LOS ANGELES/PALO ALTO— The Daily Journal has named Covington partners Kate Cahoy and Ashley Simonsen to its 2026 Top Women Lawyers list, a recognition of the top women lawyers in California.
Kate is a partner in Covington’s Palo Alto office and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Class Action Practice Group and Technology Industry Group. She defends clients in complex, high-stakes class action disputes involving privacy, antitrust, and consumer protection claims. Kate has significant experience litigating cases brought under California's Section 17200 and other consumer protection, competition, and privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and the Sherman Act, and has successfully represented clients in the technology, entertainment, consumer product, and financial services industries. She has received numerous recognitions for her work, including being named to Bloomberg Law’s They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40, one of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Most Influential Women, and one of the Daily Journal’s Top Antitrust Lawyers and Top Cyber Lawyers. This is her second consecutive year and third time being named one of the Daily Journal’s Top Women Lawyers.
A partner in Covington’s Los Angeles office, Ashley focuses on defending complex class actions and mass torts in state and federal courts nationwide. A frequent advocate in the Northern District of California and Los Angeles Superior Court, she represents clients across the technology, financial services, and consumer products sectors through all stages of litigation, including trial. Ashley has a strong track record of success on early dispositive motions, as well as at the class certification and summary judgment stages. She has been appointed to leadership roles in both federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) and California Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCPs). Her practice spans a broad range of high-stakes matters, including advertising, antitrust, consumer protection, and product liability disputes. She has received numerous recognitions for her work, including three Law360 MVP awards (Class Actions, Technology, and Banking) and inclusion in the Daily Journal’s lists of Leading Commercial Litigators, Top 100 Lawyers, and Top Women Lawyers in California. She has also been featured in Variety’s Legal Impact Report and named to Forbes’ America’s Top Lawyers and America’s Top Women Lawyers lists. This is her second time being named one of the Daily Journal’s Top Women Lawyers.
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