When McKesson Corp. faced legal exposure over opioids, Covington & Burling didn’t just get a big win for the pharmaceutical distributor—it won three times.

In a groundbreaking victory, partner Paul Schmidt won a 2022 bench verdict in the first bellwether trial to target distributors of opioids. U.S. District Senior Judge David Faber of the Southern District of West Virginia found McKesson and two other pharmaceutical distributors had sufficient programs in place to monitor suspicious prescription orders.