Law360 Names Covington ‘Health Practice Group of the Year’
January 27, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC, January 27, 2012 — Law360 named Covington’s life sciences practice as of one of the top five “Health Practice Groups of the Year,” recognizing its substantial strengths across multiple practices in Asia, Europe and the United States.
Covington’s life sciences practice history dates back to the founding of the firm nearly a century ago. The firm’s industry group was “formally created about 15 years ago [and is] now a large, integrated outfit that draws on cross-disciplined attorneys with experience advising the full spectrum of life science companies across numerous practices,” Law360 noted in a profile published on January 20th.
As one of the largest and most comprehensive life sciences practices in the world, the group is comprised of more than 250 lawyers spanning three continents. The group relies on its extensive industry experience to deliver comprehensive, value-added advice to support life sciences clients on the full range of their legal matters, including regulatory, transactional, litigation and government investigations, intellectual property and competition matters.
In selecting Covington as one of the top health practice groups, Law360 cited several of the group’s life sciences-related achievements over the past year. These matters included the representation of Eli Lilly & Co. in a high-profile litigation with its alliance partner Amylin Pharmaceuticals and in the related settlement transaction that provided for the staged unwinding of the alliance on terms that included secured and other payments of up to $1.6 billion plus interest on certain deferred payments; advising King Pharmaceuticals Inc. in its $3.6-billion acquisition by Pfizer Inc.; representation of Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in its $300-million acquisition of Oceana Therapeutics Inc.; and the firm’s extensive work for Merck & Co., Inc. leading to a major litigation victory.
“Our team is pleased to be named a top health practice group of the year by Law360,” said Richard Kingham, a co-chair of Covington’s life sciences practice group. “Covington’s life sciences practice is considered among the best throughout the world because of our extensive industry experience and our integrated approach. We look forward to continuing to serve our life sciences clients in their pursuits in the United States, Europe, Asia and other emerging markets.”
More than 550 submissions from across the globe were reviewed by a committee of Law360 editors and five winners were selected for each practice area. Law firms were selected for top honors based on the significance, size and complexity of the matters they handled for clients over the past year.