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Alexander Berengaut

Alex Berengaut is a nationally recognized litigator and co-chair of the firm's Government Litigation practice. 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’s practice has focused on high-stakes disputes involving novel exercises of government power. For over four years, Alex has served as lead counsel to TikTok in defending against legal challenges to its operations in the United States, including by delivering the winning argument in 2020 that blocked a nationwide ban of the app hours before it was set to take effect. He also represented Xiaomi Corporation in challenging the Department of Defense designation that would have barred 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—a string of victories which resulted in Alex being recognized as Litigator of the Week, as well as a Law360 MVP in both the Cybersecurity & Privacy and the Technology categories.  

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.

Alex maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on trial-level indigent criminal defense and youth immigration matters. From 2017 to 2020, Alex represented the University of California in challenging the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, ultimately resulting in a 5-4 victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Covington’s Alex Berengaut and Kate Goodloe today hosted a webinar on the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (“CLOUD”) Act.  The CLOUD Act was signed into law in March and creates a new framework for government access to data held by technology companies worldwide.  The webinar, hosted with DataGuidance, is…
Continue Reading Covington Webinar: Examining the CLOUD Act

In a decision that defines how the Fourth Amendment applies to information collected in the digital age, the Supreme Court today held that police must use a warrant to obtain from a cell phone company records that detail the location and movements of a cell phone user.  The opinion in Carpenter v. United States limits the application of the third-party doctrine, holding that a warrant is required when an individual “has a legitimate privacy interest in records held by a third party.”

The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, emphasizes the sensitivity of cell phone location information, which the Court described as “deeply revealing” because of its “depth, breadth, and comprehensive reach, and the inescapable and automatic nature of its collection.”  Given its nature, “the fact that such information is gathered by a third party does not make it any less deserving of Fourth Amendment protection,” the Court held.
Continue Reading Supreme Court’s Carpenter Decision Requires Warrant for Cell Phone Location Data

Last summer, Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher who stopped the “WannaCry” malware attack, was arrested and charged for his role in allegedly creating and conspiring to sell a different piece of malware, known as Kronos.  As we have previously discussed on this blog, however, the indictment was notable for its…
Continue Reading Government’s Response to Malware Defendant’s Constitutional Challenge Falls Short

Last August, the Department of Justice arrested and indicted Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher who accidentally discovered the “kill switch” that stopped the “WannaCry” malware attack.  Hutchins was not charged for anything to do with WannaCry, but rather for creating and conspiring to sell a different piece of malware, the…
Continue Reading Malware Defendant Raises Constitutional Challenge to Indictment

On March 23, 2018, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (“CLOUD”) Act, which creates a new framework for government access to data held by technology companies worldwide.

The CLOUD Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, has two…
Continue Reading CLOUD Act Creates New Framework for Cross-Border Data Access