Judge Questions if SEC Covington Client Demand Opens Floodgates

A judge questioned whether the SEC will “open the floodgates” to law firm data demands if Covington & Burling is forced to release names of 298 publicly-traded clients whose information may have been exposed in a cyberattack.

The Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit to compel Covington to release the names in the 2020 firm attack presents “challenging” questions, District Judge Amit Mehta said Wednesday.

But it’s also not clear what privacy standard would constrain the SEC, Mehta acknowledged. He urged Covington and the SEC to try to reach an agreement, even as attorneys from both parties said they wouldn’t compromise ...