Covington To Open Boston Office With Broad-Based Life Sciences Capabilities

Covington To Open Boston Office With Broad-Based Life Sciences Capabilities

Prominent Life Sciences & Corporate Hire Joining Six Senior Lawyers Who Will Relocate

April 18, 2023

WASHINGTON—Covington will open a new office in Boston this spring, anchored by Megan Gates, who has joined the firm as a partner in its Securities and Capital Markets practice, and six current senior firm lawyers who will move to Boston.

“What sets Covington apart is our ability to combine the tremendous strengths of our corporate, transactional, litigation, and investigations practices with a deep knowledge of policy and policymakers, and one of the world’s leading regulatory practices,” said Doug Gibson, Covington’s chair. “This has made us a true powerhouse in life sciences, and it is why we have been a part of the Boston ecosystem through our strong network of clients in the region. We see tremendous opportunity to expand our current relationships in Boston and believe our unique combination of practices can also benefit Boston’s strong base of technology, financial services, and aerospace and defense companies.”

“Megan has deep experience developing and building client relationships and cultivating a practice in Boston,” added Catherine Dargan, chair of Covington’s Corporate practice. “She will be a tremendous asset to the office and the firm because of her deep ties in the local legal community.”

Megan guides publicly traded and late-stage private companies, primarily in the life sciences industry, through structuring and implementing capital-raising transactions, SEC reporting compliance and corporate governance obligations, and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Megan has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology sector. Her counseling is directly informed by a client-focused perspective she gained during a prior in-house counsel role with a global laboratory and analytical instrument maker.

Megan is also active in community organizations in Boston, including serving as a Board member of the Pine Street Inn and the Japan Society of Boston. She has also served in several leadership roles at the Boston Bar Association (BBA) and its Foundation, including as a member of the BBA Council and as Co-chair of the Business Transactions Section.

“I look forward to helping Covington launch and grow its new Boston office and expand its connections within the Boston community,” said Megan. “I have a true appreciation of Covington’s collaborative culture and broad regulatory offerings and look forward to the opportunity to better serve my clients through Covington’s unique practice mix.”

In addition to Megan, the following Covington senior lawyers will move to Boston:

• Pamela Forrest (Life Sciences Regulatory): Pam co-chairs Covington's global Medical Device practice, and has over 25 years of experience advising clients on a broad range of FDA regulatory issues. She regularly counsels medical device firms on complex market entry strategies, and is a trusted advisor on high stakes enforcement matters. Pam also works closely with private equity firms, and leverages her deep regulatory expertise to help assess regulatory risk in life sciences-related transactions.
• Sarah Griffiths (Capital Markets & Securities): Sarah counsels clients on a broad range of capital markets transactions and advisory matters, with particular experience in the life sciences, technology, and financial services industries. She regularly represents domestic and foreign private issuers, ranging from development stage to large public companies, and investment banks in initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, pre-IPO financings, investment-grade and convertible debt offerings, and private placements.
• Michael Labson (Life Sciences Regulatory): Co-chair of Covington’s global Life Sciences practice, Mike has been a trusted advisor to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients for over 25 years. He draws on his wide range of regulatory expertise to provide strategic and compliance advice and address FDA and other health care law issues in transactions, litigation, and investigations.
• Weishi Li (Life Sciences Transactions): Weishi has extensive experience advising life sciences companies in structuring and negotiating strategic collaborations and licensing arrangements, with particular expertise in cross-border transactions involving China. As a registered U.S. patent attorney with a Ph.D. in microbiology and substantial food and drug regulatory experience, Weishi has a deep understanding of the complex issues confronting the industry and is well-versed in helping clients tackling such issues.
• Mona Patel (White Collar): Mona has extensive experience representing clients in high-stakes large scale government investigations, internal investigations and workplace culture reviews, and advising clients on a broad range of compliance matters. She advises clients in the life sciences, defense, technology and manufacturing industries on a wide variety of white collar matters.
• Paul Rogers (Corporate): Paul has a broad-based corporate and securities transactional and advisory practice and focuses on mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, and corporate governance. He has particular expertise in the technology, aerospace, defense and national security, and government contracting industries. A significant portion of Paul's practice is focused on representing non-U.S. entities in acquisitions and divestitures of, and investments in, U.S. assets. Paul will continue to maintain a presence in our Washington office.