On the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his invasion of Ukraine, lawyers from Covington & Burling were in The Hague, fighting the Russian Federation to force payment of compensation for its 2014 seizure of Crimea-based assets of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company, Naftogaz.

David Pinsky of Covington & Burling. Courtesy photo

While he was giving his opening statement, lead counsel David Pinsky—a partner in Covington’s New York office—noticed his client was staring at his phone. When he concluded his statement, he asked him what had taken his attention.