Covington Named to The National Law Journal's 2021 "Appellate Hot List"

Covington Named to The National Law Journal's 2021 "Appellate Hot List"

November 1, 2021

WASHINGTON—The National Law Journal named Covington to its 2021 “Appellate Hot List.” Lawyers and law firms featured in the annual special report were recognized for “high-profile and high-stakes wins in the nation’s highest appellate courts across a number of practice areas—from Constitutional rights to immigration law to pharmaceutical and intellectual property disputes.”

Covington was recognized for a winning record that spans the U.S. Supreme Court, three state Supreme Courts, and multiple federal courts of appeals. It includes victories for, among others, the American Petroleum Institute, Boehringer Ingelheim, Consolidated Edison, Fox Corporation, McKesson Corporation, the National Football League, TikTok, Uber, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and Wells Fargo Bank.

Covington appellate victories included:

• Before the U.S. Supreme Court, we led a coalition of media entities that obtained review and reversal of a Third Circuit ruling blocking important reforms of the Federal Communications Commission’s media-ownership regulations. We also represented the University of California in the case striking down the Trump Administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.
• In State Supreme Courts, we won a California case addressing important tort standards for sexual abuse cases. In Delaware, we won significant cases affirming a $33 million insurance recovery and the dismissal of a derivative action seeking over $1 billion in damages. In Connecticut, we were victorious in upholding the first defense verdict in the Pradaxa litigation.
• In the federal Courts of Appeals, we obtained discretionary interlocutory appellate court review on class certification for McKesson under Rule 23(f), review of a federal preemption issue for Bank of America under Section 1292(b), and a win for the American Petroleum Institute in litigation regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuels regulations.
• Covington’s appellate lawyers played a key role in many pro bono matters that earned Covington first place in The American Lawyer’s 2021 Pro Bono Scorecard of firms with the most pro bono hours.

Covington’s Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation practice is led by Beth Brinkmann, with 25 Supreme Court arguments, and Robert Long, with 18 Supreme Court arguments. The practice includes more than 30 partners with subject matter expertise in such areas as administrative law and regulatory litigation, products liability, patent law, financial services, insurance, and class actions. The group includes four former Assistants to the Solicitor General of the United States, as well as lawyers who served as law clerks for each of the federal Courts of Appeals and more than a dozen lawyers who clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court.