Updated: Covington to Open in Los Angeles

Covington & Burling will open a new office in Century City, the Washington-based firm said on Friday.

The outpost will mark Covington’s 11th worldwide and provide a wide range of services, in practices such as insurance coverage, white collar defense, media and communications and intellectual property.

Below is the breakdown of key people who will staff the office, which is set to open March 9.

New hires:

• Dan Shallman will lead Covington’s white collar defense practice in Los Angeles. He joins from O’Melveny & Myers.

• Rene Siemens , a lawyer specializing in insurance recovery, joins from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

• Aaron Lewis joins from the Department of Justice where he was counsel to the Attorney General and Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California.

Relocated Covington lawyers:

• Alan Blankenheimer , an IP litigator in San Diego, will now lead the firm’s patent litigation group in Los Angeles.

• Robyn Polashuk , a lawyer specializing in media, distribution and content creation. She will lead Covington’s media and comms practice on the West Coast.

• Howard Berman , the California Congressman who advises clients on foreign affairs and domestic policy.

Covington, which has more than 850 lawyers spread across 10 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia, already has a California presence with offices in San Francisco, Silicon Valley and San Diego.

It is also coming off a stellar 2014, as Legal Times reported last week , with profits per partner up 15.6 percent this year. Its work last year included helping Steve Ballmer buy the Los Angeles Clippers for a record $2 billion, the article reported.

Timothy Hester , chair of the Covington’s management committee, said in a statement: “We believe there is a strong base of clients who can benefit from both our presence in Los Angeles and the expansion of our core practice offerings.”