Representation of Guantanamo Bay inmates

Attorneys at Covington & Burling have been Guantanamo Bay attorneys for Ahmed al-Ghailani,^[8] fifteen Yemenis, one Pakistani, and one Algerian being held at Guantanamo Bay. The firm obtained favorable rulings that detainees have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions.^[9] The court ruled in March 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.

According to The American Lawyer's annual pro bono survey, Covington lawyers spent 3,022 hours on Guantanamo litigation in 2007, "the firm's largest pro bono project that year". Lawyers from the firm who have become administration officials, such as Lanny Breuer, have been advised by ethics officials to recuse themselves in matters involving detainees represented by their former firms, but not from policy issues where they were not personally and substantially involved.

Covington also co-authored one of three petitioners' briefs filed in Boumediene v. Bush, "and was responsible for several detainee victories" in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, though they did not participate in litigation over the Guantanamo Bay prison itself.^[10]

Pro bono accolades

• First in Pro Bono Hours per Lawyer, 2019 and 2020—The American Lawyer^[11]
• Law360, Pro Bono Firm of the Year, ranked No. 1 (2015).^[12]
• DC Bar Association, Thurgood Marshall Award for commitment to excellence in the fields of civil rights and individual liberties (2006).^[13]

State of California

The State of California hired Covington & Burling attorney and former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder to fight the Trump administration.^[14][15]

Commonwealth of Australia

According to press reports and filings with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Covington & Burling assisted the government of Australia in pursuing the legislation to create a new visa category reserved exclusively for nationals of Australia following the enactment of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement.^[16] The Covington team included Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gold, Roderick DeArment, David Marchick, Elizabeth Letchworth, Les Carnegie, and Brian Smith.^[16] On November 20, 2012, the LegalTimes reported that the Embassy of South Korea had hired Covington & Burling to advise on a similar visa for Korea. Covington of counsel Brian Smith and senior international policy adviser Alan Larson reportedly led the matter, assisted by senior counsel Martin Gold and associate Jonathan Wakely.^[17]