American Lawyer Names Covington Products Liability Litigation Department of the Year
January 13, 2020
WASHINGTON—The American Lawyer has named Covington as its Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year for the second time. The firm was also recognized as a finalist for the White Collar Department of the Year and “honorable mention” for general Litigation Department of the Year.
In its profile, The American Lawyer highlights Covington’s product liability team as an asset to clients and lauded its strategic excellence at all stages of a matter. The profile also recognizes Covington’s recent successes in the face of the major exposure that these matters represented for its clients.
Michael Imbroscio, co-chair of the firm’s Product Liability and Mass Tort practice, told the magazine, “In many ways, our group is a microcosm of our firm more broadly. Most of the cases in this space … involve multiple firms aligned to help a particular client in a major problem. There are different firms that play different roles. What we’re known for is working really well in that setting, because of our culture, because of our collegiality.”
The American Lawyer notes Covington’s major victory for Hoffmann-La Roche when it convinced the New Jersey Supreme Court to expressly apply modern standards for expert admissibility, resulting in the dismissal of 2,100 cases in New Jersey. Since 2002, Covington has prevailed in sixteen appeals in the Accutane litigation, affirming every trial court judgment for Roche and reversing every adverse jury verdict that received appellate review, wiping out nearly $100 million in adverse judgments.
The firm also represented Boehringer Ingelheim when its blood thinner, Pradaxa, was accused of causing serious or even fatal bleeding in patients. Facing nearly 3,000 lawsuits in Connecticut state court, Boehringer turned to Covington to try the first three bellwether trials to defense verdicts.
The firm’s products group was also set to lead McKesson’s trial defense of its first opioid trial in Cleveland, with the firm playing a key role in crafting the opioid litigation settlement that avoided that trial.
In describing the firm’s practice, Eli Lilly and Company’s head of litigation, Chris Gramling shared with The American Lawyer, “Covington’s strategic excellence extends from early pre-suit counseling to critical litigation and trial work. Its experienced, collaborative and diverse teams continue to achieve impressive results for numerous clients in their most sensitive matters.”
Covington’s product liability team regularly handles high-profile mass tort matters that require a sophisticated strategic litigation defense, strong trial skills, and outstanding appellate abilities. The firm currently serves as lead counsel in a wide range of matters across many industries, including life sciences, food and beverage, and agriculture.
The American Lawyer profile can be found here.
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