Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling is a full-service firm with a strong presence in the life sciences space. The firm advises a number of companies in the industry in all aspects of financial legal matters, including corporate and venture capital offerings, transactions, and licensing agreements. A peer says the firm is “very strong” in the financial life sciences space with a “top tier’ group of attorneys.

Based in Washington DC, Catharine Dargan is a highly regarded life sciences practitioner and focuses her practice on advising both public and private companies in a variety of strategic transactions. Dargan was named this year’s LMG Life Sciences M&A Attorney of the Year.

Also located in the firm’s DC offices is Edward Britton, who focuses his practice on advising clients in a wide range of transactions, including joint ventures, licensing, and collaboration agreements. Van Ellis represents a number of biopharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and consumer care companies.

John Hurvitz is co-chair of the firm's life sciences industry group, as well as head of the technology transactions group. A peer calls him an "excellent practitioner with broad experience."

Life sciences group vice chair Emily Leonard is based in Redwood Shores and has particular expertise in the licensing and collaboration space.

DC-based firm Covington & Burling offers deep expertise in general patent litigation and Hatch-Waxman disputes. The firm is highly ranked for its strength handling Hatch-Waxman cases for branded drug companies.

George Pappas is a leading litigator in the life sciences sector, with deep experience in ANDA litigations. Notable representations include AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Christopher Sipes also stands out as one of the firm’s go-to practitioners for high-stakes life sciences disputes, offering experience in patent-related trials and appeals. Partner Jeffrey Elikan’s past representations in the pharmaceutical area include Invidior, UCB and Warner Chilcott against generic challenges.

Covington & Burling offers a broad-based practice in the life sciences space, with a deep bench of attorneys who contribute to the firm's longstanding reputation in regulatory counseling, transactions, patent litigation and white-collar matters. LMG Life Sciences currently recognizes 16 individuals from the firm as stars across the four main practice areas.

For regulatory work, one peer notes Covington is the "firm to beat" in the pharmaceutical space. Active in this group is Michael Labson, who is experienced advising major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with FDA-related issues. Pamela Forrest, a new addition to the stars list, has over 20 years of experience handling FDA matters for medical device clients. She advises clients throughout the entire life cycle including pre-market notification and approval, product recalls, and device labeling and promotion. In the pricing space, Geoffrey Hobart is active in FDA investigations involving issues related to the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Act and Medicaid Rebate statute violations.

The firm's IP team was recently involved in a matter deemed a Patent Impact Case of the Year, led by DC-based litigator Christopher Sipes. The case, Momenta Pharmaceuticals v Bristol-Myers Squibb, resulted in a precedential decision from the Federal Circuit regarding standing in an IPR appeal. Also in DC is George Pappas, who is a leading litigator in the life sciences sector, particularly for ANDA litigations. Notable representations include AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Jeffrey Elikan is another standout practitioner serving pharmaceutical clients in patent disputes against generic challengers.

For financial and corporate matters, a peer says the firm "has a strong subject matter expertise and is pragmatic in their approach." Emily Leonard serves as vice chair of the firm's life sciences industry group, and is one of the firm's go-to practitioners for licensing agreements and collaborations. Edward Britton and Van Ellis also contribute to the firm's licensing capabilities. John Hurvitz is vice chair of the corporate group and life sciences industry co-chair. He handles transactions for clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, med tech and diagnostics industries, among other areas. Catherine Dargan brings deep expertise in M&A and other financial matters.

The firm receives top ranking in government investigations and white-collar matters, and is also notable for its antitrust and product liability groups. Ethan Posner stands out as one of the firm's leading litigators in the white-collar space. Notable representations include Gilead Sciences, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Acclarent in government investigations. Michael Imbroscio co-chairs the product liability practice. In the past, he has litigated on behalf of major pharmaceutical clients in products suits, including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly.

Covington & Burling is an international, full-service firm with a deep bench of attorneys focused on life sciences clients. The firm handles a variety of regulatory matters, earning national rankings in the FDA area for both pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Michael Labson advises a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with FDA-related issues and his highlighted by one peer as a “really strong lawyer.” Among his recent work, Labson served as lead counsel for Genentech in a FDA hearing and testified on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in front of Congress. This year he was shortlisted by LMG Life Sciences for the top attorney award in the FDA Pharmaceutical area.

Geoffrey Hobart focuses his practice on defending a variety of clients in FDA investigations, which can involve issues related to the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Act, as well as Medicaid Rebate statute violations.

With over 20 years of experience, Pamela Forrest handles a number of FDA medical device matters. Forrest advises clients throughout the entire life cycle including pre-market notification and approval, product recalls, and device labeling and promotion.