Eric Holder to Return to Covington & Burling

Eric H. Holder, Jr., the former U.S. Attorney General, is rejoining his old law firm Covington & Burling as a partner, the firm announced on Monday.

Holder, who will join the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner, will focus on complex investigations and litigation matters, including those that are international in scope and raise regulatory enforcement issues and reputation concerns, the firm said.

“I want to have a very active practice advising Covington’s clients,” said Holder, in an interview. “I hope to help them make strategic decisions when coming to the intersection of business, law, and even international relations.”

Holder, who is 64 and starts work at Covington in September, said that the Justice Department is seeking to “use old statutes in new ways,” from laws around mail and wire fraud, to environmental laws.

“This is a new world for many of our clients,” said Holder, referring to the post-financial crisis regulatory landscape. “There is an expectation among regulators ... in the way in which financial entities and corporate entities and individuals conduct themselves.”

“Any institution that doesn’t change its culture really puts itself at risk, and my hope is to engage with clients in a preemptive way so that issues might be solved (early on).”

Holder, who is the third longest servicing attorney general in history, and the first African American to hold the office, will rejoin Covington after working there as a partner from 2001 to February 2009.

Before joining Covington in 2001, he served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Holder said he hopes to re-establish ties with former clients, and plans to be brought up-to-speed on the firm’s current state of affairs. “Covington is a different firm that I come back to — There are international clients, and new clients that I want to become acquainted with.”

“Hopefully I will bring some new clients to the firm as well, given the unique experience I had with the government. I would expect that in the short term, I will be visiting different clients, and using speaking opportunities to meet people and express views that I have on a variety of things.”