Covington was one of two Biglaw firms — the other being Debevoise & Plimpton — that wrote a 59-page report detailing the results of an internal investigation, done on behalf of CBS, into the sexual misconduct allegations against former CEO Les Moonves. Then, in December of 2018, a draft of the report was leaked to The New York Times. Now, CNBC is reporting that Covington is on the hook for a settlement with Moonves.
According to reports, it was found that Covington failed to protect the identities of witnesses interviewed during the course of the investigation. The settlement is thought to be in the low eight figures, and the parties have confirmed at least some of the details, as reported by Law.com:
CBS and Moonves issued a joint statement on May 14 saying “Leslie Moonves, CBS and a contractor to CBS have resolved their disputes” and that “The cost of the settlement will be borne by the contractor. Mr. Moonves has decided to contribute the entire settlement amount to various charities. There will be no further comment regarding this settlement by Mr. Moonves or CBS.”
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Moonves has also dropped his lawsuit against CBS seeking $120 million in severance.
Lest you think the other Biglaw firm that was part of the investigation may be the “contractor” bearing the cost of the settlement, Debevoise has a statement of their own:
Debevoise issued a statement that the firm “is not party to any agreements with any parties concerning its work for CBS, and no one connected to the firm leaked any confidential information related to our work for CBS.”
Covington has, thus far, remained surprisingly mum on the issue.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).