William Covington

William Covington is a Teaching Professor and directs the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic (Tech-Law Clinic) at the University of Washington School of Law. A graduate of New York University (1972) and the University of Michigan School of Law (1977), Covington has spent over twenty-five years working in technology-driven fields. He has served as regulatory counsel for Group W Cable and later in a similar capacity with McCaw Cellular Communications. Covington leads lobbying efforts, wrote or assisted in the writing of over twenty land use laws, served on numerous commissions and frequently appeared before federal, state and local regulatory bodies where he worked to create regulatory structures which balance public sector-private sector interests.

The Tech-Law Clinic provides students the opportunity for in-depth study of an area where technology and public policy converge. In the last five years Tech-Law clinicians have: drafted an Executive Order establishing Washington State’s Office of Privacy and Data Security; composed several bills regulating the testing of connected and autonomous vehicles; assisted the City of Bellevue and the University of Washington in assembling regulations governing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones”); and assisted Washington State’s Chief Privacy Officer in crafting legislative proposals on the use of biometric data. Covington has co-chaired UW Law’s Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and was a founding board member of the Washington State Bar Association’s Limited License Legal Technician program. He received the Dean’s Medal for Service in 2013.