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Dustin Cho

Partner

Washington +1 202 662 5458

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    Dustin Cho is a commercial litigator who focuses on representing corporate policyholders in coverage disputes with their insurers. He is a partner in Covington’s top-ranked Insurance Practice Group, which Chambers USA describes as “the pinnacle of policyholder representation across the USA.”

    Dustin has helped his clients obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance recoveries for a wide range of liabilities, including shareholder claims, mass torts, government investigations, professional liability, environmental remediation, employment claims, product liability, and antitrust claims. He also assists his clients in obtaining coverage for lost earnings, expenses, property damage, and other losses, including under cyber, property, event cancellation, and other insurance policies.

    Dustin is an experienced trial and appellate advocate, and has also helped his clients avoid litigation and successfully resolve coverage disputes through settlement negotiations and ADR. He has represented leading industry trade associations and other policyholder coalitions in appeals regarding important insurance issues.

    Dustin has been recognized by Law360 as one of the top insurance lawyers under 40 nationwide, and by Business Insurance for his “expertise,” “excellence in providing service,” and “effectiveness in leadership.”

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Prevailed for Merck in high-stakes litigation for property and business interruption coverage for losses arising out of the NotPetya malware. See, e.g., Merck & Co. v. Ace Am. Ins. Co., No. UNN-L-002682-18, 2022 WL 951154 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. Jan. 13, 2022); “Merck’s Insurers On the Hook in $1.4 Billion NotPetya Attack, Court Says,” Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2023. Argued for Merck before the trial court in opposition to the insurers’ lead summary judgment motion regarding whether the losses were excluded by the policies’ war exclusions.
    • Represents the National Football League in litigation regarding insurance coverage for concussion-related claims. Discover Prop. & Cas. Co. v. National Football League, No. 652933/2012 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.).
    • Successfully represented a Fortune 50 company in obtaining coverage for mass tort claims under Bermuda Form policies.
    • Successfully secured recoveries for a major sports organization for lost earnings and expenses arising out of COVID-19.
    • Successfully secured an insurance recovery for an Am Law 100 law firm for a claim by a former client.
    • Successfully represented a chemical manufacturer in connection with claims for property damage allegedly arising out of its products.
    • Successfully recovered insurance for a biotechnology company for alleged injuries arising from a manufacturing facility.
    • Achieved successful recoveries under D&O policies in connection with shareholder disputes.
    • Successfully obtained insurance recoveries for numerous government investigations.
    • Successfully obtained recoveries under multiple lines of coverage for antitrust claims.
    • Represents leading international consulting firms and government contractors in connection with coverage for claims arising out of services they provided to public and private sector clients worldwide.

    • Represented the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association as amicus curiae before the New York Court of Appeals regarding insurance coverage for settlements with the SEC. See J.P. Morgan Secs. Inc. v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 2021 N.Y. Slip. Op. 06528 (N.Y. 2021).
    • Represented the National Association of Manufacturers as amicus curiae before the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding insurance coverage for asbestos-related claims. See R.T. Vanderbilt Co. v. Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 216 A.3d 629 (Conn. 2019).
    • Co-lead trial counsel for Public Broadcasting Service in a 21-day evidentiary hearing in 2023 before the Copyright Royalty Board to determine the allocation of more than $850 million in cable television copyright royalties.
    • Successfully represented Public Broadcasting Service in an 18-day evidentiary hearing before the Copyright Royalty Board to determine the allocation of approximately $800 million in cable television copyright royalties among six parties, and successfully intervened to defend the award on appeal before the D.C. Circuit. See Distribution of Cable Royalty Funds, 84 Fed. Reg. 3552 (2019); Program Suppliers v. Copyright Royalty Board, 807 F. App’x 10 (D.C. Cir. 2020).
    • Represented media companies before the D.C. Circuit in appeals regarding FCC decisions. See, e.g., Free Press v. FCC, 735 F. App’x 731 (D.C. Cir. 2018); Tennis Channel, Inc. v. FCC, 827 F.3d 137 (D.C. Cir. 2016).

    Pro Bono

    • Represented a plaintiff whose conviction was vacated after fifteen years of allegedly wrongful imprisonment in a civil rights action against police and prosecutors in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. See Williams v. Connick, No. 12-1274, 2014 WL 172520 (E.D. La. 2014).
    • Represented plaintiffs challenging the pretextual addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census questionnaire. See Kravitz v. U.S. Department of Commerce, 366 F. Supp. 3d 681 (D. Md. 2019).

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • Harvard Law School, J.D., 2011
        • magna cum laude
        • Harvard Law Review, Articles, Book Reviews & Commentaries Chair
        • Ames Moot Court Competition, Finalist
    • Yale University, B.A./M.A., 2008
        • magna cum laude
        • Phi Beta Kappa
    Bar Admissions
    • District of Columbia
    • New York
    Judicial Clerkship
    • Hon. Debra Ann Livingston, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 2011 - 2012
    Accolades

    Areas of Expertise

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