Covington & Burling LLP | Practices, Industries & Regions

Covington has a 30-year record of successfully assisting corporate and other policyholders in maximizing their insurance coverage for a wide variety of claims. To date, we have helped our policyholder clients recover well in excess of $10 billion. Our successes include numerous recoveries in excess of $100 million, including recoveries ranging from $750 million to $1.5 billion each for Armstrong and Owens Corning for asbestos claims, Dow Corning for breast implant claims, and Exxon for the Valdez grounding.

Our policyholder practice group was recently singled out by Chambers USA and presented with the Chambers Award for Excellence. This is the first time that Chambers USA has conferred this national award, which was given to only one firm's insurance coverage practice in the US. In addition, the 2007 edition of Chambers USA gave our practice group a top-tier national ranking, emphasizing Covington’s role in the “vanguard of insurance coverage litigation.” According to Chambers USA, clients say “[Covington’s] sophisticated presence immediately makes an impact on a case,” and peers refer clients to our firm because we are “the obvious first choice in difficult situations.” Chambers USA reported: “This ‘intellectually superb’ group is consistently recognized for its work in negotiation and settlement, although when called upon, these attorneys do flex their trial muscles. [C]lients appreciated its ability to ‘pull together comprehensive teams’ on the largest and most complex matters.” It also singled out for recognition ten of our individual coverage lawyers -- more than any other policyholder firm -- including five in the national category.

The Legal 500 has given our policyholder coverage practice top-tier rankings in both the US and the UK. It has reported that “Covington & Burling is widely perceived as the leading policy holder firm in the US and is fast building a similar reputation in London.” It has also noted that our firm particularly “excels in representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes relating to natural disasters.”

We have achieved coverage victories in trial and appellate courts, and domestic and international arbitrations. We also have a leading US and international practice in helping policyholders reach negotiated settlements with their insurers. A significant portion of our practice involves advisory work designed to position our clients favorably in future coverage disputes or to avoid such disputes altogether. Our policyholder coverage lawyers are located in our London, New York, San Francisco and Washington offices.

Representative Matters

We are currently handling hundreds of ongoing coverage matters ranging from advice on discrete questions to major litigation. Listed below are just a few of our current engagements.

Representing Merck for Vioxx Coverage. We are representing Merck in a London arbitration involving insurance coverage for claims relating to Vioxx.
Challenging Solvent Schemes Of Arrangement. We are assisting a number of clients including Exxon Mobil Corporation, Goodrich, Goodyear and Textron in opposing efforts by solvent London Market companies to use so-called "solvent schemes of arrangement" to curtail their coverage obligations to policyholders facing long-tail liabilities, such as asbestos, silica or environmental claims. We have recently won two key victories in UK courts challenging solvent schemes of arrangement.
Asbestos Coverage Litigation and Settlements. We are representing or have recently represented a number of clients, including Foster Wheeler L.L.C., Garlock Sealing Technologies L.L.C, Howden Buffalo, The Marley-Wylain Company and SPX Corporation, in litigation and settlement of insurance coverage for asbestos-related bodily injury claims.
D&O Coverage Litigation. We are representing Adelphia Communications in litigation over D&O coverage and rescission claims.
Hurricane Losses. We are assisting a number of large- and medium-size businesses regarding coverage for losses sustained in Hurricanes Frances and Katrina.