Covington Bolsters Government Contracts Practice With D.C. Acquisition

Covington & Burling on Friday significantly expanded its government contracts practice, announcing it has hired 19 lawyers from McKenna Long & Aldridge.

In an announcement, Covington said it had brought on five partners, including the recent McKenna Long government contracts chairman Fred Levy, among 14 other lawyers. Levy will serve as co-chair of Covington’s government contracts group with existing Covington partners, Alan Pemberton and Jennifer Plitsch.

“What we are bringing is really the bulk of the McKenna Long government contracts practice in D.C.,” said Levy, whose clients have included BP, Wal-Mart and Lockheed Martin. He declined to specify how much revenue the group is bringing to Covington, other than to say “we anticipate that all our existing clients will be coming over to Covington.”

The other lawyers joining Covington from McKenna Long include Ray Biagini, a former leader of McKenna Long’s product liability defense practice, and Michael Scheininger, the former chair of McKenna’s white collar criminal defense practice.

Ellen Musante, chief marketing officer of McKenna Long, wished the departing lawyers well in a statement.

Covington, with nearly 900 lawyers, is a firm at the center of the revolving door between the government and private practice. It staffs former government officials such as Lanny Breuer, the former Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, and Stuart Eizenstat, onetime chief domestic policy adviser and executive director of the White House for President Carter. In addition, Eric Holder was once a partner there.

Read more: Covington Bolsters Government Contracts Practice With D.C. Acquisition