Covington & Burling

Annette joined Covington in September 2005. Annette is responsible for leading the firm wide Human Resources Function including, recruitment, professional development, attorney and alumni relations, staff compensation and benefits. Annette has more than 20 years of human resources experience in corporate businesses and law firms. She holds a post-graduate degree in personnel and development from the University of the West of England.

Chris has been with Covington since January of 2005. He leads the firm's marketing, client development and business development planning team. Chris has more than 25 years of professional services marketing and business development experience. His undergraduate degree in Political Science is from Brown University and his MBA is from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Linda has been with Covington since January, 2001. She leads the firm's finance and accounting team. Linda has 16 years of law firm financial experience. Her undergraduate degree in Economics is from Penn State and her MBA is from Virginia Tech. Linda is also a certified public accountant.

Todd has been with Covington since September of 2005 and leads the firm's practice technology and paraprofessional support functions. Todd practiced law and has over ten years of experience in practice support and technology management with several AmLaw 100 firms. Todd has his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree from the University of Houston.

John began his career with Covington in 1997. As the firm's Executive Director, John heads the administrative operations for all offices and oversees the integration and strategy of the non-lawyer professionals. John has worked for large law firms on the east and west coasts and has more than 15 years experience in law firm management. Prior to law firm management, John worked as a senior auditor for Arthur Andersen & Co. and as a CFO in the manufacturing industry. John holds a BFA liberal arts degree and BS and MAcc degrees in accounting and is a CPA.

Andrew Byrnes is a partner at Covington & Burling, an international full-service law firm, practicing intellectual property and commercial litigation. Mr. Byrnes's law practice has included representing some of America's most innovative companies and individuals in the software, semiconductor, telecommunications and internet sectors, in patent and complex commercial disputes, and in intellectual property transactions. In addition, he has represented pro bono a Chinese asylum applicant, an elderly victim of a predatory lender, a voter who used a DRE voting machine, and Compassion in Dying, among others. Mr. Byrnes is also active in charitable and political causes. He is a committed volunteer for cystic fibrosis education and patient support, and organ donation and transplantation awareness. In 2006, he was elected Chair of the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee (DCC), then the youngest DCC chair in California. In 2007, Mr. Byrnes received the California Democratic Party's John F. Kennedy, Jr. Award for Outstanding Public Service. He is presently a member of the Executive Board, Finance Committee, and Finance Council of the California Democratic Party. Mr. Byrnes received his B.A., with honors and distinction, in political science from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School magna cum laude.

Eric H. Holder, Jr., is a partner at Covington & Burling and a Washington, DC resident. He specializes in complex civil and white-collar litigation and domestic and international advisory matters, among other things. Prior to joining Covington, Mr. Holder was Deputy Attorney General of the United States, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, an Associate Judge for the DC Superior Court, and a prosecutor in the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section. Mr. Holder's community activities include service on a number of philanthropic boards in addition to the Meyer Foundation, including Save the Children. He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees and is featured in The Best Lawyers in America 2007 for Bet-the-Company Litigation. Mr. Holder was born in New York City. He attended public schools there, graduating from Stuyvesant High School where he earned a Regents Scholarship. He attended Columbia College and Columbia Law School, from which he graduated in 1976. While in law school, he clerked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. Mr. Holder lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Sharon Malone, an obstetrician, and their three children.

Laura E. Muschamp is a partner in the firm's San Diego office. Her practice emphasizes litigation in the area of electrical engineering. She has litigated cases involving memory devices, power conversion circuits, analog-to-digital converters, microprocessors, communication protocols, semiconductor process technology, packaging, malware, and internet business models.

Judy has been with Covington since January 2000. She has been a law firm manager for 18 years and has a degree in business administration.

Naved has been with Covington since 1999. He opened the first regional office for Covington in California. Naved has more than 25 years of experience in law firm administration. His undergraduate degree is from the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California and his graduate degree is from New York University.

