Covington & Burling LLP operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide, with the practice in England and Wales conducted by an affiliated
limited liability multinational partnership, Covington & Burling LLP, which is formed under the laws of the State of Delaware in the United States
and authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 77071..
Neil Roman has nearly 40 years’ experience litigating a wide range of civil matters, including trademark, copyright, insurance coverage, and general commercial cases for clients across the U.S.
Neil has represented clients in high-profile, high-stakes matters, including:
the World Trade Center insurance coverage litigation;
the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation;
the Takata airbag litigation; and
the national opioid litigation.
Neil has tried two trademark infringement cases, one against clothing manufacturer and retailer Quiksilver, winning a multi-million dollar jury verdict, and one on behalf of a Washington, DC area automobile dealership, winning a permanent injunction.
Neil’s longstanding clients have included the National Football League, for which he served for over a decade as lead national copyright litigation counsel, and the American Automobile Association, for which he has served as lead national trademark litigation counsel since 2004.
Neil also has an active pro bono practice, including representing Leigh Corfman in her defamation action against former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate Roy Moore. Neil was a leader of the team that tried that case in 2022 to an Alabama state court jury. The jury found that Ms. Corfman did not defame Mr. Moore when she accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a 14-year-old high school freshman and he was a 32-year-old district attorney.
Neil served as the Managing Partner for Legal Personnel of the Washington office for a firm-record 12 years and as hiring partner for five years.
A native New Yorker, Neil spent nearly five years in Covington’s New York office before relocating in early 2020 to the Washington office where he started his career.
Neil has been recognized by Washington DC Super Lawyers for IP Litigation from 2013-2020, and Legal 500 US for Intellectual Property - Trademarks: Litigation from 2012-2017 and Marketing and Advertising in 2014.
Neil also serves as an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law, where he teaches a pretrial civil litigation course.
Represented clients in trademark matters, including Select Auto Imports v. Auto Sales, No. 1:15-CV-00679 (E.D. Va.), and QS Wholesale, Inc. v. World Marketing, Inc., No. 8:12-cv-00451 (C.D. Cal.), in both of which Neil served as lead trial counsel.
Represented clients in insurance coverage matters, including National Presbyterian Church, Inc. v. GuideOne Mutual Insurance Co., 2015 WL 571655 (D.D.C. 2015), where Neil served as lead counsel and argued and won the key pretrial motion.
Represented clients in copyright matters, including National Football League v. PrimeTime 24 Joint Venture, 211 F.3d 10 (2d Cir. 2000), arguing successfully on an issue of first impression before the Court of Appeals, and 131 F. Supp. 2d 458 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), serving as lead trial counsel and winning statutory fee award on remand, and CBS, Inc. v. PrimeTime 24 Joint Venture, 9 F. Supp. 2d 1333 (S.D. Fla. 1998), serving as co-lead counsel and winning judgments following evidentiary hearings.
Represented clients in antitrust matters, including In re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1827 (N.D. Cal.), and White v. National Football League, 41 F.3d 402 (8th Cir. 1994), following which Neil represented the NFL in player matters for years, including in evidentiary proceedings before special masters under the collective bargaining agreement between the League and the NFL Players Association.
Represented clients in other civil litigation matters, including In re Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos Human Rights Litigation, 536 F.3d 980 (9th Cir. 2008), where he made an appellate argument and took the deposition of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and others.
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