit and adopt Monsanto's position that Roundup lawsuits alleging a failure to warn about the risk of cancer should be preempted under federal law, setting up a potential showdown in the Supreme Court.

• Firm of the Year, 2019-2025—Law360
• Global Elite, 2025—Global Competition Review
• Top 10 Investigations Practice, 2024—Global Investigations Review
• No. 1 Social Impact Leader & Pulse Leaderboard, 2024—Law360
• Crisis Management and Government Oversight Winner, 2024—The National Law Journal