Mr. Cooper is a counsel for Covington and Burling, one of the world's largest international law firms. He advises on European privacy and data protection matters, as well as contentious and non-contentious intellectual property work and e-commerce issues. Mr. Cooper heads up the firm's London privacy and security practice, and advises clients on compliance with UK and European data protection and privacy legislation, including the UK Data Protection Act, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Human Rights Act, and related EU directives, such as the EU Data Protection Directive and EU Electronic Communications Data Protection Directive. He has previously advised on privacy law and anti-doping procedures, and the practices of pharmaceutical companies in clinical trials.

Harris Weinstein is a senior counsel at the law firm of Covington & Burling. His practice focuses on complex civil litigation, and his recent cases have included private and government suits under securities and banking laws, claims of breach of rail transportation contracts, infringement and other questions under the patent laws, and defense of actions brought by self-styled animal rights activists. He has appeared in federal district courts throughout the country and has argued appeals in a majority of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. He has also argued nine cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Weinstein served as Chief Counsel of the Office of Thrift Supervision in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. From 1967 to 1969, he was an assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier, he was a law clerk to Judge William H. Hastie, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1961-1962. He was a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, 1982-1990, and was chairman of the Conference's Committee on Government Processes, 1985-1990.

I started at Covington in the firm's Employment Practice. The work was varied, interesting and challenging. Amongst other things, I prepared first drafts of many different types of agreement, helped prepare for and attended employment tribunals, was involved in obtaining a without notice injunction in the High Court against an employee of a publicly-traded US company, prepared the first draft of a paper that my supervisor presented at a conference on corporate social responsibility held in Barcelona and had constant direct client contact in the form of meetings, conference calls, phone calls, emails and lunches. During my second seat, in the firm's Corporate Practice, I had the opportunity to work for a wide variety of clients, including a state-owned company based in Africa that is the world's largest exporter of phosphates and phosphate derivatives, a prolific Italian fashion house, a wireless telecommunications research and development company based in California and large pharmaceuticals and health care companies. Recently, I traveled alone to Barcelona on a work assignment for a client active in the power and gas industries.

Former Maryland Congressman Michael D. Barnes acted as President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control) and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence), for six years with his term ending in July of 2006. Continuing a long career of public service he will remain involved as President Emeritus and Senior Advisor to the Board. From 1979 to 1987, Mr. Barnes served in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his tenure, he chaired the House Sub-Committee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, championing human rights and democracy as civil wars raged in Central America. Mr. Barnes also led the national fight against drunk driving, working closely with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. A former Marine, Mr. Barnes graduated from the University of North Carolina and received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School. After leaving Congress, Mr. Barnes continued to involve himself in national and international issues as a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson. He served as the principal international advocate for the successful restoration of democracy in Haiti, and as counsel for the governments of Chile, Cyprus, Panama and South Korea. He also served as Chairman of the Center for National Policy; as Co-Chairman of the NAFTA Congressional Caucus and Forum; as Co-Chairman of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Programme; and as Chairman of the U.S.-Panama Business Council. During his six-year tenure, Mike shepherded the merger with the Million Mom March Chapters to help make our movement stronger and more effective. He oversaw our name change from Handgun Control, Inc. to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence to the Brady Center. Mike also led a dramatic expansion of the Brady Center's litigation against the gun industry, leading to precedent-setting victories in the courts of New Jersey, Ohio and Indiana, court-ordered reform of gun dealers in California, and over $4 million in damages recovered for gun violence victims.

My first seat was in the Food & Drug group. In my very first week I was assigned to a project to advise a major pharmaceutical company on the enhancement of its global compliance policies and procedures. I was seconded to the client's offices for one month to conduct an investigation into the extent and quality of their existing policies. This work involved a lot of responsibility and client contact as I had to give the client's managerial team regular updates on the progress of my investigation and advise on how their existing policies could be enhanced and streamlined. I found that the work you are given as a trainee in the Food & Drug group is varied, interesting and challenging. I prepared a memorandum for a major consumer goods company on the regulation of dietary supplements. I also assisted in advising several leading pharmaceutical companies on the introduction of new medicines and medical devices to the UK and EU markets. Towards the end of my seat I conducted a multi-country survey into clinical trial compensation requirements. This project was particularly challenging as I had to instruct local counsel in over 25 jurisdictions and coordinate the survey results with all parties. My second seat was in the Corporate group. During my first month I was involved in preparing listing documents for the initial public offering of an African mining company, which involved attending several all-party meetings to discuss and negotiate the prospectus documents, marketing, funding and the timeline for the listing. I also managed a project for a leading US designer and manufacturer of access equipment and machinery to change the directors of various subsidiaries in several jurisdictions. I had to instruct local counsel in the foreign jurisdictions to prepare the resolutions and board minutes required to change the directorships. This project has been an excellent way to improve my communication and client management skills, as I would frequently receive queries from local counsel and the client that required quick action and response. I enjoyed the level of responsibility and client exposure that I was given in managing this project.

