Covington Named Law360 Trials Group Of The Year

Law360 named Covington a Trials Practice Group of the Year, and the accompanying profile included commentary from John Hall about the factors that make Covington’s litigators successful trial lawyers.

John discussed how the firm’s global litigation practice prides itself on exceptional courtroom advocacy, along with the rigorous fact-finding, outstanding case management and creative legal arguments that allows for Covington to succeed at trial. He also focused on what sets Covington apart from other firms, something John calls the “Covington Plus” factor. “It is this thing that has always distinguished us,” he said. “Our close collaboration with our industry and regulatory enforcement specialists, working hand in hand with those folks to get the unique insights and to be able to make the very best arguments when we're standing up in court.”

The firm’s ability to take advantage of colleagues in specialty areas is another key to the litigation practice. John explained what makes this is possible: “We are truly one firm, a single-tier equity partnership with no origination credits. There are no individual clients at Covington. There are only firm clients, and because we don't have the internal jealousies and competition that tends to be generated by those compensation models, everything we do is designed to incentivize lawyers to bring the right person to the job," he said. “Otherwise, you couldn't have a system where you're asking regulatory lawyers to pair with litigators and come up with the very best arguments.”

According to John, this structure is what has allowed Covington to build a tremendous group of trial talent, and he believes the firm has one of the strongest cohorts of young litigation partners in the country because of this model.