The Legal 500

The firm

Covington & Burling LLP is an international firm of over 800 lawyers with offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington DC. The Brussels office, founded in 1989, is active in a wide range of EU and domestic law and policy issues, and has in-depth experience in a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, software, telecommunications, motor vehicles, construction equipment and media.

Areas of practice

From Brussels, Covington has been active in many of the most challenging and sophisticated legislative issues in the EU. Over the past decade alone, the firm has been involved in over 100 consultations and proposals for legislation or reform of legislation. In addition to providing legislative analysis and advocacy advice, the firm has helped mobilise and manage coalitions and provided strategic advice. The policy team has direct expertise and unique insight on Parliamentary advocacy and EU institutional negotiations.

The Brussels office advises on all aspects of competition law, including merger control, abuse of a dominant position, cartels and commercial transactions. Lawyers also have particular expertise in dealing with issues at the intersection of competition law and IP law, joint ventures (including B2B ventures), trade association matters, and the structuring of pan-European distribution and licensing agreements.

The firm has a diverse international trade practice, including trade policy, trade litigation, import/export controls, customs, anti-dumping, trade facilitation and subsidy matters. It advises both private industry and governments, and regularly represents the Council of the EU in anti-dumping cases before the European courts; a particular strength lies in advising clients on transatlantic trade disputes.

In 2011, for the seventh year running, Covington was voted the top life sciences regulatory practice (source: PLC), and is widely acknowledged to be one of the world’s top life sciences practices overall. The life sciences team in Brussels advises on regulatory strategies, community and national rules, regulatory exclusivity, borderline issues, safety and environmental reviews, approvals, clinical trials, promotion, internet activities, data privacy, legislative policies and developments, and administrative litigation. The practice covers a broad range of manufacturers and products, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, cell and tissue products, medical devices, novel and functional foods, animal feeds, chemicals, biocides and electronic goods.

The Brussels office has deep expertise in IP. The practice has extensive legislative experience in EU and member state IP policy matters, copyright and trade mark litigation, and licensing issues.

The IT team assists leading companies and trade associations on a broad range of issues, including electronic contracts, security and encryption, illegal internet content, internet advertising and promotion, digital copyright, jurisdiction over internet transactions, codes of conduct, data protection in relation to e-commerce, cyber crime, and the regulation of ‘cookies’ and ‘spam’. Working closely with its offices in the US, the UK and China, and where appropriate with local counsel, Covington provides integrated multi-regional advice to companies doing business worldwide via the internet and online services.

Covington has extensive experience handling issues related to the EU Data Protection Directive and the EU Electronic Communications Data Protection Directive. It has assisted clients with privacy audits and provided pan-European advice on compliance with national requirements, including rules governing notification, online privacy, direct marketing, human resources, and health privacy. The firm has assisted clients with trans-border data flow issues, including drafting global codes of conduct and intra-company agreements, and advising on the ‘Safe Harbor’ regime for data transferred to the US. Clients include technology and pharmaceutical companies, trade associations and telecommunications providers.

Languages
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
French
German
Greek
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Russian
Slovak
Spanish
Swedish

Other offices
Beijing
London
New York
San Diego
San Francisco
Silicon Valley
Washington DC

International groupings Please see www.cov.com for firm affiliations

Number of lawyers 816

at this office 29