Covington & Burling doesn’t have a “star” culture, according to global litigation chair John Hall. There are no origination credits and few high-profile lateral hires. The goal, says Hall, is to always bring in the best person for the job.

“We are not a firm who has one big litigator whose name is at the bottom of 50 big cases,” Hall says. “We don’t have a star system at Covington and I’m sure we never will.”