Covington Lands Former DOJ Foreign Investment Review Head

Global Competition Review profiled Devin DeBacker joining Covington as a partner, bolstering the firm’s CFIUS and national security capabilities. Devin previously led the foreign investment review section within the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, where he was responsible for DOJ’s participation in CFIUS, Team Telecom, and related national security matters.

David Fagan, co chair of Covington’s CFIUS practice, said that Devin “has been at the forefront of national security matters across multiple administrations” and that his experience will be “an invaluable asset to clients as they navigate the intersection of national security, geopolitical risk, regulatory oversight, and commercial transactions.”

Devin also told Global Competition Review that his return to private practice will allow him to “bridge that gap” between economic interests and national security concerns, adding that one of the reasons he joined Covington was the firm’s involvement in “many of the most complex and important and headline grabbing matters” his DOJ office handled, as well as its “atypically deep” understanding of government national security interests.