In late August, Chinese technology company ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against President Donald Trump over an executive order in which he prohibited U.S. entities from transacting with ByteDance on national security grounds. To challenge the government’s order, ByteDance tapped Covington & Burling, which has a strong reputation in regulatory and enforcement practice as well as media and communications law.

ByteDance is one of many Chinese companies that are finding their ambitious global expansion plans in serious jeopardy as Sino-U.S. relations worsen. But as Chinese companies struggle with unpredictable—and unprecedented—political headwinds, their American lawyers are busier than ever. And the Chinese do not hesitate to go for the best.