J. Harry Covington

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James Harry Covington (May 3, 1870 – February 4, 1942) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from Maryland. He served as a U.S. representative from Maryland’s 1st district from 1909 to 1914 and as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia from 1914 to 1918. He later co-founded Covington & Burling, a major Washington, D.C. law firm.

Covington was born in Easton, Maryland, and grew up in Talbot County. He attended public schools and the Maryland Military and Naval Academy in Oxford. He earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894 and began practicing law in Easton. He was Talbot County’s state's attorney from 1903 to 1908.

In Congress, Covington was a Democrat who represented Maryland’s 1st district from March 4, 1909, until his resignation on September 30, 1914, to accept a judicial appointment. President Woodrow Wilson nominated him to be Chief Justice on June 8, 1914; the Senate confirmed him on June 15, 1914. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia (now the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) until May 31, 1918, when he resigned.

In 1917, President Wilson had Covington lead an investigation into the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). After leaving the bench in 1918, Covington returned to private practice in Washington, D.C., and he remained active in law and education. He was a professor of law at Georgetown University from 1914 to 1919 and served on the Railway Wage Commission in 1918.

Covington and Edward B. Burling started Covington & Burling on January 1, 1919. The firm grew to become the oldest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., with about 1,000 attorneys worldwide. Covington died in Washington, D.C., on February 4, 1942, and was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton, Maryland.