Covington & Burling: What Law Students Should Know

Covington & Burling is Washington DC's law firm. While most elite firms are New York operations with DC outposts, Covington is the reverse, a firm built in DC, shaped by DC, and defined by its proximity to the regulatory apparatus that governs American business. If your practice area touches a federal agency, Covington has probably been there before you.

The Basics

• Vault Rank: #13
• Headquarters: Washington DC
• US Offices: Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles
• Size: ~1,200 attorneys worldwide
• Starting Salary: $225,000

What They Are Known For

Regulatory and public policy work is the foundation. Covington has the deepest bench of former government officials, agency heads, and regulatory experts of any law firm in the country. The firm advises companies on navigating FDA approval, FTC investigations, FCC rulemaking, congressional inquiries, and virtually every other interaction between private enterprise and the federal government.

Life sciences and pharmaceutical regulatory work is the crown jewel. When a pharmaceutical company needs to get a drug through FDA approval, structure a clinical trial, or respond to an FDA enforcement action, Covington is the default call. The firm's food and drug practice is the market leader by a wide margin.

Technology regulation is increasingly important. As Congress and agencies focus on data privacy, AI regulation, and platform governance, Covington's tech regulatory practice has become one of the most active in the country.

Beyond regulatory, the firm has a strong corporate practice (M&A, capital markets, and PE), a top-tier litigation practice (particularly government investigations, antitrust, and white collar defense), and a meaningful international trade and national security practice.

The litigation practice deserves particular mention. Covington litigators are frequently involved in the most consequential cases at the intersection of business and government, antitrust enforcement, securities regulation, and constitutional challenges to agency authority. The Supreme Court and appellate practice is excellent.

Culture and Assignment

Covington uses a department-based system with significant flexibility. Associates join a group but can take work across practice areas, and the firm encourages cross-staffing between regulatory, corporate, and litigation. This is partly because so much of the firm's work involves regulatory questions that cut across traditional practice boundaries.

The culture is intellectual, public-service oriented, and distinctly Washington. Many Covington attorneys have spent time in government and view law practice as connected to public policy. Pro bono is taken very seriously, the firm has one of the strongest pro bono programs in BigLaw, and associates are expected to maintain a meaningful pro bono practice.

The atmosphere is more cerebral and less deal-driven than New York firms. If you thrive in an environment where the legal questions are genuinely novel and the work has policy implications, Covington is your kind of place. If you want to be in the trenches of billion-dollar M&A, the New York office does that work but it is not the firm's core identity.

Hours are high but can be more predictable than at deal-driven New York firms, particularly in the regulatory practices. Government agencies operate on their own timelines, and while the work is demanding, the 3 AM fire drills are less common than at firms driven by deal closings.

Summer Program

Covington's summer class is mid-sized, typically 80-100 summers across offices, with DC being the largest class. The program reflects the firm's culture, substantive, thoughtful, and focused on giving you a real sense of the work.

Summers get exposure to the regulatory practices that make Covington unique. If you have ever been curious about what FDA regulatory work or congressional investigations actually look like day-to-day, the summer program is your chance to find out.

Offer rates are consistently high. Covington selects carefully and hires the people it brings on.

Offices

Washington DC is the center of gravity. Most of the regulatory work, government investigations, and policy practice operates from DC. The New York office has grown and handles a meaningful corporate and litigation practice. San Francisco and LA serve the West Coast technology and life sciences markets.

The international offices, London, Brussels, Johannesburg, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai, reflect the global nature of regulatory practice. International trade, sanctions, and cross-border regulatory matters are handled across the network.

If you want to practice in DC, Covington is arguably the best option in BigLaw. If you want to practice in New York, the firm is competitive but not its primary identity.

Compensation

Covington matches the Cravath scale. $225,000 base for first-years with a $21,000 bonus. Total first-year comp: approximately $246,000.

DC compensation at Covington is at full New York market, which is notable, not all DC firms match the New York scale for their DC offices.

Who Should Apply

Covington is the right firm for students who are interested in regulatory law, government investigations, life sciences, technology policy, or any area where the federal government intersects with private enterprise. It is the right firm for students who want a career in DC that goes beyond generic litigation and corporate work. And it is the right firm for students who value intellectual rigor and public service alongside private practice.

If you want a pure deal shop or a firm whose identity is defined by M&A league tables, Covington is not the fit. But if the idea of advising a pharmaceutical company on FDA strategy, defending a tech company before the FTC, or guiding a client through a congressional investigation sounds more interesting than another leveraged buyout, Covington is where you belong.