Sarah Bannister joined CLC in February 2008 as a staff attorney for the Family Permanency Project (FPP). She is on loan from the Washington, DC-based firm, Covington & Burling, LLP. She is a second year associate in the corporate practice group at Covington & Burling LLP. Sarah received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School in May 2006. During law school, Sarah was a Notes Editor on The George Washington University Law Review, published a Note addressing the employment status of science and engineering graduate students under the National Labor Relations Act and worked as a summer intern for Judge Richard J. Leon on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. From 2002-2003, Sarah was a AAAS Diplomacy Fellow in the State Department's Office of International Women's Issues. Before law school, Sarah received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and worked for DuPont's Central Research and Development division.

Mr. McLarty is president of Kissinger McLarty Associates, an international advisory firm formed in partnership with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and chairman of the board of the McLarty Companies, a family?owned transportation business. He serves on the board of Union Pacific Corporation and IdleAire Technologies Corporation, both publicly held companies. He is also senior advisor to The Carlyle Group private equity firm and a senior advisor to the law firm of Covington & Burling. Mr. McLarty served in the White House under President Clinton in several key positions including chief of staff, counselor to the president and special envoy for the Americas, with over five years of service in the President's Cabinet and on the National Economic Council. He worked with President Carter as a member of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed to the National Petroleum Council and the National Council on Environmental Quality by President Bush, and served on the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board from 1989 until joining the Clinton administration in 1992. Prior to his tenure in the White House, Mr. McLarty served as chairman of the board of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. He began his business career with the McLarty Companies, where he helped build the business into one of the nation's largest transportation companies. Mr. McLarty is a senior international fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas.

During my first seat, with the corporate group, I was involved in researching the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) rules for companies and nominated advisors; advising on post-listing compliance; conducting due diligence and carrying out contract reviews. During that time I assisted with the AIM listing of an African mining company which gave me a good overview of what's expected from a corporate lawyer. As the legal advisor to the listing company, Covington dealt with the drafting of the admission document and I was involved in attending and assisting in meetings and drafting emails to the client and nominated advisors, as well as providing support in the drafting of the main admission document. My second seat was split between the tax and employment groups. As a result, I have benefited from a broad range of experience in several areas, which counts for a lot when you are still learning the ropes. As many of the firm's clients are multinational companies, tax work often involved a cross-border element. The London tax department works closely with colleagues in Washington DC, Brussels and New York and I was asked to carry out various pieces of foreign jurisdiction work. One of the projects I was involved in was research of European VAT law and customs regulations for pharmaceutical goods. I had to prepare a presentation on the research which was then given in Brussels to the CFO of a major international company. I would be lying if I said this did not give me a certain buzz! All in all, I covered a wide range of areas such as Stamp Duty, Capital Gains, VAT, Corporation Tax, Income Tax, North Sea Oil Taxation and employee benefits. I enjoyed the breadth of this work and found the responsibility that came with the seat both challenging and satisfying. In my employment seat I was asked to prepare contract drafts - from compromise agreements to employment contracts - which really helped me to improve my legal writing skills. My work for the employment group provided a great deal of variety, from pensions to dismissals and from immigration to tribunal work. The nature of the employment practice meant that there were many opportunities for trainees to have a hands-on role in liaising with clients and responding to client queries.

Tracey joined the London office of Covington in May 2006. She manages the administrative and operational areas for the firm's London Office. Tracey has in excess of 20 years experience managing law firms, most recently working alongside the partners of a leading City practice as their Practice & IT Manager for 10 years before joining Covington.