Peter Johnston

Peter Johnston is an associate in the firm’s San Francisco office. Peter helps clients navigate cutting-edge issues at the intersection of law and technology. Leveraging his seven years of experience as a senior software engineer, Peter advises clients on a wide range of technology transactions, technology regulation, data privacy, and cybersecurity matters.

Peter maintains an active pro bono practice, assisting nonprofits with corporate transactions and representing a nationwide class of transgender individuals challenging the Trump Administration’s passport policy.

Before joining Covington, Peter worked as a senior software engineer and tech lead at multiple high-growth San Francisco startups, where he led major infrastructure and data security projects.

Peter earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he taught federal courts and computer systems security, worked as a student attorney for the Cyberlaw Clinic, and served on the executive editorial board of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT). Peter published his student note in JOLT, exploring the intellectual property exception in the Communication Decency Act’s section 230.