They faced a formidable opponent—the U.S. government—and carried the burden of proof. Beyond that, their clients were immigrants at a time when deep nativist sentiment has shown itself in American politics. But a trial team from Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. overcame those challenges to persuade a New York jury that the federal government should return 47 luxury cars and $3.4 million in cash seized from a Chinese couple running an import-export business.
“It was harrowing,” said partner Benjamin Razi on a phone call from a train as he returned to D.C. Razi, a commercial litigator, led a team that included partner Bruce Baird, a white-collar criminal defense attorney, and associates Jon Dougherty and Andrew Leff.
