Covington Announces New Counsel

Covington Announces New Counsel

April 1, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC — Covington has promoted eight lawyers to of counsel and eight to special counsel, effective April 1, 2016.

The new of counsel are as follows:

Stefanie Doebler (Washington) focuses her practice on health care compliance matters for pharmaceutical and medical device clients. She provides advice related to advertising and promotion, fraud and abuse, state law compliance and reporting regulations, interactions with health care professionals, clinical trial conduct and results disclosure, supply chain management, Medicaid price reporting, and other aspects of federal and state regulation of pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices.

Layth Elhassani (Washington) helps clients around the world navigate the U.S. political and regulatory landscape so they can achieve key business goals with his significant experience in the U.S. Congress and White House. Most recently Mr. Elhassani served as Special Assistant to President Obama in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs from 2012 to 2015, playing an important role in advocating for various Obama administration legislative priorities. Mr. Elhassani is a member of the North Carolina bar and is currently not admitted in the District of Columbia, but is supervised by principals of the firm.

Ben Haley (Washington) assists corporations and individuals in complex government enforcement matters and internal investigations. He has particular expertise with anti-corruption and FCPA matters, where he has guided a number of clients to successful resolutions of SEC and DOJ investigations. Complimenting his investigations practice, Mr. Haley regularly assists clients on a range of anti-corruption compliance issues, including by conducting risk and program assessments, providing advice in connection with proposed transactions, and assisting companies in building and strengthening their anti-corruption compliance programs and controls.

Kenny Henderson (London) focuses his practice on a wide range of contentious and quasi-contentious matters, including litigation before the English courts, arbitral proceedings and internal corporate investigations. Mr. Henderson is experienced in a broad variety of high stakes and complex disputes, frequently with a cross-border element. Mr. Henderson also advises clients on dispute mitigation strategies, to avoid or reduce potential litigation exposure resulting from commercially-driven decisions. He has significant experience in cybersecurity and trade secret matters, advising clients on pre-breach mitigation steps and post-breach responses.

Sarah Hoagland (Washington) focuses her practice on transactions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients, including licensing and collaboration arrangements, acquisitions and divestitures of pharmaceutical companies and products, marketing and co-promotion agreements, and supply and distribution transactions.

Ike Morinaga (Washington) advises domestic and international companies on issues ranging from corporate transactions to governance and compliance matters. Drawing on his prior experience as an international banker, Mr. Morinaga brings a unique, business-focused perspective to his legal advice.  He has considerable experience working with companies in the manufacturing, automotive, energy, and hospitality industries.

Zachary Parks (Washington) focuses his practice on election and political law. His expertise includes the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the Ethics in Government Act, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pay-to-play rules, and state and local campaign finance, gift, and lobbying laws. Mr. Parks routinely advises corporations and corporate executives on instituting political law compliance programs, provides compliance training for senior corporate executives and lobbyists, and conducts corporate internal investigations concerning campaign finance and lobbying law compliance. Mr. Parks also has extensive complex litigation experience, having litigated major environmental claims, class actions, and multi-district proceedings for financial institutions, corporations, and public entities.

Gina Vetere (Washington) provides clients public policy and legal counsel on international trade and intellectual property matters. She develops comprehensive strategies and tactical approaches, including building coalitions and direct advocacy of US and international policy-makers, to help clients solve cutting edge international trade and intellectual property issues.

The new special counsel are as follows: 

Alex Clarke (London) focuses his practice on finance transactions, but also includes mergers and acquisitions, securities private equity and private equity funds, as well as general corporate and commercial advice. He specializes in matters relating to debt finance and lending arrangements, including cross-border syndicated loans for investment grade borrowers and other clients, project finance, acquisition finance, security arrangements and general intra-group and inter-group loan agreements. Mr. Clarke has also advised a number of individual clients in relation to various lending transactions.

Tom Garten (Silicon Valley) represents global technology companies in a variety of complex intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on patent infringement disputes in federal courts and in Section 337 investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission. He also counsels clients on strategies for enforcing or defending against broad patent portfolios. Over the past decade, Mr. Garten has handled matters involving a number of different technologies, including wireless communications (IEEE 802.11), digital content sharing, video coding (MPEG-4), GPS tracking, semiconductor devices and structures, encryption, and computer telephony.

Tarek Khanachet (New York) advises clients across a broad range of complex international regulatory, government affairs and corporate matters focused on Turkey, the Middle East and Gulf States. From 2011 to 2013, he was resident in Saudi Arabia, advising the Economic Cities Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on regulatory development, as well as outsourcing and licensing transactions. Mr. Khanachet has extensive experience with government affairs and regulatory matters in the region - advising government entities as well as private companies on matters as diverse as treaty interpretation, trade policy and market access issues and blocks.

Derek Lawlor (Washington) assists corporations, nonprofit organizations, and trade associations with federal and state lobbying, campaign finance, and government ethics issues. Mr. Lawlor also represents clients in government investigations and inquiries conducted by the Federal Election Commission, Office of Congressional Ethics, and Congressional Committees and Commissions.

Brent Little (Washington) assists clients in structuring and negotiating financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions. His finance experience includes advising lenders, borrowers and investors in in secured and unsecured credit facilities, acquisition financings and venture capital investments. He also represents clients in the sports industry in a wide range of matters, including debt and equity financings, apparel, naming rights, sponsorship and mergers and acquisitions.

Jessica Milner (New York) is a patent attorney registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In her practice, she evaluates intellectual property issues and provides advice to entrepreneurs, investors, and emerging and established companies on the development and commercialization of technologies in a wide range of industries. She regularly conducts due diligence assessments and advises on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, corporate financings and other business transactions.

Helena Milner Smith (London) advises clients across a range of industries - including the technology and life science sectors - on all aspects of UK and international employment law compliance. Ms. Milner-Smith has particular expertise advising on the HR-legal aspects of multi-jurisdictional transactions. She also regularly assists clients seeking to protect their business and increase international compliance by designing and implementing global policies, employment contracts and restrictive covenants.

Kristian Shearsby (London) advises on a wide range of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private financings and public offerings. He has particular expertise in advising on deals in the life sciences, technology, media and mining industries.