Covington Fights SEC Push for Client Data in Cyber Attack Probe

Covington & Burling is fighting the Securities and Exchange Commission over what it calls an “unprecedented assault on the privacy and confidentiality” of the law firm and its clients.

The Washington-based firm said it shouldn’t have to hand over the names of 298 clients regulated by the SEC whose information may have been exposed in a November 2020 cyber attack. The SEC filed an enforcement action in D.C. federal court in January after the firm refused to comply with a subpoena for client names.

“Clients’ time-honored privacy and confidentiality interests should not yield to intrusive government fishing expeditions, especially where ...