Election & Political Law at Covington & Burling

Covington’s Election and Political Law practice is one of the oldest in the Nation.  In addition to our high-profile election law litigation and Federal Election Commission enforcement practice, we advise numerous Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 corporations, trade associations, financial institutions, political party committees, PACs, candidates, lobbying firms, and high net-worth individuals concerning compliance with the increasingly complex array of laws governing the political process.  These include federal and state campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, and government ethics laws.  We are also nationally known for our highly specialized expertise with respect to federal, state and local “pay to play” laws that restrict political contributions by government contractors.  Many banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, and major corporations look to us for ongoing pay to play counseling and compliance programs.

Covington has litigated some of the most important election law cases of the last thirty years.  We were counsel in the two seminal U.S. Supreme Court cases interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act -- Buckley v. Valeo andMcConnell v. FEC.  In McConnell, we prepared the consolidated Supreme Court brief on behalf of both Republican and Democratic political party committees.  The firm regularly defends corporate and political clients in Federal Election Commission (FEC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil and criminal campaign finance investigations.