Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling posted global turnover of $611m in 2011 with the firm’s 18 UK partners raising revenues by almost 14 per cent to contribute $45m. Revenue per partner stood at an acceptable $2.67m.

But it is the Asia Pacific region that is the firm’s main focus with two recent office openings building on its Beijing base that went live in 2008. January 2013 saw the firm launch in Shanghai and followed quickly on the opening of a South Korean presence in Seoul in late 2012. The Shanghai practice will be led by partners Eva Wang and Weishi Li and brings the total number of lawyers that Covington & Burling has on the ground in Asia to 20 across its three offices.

"Our Shanghai office enhances our practices in life sciences and technology transactions, FCPA, capital markets, M&A and securities in China and places those capabilities in the heart of one of Asia’s most dynamic business centres,” reported Timothy Hester, chair of the firm’s management committee.

Covington & Burling has a very highly regarded contentious practice and posted a global litigation turnover of $311.6m in 2011 according to The Lawyer Litigation Top 50 2012, over half of the firm’s global revenue. The Asia Pacific strategy should help the firm to drive more transactional revenues.