Law360 named Covington a Compliance Practice Group of the Year, and the accompanying profile included commentary from Jay Smith, Jennifer Saperstein, and Steve Fagell.
Jay discusses Covington’s successful efforts helping the Can Manufacturers Institute by persuading the International Trade Commission (ITC) to reject the tariffs in February 2024, after domestic steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers union alleged that tin mill steel imports from eight countries were being sold at unfair prices to the detriment of U.S. steel production. Jay noted that the Can Manufacturers Institute's membership includes all major can manufacturers in the nation, and that the matter garnered heightened political scrutiny, with members of Congress testifying before the ITC on how the firm approached the matter.
Jay said Covington leveraged a variety of resources — including its public policy team, outside consultants and contributions from the consumer brands that buy the steel cans — to support the institute's argument that domestic producers had failed to make key product types, refused to supply requested volumes, and faced quality issues. "Our coalition that we were helping manage and work with was not just the can manufacturers. It also included their customers, and those customers were active on the media and government relations side, as well," Jay said. "That contributed to creating an environment in which the case could go our way." He added that it's difficult to win trade remedy cases before the ITC and recalled that Covington's clients asked whether they should invest the time and effort to "put their best foot forward" in this case. But the ITC found that the imports were not unfairly priced and were not injuring domestic industry. "The reasons that our clients were buying imports was because they had little alternative if they were to meet their customers' needs," he said.
Jennifer adds that the firm's regulatory compliance lawyers take a collaborative approach on cross-border issues, bringing together experts in different regulatory areas. "We're always going to find our clients the lawyer or combination of lawyers with the right expertise, no matter who receives the initial call," Jennifer said.
Highlighting the firm's representation of Inotiv Inc., Steve said it was an unusual case from the past year, but reflected the firm's expertise on cross-border matters. Steve noted that the case was unusual because of the specific statutes involved, the sensitivity of the subject matter and the length of the investigation, and because there were criminal charges filed in related cases, "which raised the stakes considerably." "I think we have unparalleled regulatory expertise across the board at Covington, and also in the animal welfare space," Steve said. "In addition, our white-collar team, of course — with its deep bench of experienced former prosecutors — is really unmatched when it comes to being able to handle complex cross-border investigations. This case was really a terrific example of that."
Steve also told Law360 that year after year, Covington stands out for its "unmatched" record of securing declinations — affirmations from investigating agencies that prosecution is not worthwhile or appropriate — in bet-the-company criminal and civil enforcement matters, as well as market-leading regulatory expertise and a culture of collegiality and collaboration. "Those three things — declinations, regulatory expertise, collegiality and collaboration — are constants, year in and year out at Covington, and this year was no different," he said.
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