Alexander A. Berengaut

Alex Berengaut is a nationally recognized litigator and co-chair of Covington’s Government Litigation practice group. He has served as lead counsel in a range of commercial disputes and government enforcement proceedings, and currently represents several leading technology companies in litigation and compliance matters relating to data privacy, platform liability, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

In recent years, Alex obtained a series of landmark victories against the federal government in bet-the-company disputes for technology clients. Alex represented TikTok in challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to ban the app, delivering the winning argument that led the court to enjoin the ban hours before it was set to take effect. He also represented Xiaomi Corporation in challenging the Department of Defense designation that would have blacklisted the company from U.S. financial markets, delivering the winning argument that led the court to enjoin the designation, restoring $10 billion to Xiaomi’s market capitalization.

At the state level, Alex has successfully challenged unconstitutional state legislation and defended against state consumer protection actions. He obtained an injunction blocking Montana’s law banning the TikTok platform, and he secured the outright dismissal of multiple State AG consumer protection lawsuits relating to data privacy and security—a string of victories which resulted in Alex being recognized as Litigator of the Week. 

Alex has served as counsel to Microsoft Corporation in precedent-setting cases involving government surveillance issues, including Microsoft’s landmark challenge to the government’s attempt to compel disclosure of customer emails stored in Ireland using a search warrant; Microsoft’s First Amendment challenge in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to restrictions on disclosures about government surveillance; and Microsoft’s constitutional challenge to the statute that allows courts to impose gag orders on technology companies, resulting in nationwide reform of the government’s practices under the statute.