After eight years as deputy assistant attorney general heading appellate litigation in the Justice Department’s civil division, Beth Brinkmann returned to private practice in 2017, co-chairing Covington & Burling’s appellate and U.S. Supreme Court practice.

With her previous experience in the Solicitor General’s Office and at Morrison & Foerster, Brinkmann argued in 24 Supreme Court cases up until 2008. So it was something of a homecoming when she argued and won her 25th case, Return Mail v. United States Postal Service, before the high court this year.