WASHINGTON– Six Covington lawyers were named 2026 MVPs by Law360: Michael Nonaka (Banking), Jennifer Saperstein (Compliance), Alexis Dyschkant (Insurance), Christopher Sipes (Intellectual Property), Catherine Dargan (Life Sciences), and Peter Zern (Sports & Betting). The lawyers chosen “stand out from their peers by notching significant achievements in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-setting transactions,” according to Law360.
Michael Nonaka, co-chair of Covington’s Fintech Initiative and former co-chair of its Financial Services Group, advises banks, fintechs, and other companies on compliance, enforcement, transactional, and legislative matters. He counsels financial institutions on licensing, applications, and the formation of banks and trust companies; helps develop partnerships and innovative financial products; and advises on anti-money laundering, privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection, and supervision. Mike is based in the Washington office and was previously a Law360 Rising Star and is recognized by Chambers USA for Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance) and by Chambers FinTech for both Payments & Lending and Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies.
Jennifer Saperstein is the co-chair of Covington’s Chambers-ranked Anti-Corruption + Corporate Compliance practice. She advises leading companies on complex corporate compliance, anti-corruption, and ethics matters. Jennifer leads compliance workstreams in significant government enforcement matters and helps clients design and strengthen global compliance programs, including through technology-enabled compliance solutions. She also advises on anti-corruption due diligence and compliance integration in major transactions. Jennifer is based in Covington’s Washington office and was previously named a 2020 Rising Star by Law360.
Alexis Dyschkant is the vice chair of Covington’s Chambers-ranked Insurance Recovery practice and represents policyholders in high-stakes insurance coverage disputes. Her matters involve environmental liabilities, mass tort claims, PFAS, sex abuse claims, data center losses, business interruption losses, and cyber claims, and span civil litigation, arbitration, bankruptcy, and mediation. Alexis is based in Covington’s Washington office and was previously named a 2024 Rising Star by both Law360 and The National Law Journal.
Christopher Sipes is the co-chair of Covington’s Patent Litigation group. He has three decades of experience as a first-chair trial lawyer for major pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovators in high-stakes patent litigation, including Hatch-Waxman and biologics disputes, FDA exclusivity challenges, PTAB proceedings, method-of-treatment patent cases, and complex multi-defendant and multi-jurisdictional matters. Christopher is based in Covington’s Washington office and was named Highly Commended by Life Sciences IP Review for its Patent Litigator of the Year Award at the LSPN Awards 2026.
Catherine Dargan leads Covington’s Corporate practice and co-chairs its Mergers & Acquisitions practice. Based in Washington, she advises public and private companies, boards, and special committees on complex domestic and cross-border M&A, strategic transactions, and corporate governance, with particular experience in the life sciences sector. Her work spans transactions ranging from emerging-company deals to multibillion-dollar acquisitions. Catherine was named by Forbes among America’s Top M&A Lawyers in 2025 and one of America’s Top Women Lawyers in 2026, and by The American Lawyer as a Corporate Dealmaker of the Year in 2026 and 2022. Law360 previously named her a Life Sciences MVP in 2024, and Chambers USA has ranked her in Corporate/M&A and Private Equity for more than a decade.
Peter Zern, co-chair of Covington’s Sports practice, was named a 2026 Law360 Sports & Betting MVP, his second MVP honor following 2023. Peter advises the NFL, NBA, and other leagues, as well as teams, owners, investors, lenders, and sponsors on major sports transactions, including team acquisitions and sales, national media rights, and stadium financings. He also routinely advises on data and sports betting matters involving MLS, the NBA, and the WTA. He is based in Covington’s Washington office and has been named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Sports Power Lawyers and Sports Business Journal’s Outside Counsel Power Players.
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