National Law Journal Names Covington DC Litigation Department of the Year

WASHINGTON—The National Law Journal has named Covington as its Washington Litigation Department of the Year for the second year in a row. The firm was also named White Collar department of the year at the annual National Law Journal Awards.

In The National Law Journal’s article, John Hall shared the firm’s approach to litigation and its strategy for building successful teams. “We combine tenacious courtroom advocacy with the ‘Covington plus factor’—deep regulatory knowledge, government enforcement experience, and political savvy,” he said. “We build great teams by structuring our internal incentives to promote collaboration and bring the right person to the job.

When discussing the White Collar Defense and Investigation practice’s biggest wins of 2020, Steve Fagell, co-chair of the practice, discussed how Covington reached its successful outcomes. “With an extraordinary year of courtroom victories, more than 20 DOJ or SEC declinations, and congressional investigations under the glare of an intense media spotlight, it's hard to pick one,” he said. Commenting on the firm’s track record with regulators in matters that were exhaustively investigated by the government over many years, Fagell observed that cases “for Roche and Alexion are perfect examples. Alexion faced a long-running, multi-country FCPA investigation, and Roche confronted a DOJ investigation related to allegedly illegal payments in Iraq splashed on the front page. Those and many other investigations ended with declinations."

The National Law Journal Awards recognize the top litigation and appellate work from the past year. The law firms honored "have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession - whether in shaping the law or achieving outsized results for their clients."