WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Covington & Burling LLP announced today that four highly regarded and seasoned antitrust litigators are joining the firm.
John Nields, Alan Wiseman, Andrew Lazerow and Jason Raofield, all partners from Howrey LLP, will be resident in Covington’s Washington office effective Monday.
“This group significantly expands the depth and breadth of our antitrust and white collar defense practices,” said Timothy Hester, chair of Covington’s management committee. “It builds on Covington’s plan to strengthen an already outstanding litigation team in both the United States and Europe.”
- Mr. Nields, one of Washington’s most highly regarded lawyers and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, handles high-profile antitrust, commercial, and white-collar litigation matters. He has focused in particular on representing companies in the life sciences sector, notably securing dismissal of an FTC antitrust challenge to a pharmaceutical company’s settlement of two patent lawsuits. Mr. Nields, a former federal prosecutor, has extensive experience in white-collar criminal matters and congressional inquiries, having served as chief counsel of the House committee investigating the Iran-Contra scandal. Mr. Nields was the co-chair of Howrey’s white-collar defense practice.
- Mr. Wiseman has extensive trial and appellate litigation experience in a broad array of antitrust and commercial matters. Mr. Wiseman also advises clients in mergers and acquisitions, antitrust grand jury investigations, and cross-border investigations. He currently represents a major railroad in a multidistrict class action alleging price fixing of freight fuel surcharges. In another class action case, he is defending a leading freight forwarder against price-fixing allegations. He has been identified by Global Competition Review as one of the world’s leading competition lawyers. Mr. Wiseman was co-chair of Howrey’s antitrust practice.
- Mr. Raofield focuses on antitrust and commercial litigation. He has handled matters in a variety of industries, with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical sector. He successfully represented a pharmaceutical company in a landmark antitrust case brought by the FTC and has represented pharmaceutical companies in securities fraud and licensing disputes. He also recently defended a major computer components manufacturer in a monopolization case brought by its primary rival, as well as another client in a monopolization investigation by the Department of Justice.
- Mr. Lazerow litigates and tries complex matters in federal court. He has extensive experience representing clients in numerous industries in antitrust class actions, securities fraud class actions, and other complex commercial disputes. He represented a pharmaceutical company in consolidated class action litigation involving allegations of sham litigation.
“The circumstances of this move are difficult, but we can imagine no better firm to join than Covington,” Mr. Wiseman said. “We expect to work seamlessly with Covington’s exceptionally talented litigators in the antitrust, white-collar, and complex commercial litigation fields. Given my background in the antitrust area, I particularly look forward to joining Covington’s global antitrust team led by Tom Barnett and Deborah Garza.”
Covington & Burling LLP, an international law firm, provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory expertise to enable clients to achieve their goals. Founded in 1919, the firm has more than 800 lawyers and offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC.