Covington Announces Eight New Counsel

Covington Announces Eight New Counsel

April 5, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC, April 4, 2013 — Covington & Burling is pleased to announce the promotion of one lawyer to of counsel and seven lawyers to special counsel, effective April 1, 2013.

Muftiah McCartin, the new of counsel, is a member of the public policy and government affairs practice. Ms. McCartin’s distinguished public service career spans 34 years on Capitol Hill. She specializes in public policy initiatives and navigating legislation and amendments for conformity with House rules.

The new special counsel are as follows:

Martin Beeler focuses his practice on bankruptcy and restructuring. He represents debtors, creditors, indenture trustees, official and ad hoc committees, chapter 11 trustees and examiners, and other parties in interest in workouts, restructurings, and domestic and cross-border insolvency proceedings. His experience includes a broad range of areas, including distressed lending, distressed M&A, structured transactions, and policyholder rights in insurance insolvencies. Mr. Beeler also practices in the area of corporate finance.

Damara Chambers focuses her practice on national security law and international trade and investment matters. Ms. Chambers advises clients on a broad range of issues involving questions of national security, including in cases before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), in foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) reviews under applicable national industrial security regulations, and with respect to ongoing compliance with CFIUS and FOCI mitigation agreements. She also counsels companies on compliance with U.S. export controls and economic sanctions programs, providing advice on compliance, licensing, and enforcement actions.

Ben Haley focuses his practice on investigations and regulatory enforcement proceedings, with a particular emphasis on anti-corruption/FCPA, board committee, and securities enforcement investigations. In the anti-corruption/FCPA area, Mr. Haley regularly represents clients in DOJ, SEC, and internal investigations, and he has particular expertise in investigations involving customs and forensic accounting issues. Mr. Haley also has extensive experience representing special litigation committees and demand evaluation committees in connection with shareholder derivative litigation. Mr. Haley routinely manages complex eDiscovery projects, including large-scale, cross-border data collection and review.

Rick Longton specializes in complex pharmaceutical and chemical patent litigation in the U.S. district courts, including generic drug approvals, the Hatch-Waxman Act and agrochemicals. His experience includes matters involving pharmaceuticals, chemicals, chemical processes and biotechnology such as genetically modified plants and recombinant methods. He counsels clients on a range of intellectual property and litigation matters, including post-issuance proceedings before the United States Patent & Trademark Office, patent procurement, patent infringement, validity, enforceability and freedom-to-operate.

Zack Parks focuses his practice on election and political law. His expertise includes the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the Ethics in Government Act, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pay-to-play rules, and state and local campaign finance, gift, and lobbying laws. Mr. Parks routinely advises corporations and corporate executives on instituting political law compliance programs, provides compliance training for senior corporate executives and lobbyists, and conducts corporate internal investigations concerning campaign finance and lobbying law compliance.

Eve Pogoriler focuses her practice on communications and media. She advises media and communications clients in a variety of transactional, regulatory, and rulemaking matters and counsels broadcasting clients on First Amendment, libel, and newsgathering issues. She regularly advises clients on compliance issues, negotiates retransmission consent agreements, guides stations through the license renewal process, and counsels clients on issues including political broadcasting, mobile DTV, and the FCC’s multiple ownership rules.

Laura Sim is a member in the firm’s food & drug practice. She advises drug, biologic, and food manufacturers and trade associations on a range of regulatory and consumer protection issues, with a focus on drug safety, biosimilar regulation, product life cycle management, and the intersection of the drug, medical device, and food industries with laws administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.