2022 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Hogan Lovells

 Hogan Lovells is a global megafirm with more than 50 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The firm boasts more than 2,800 lawyers, making it one of the largest firms around.

The Making of a Megafirm

Hogan Lovells was formed in 2010 by the merger of DC’s Hogan & Hartson and London’s Lovells. Hogan & Hartson traced its roots to 1904, the year when trial lawyer Frank J. Hogan hung out a shingle in the nation’s capital. Nelson Hartson, an IRS attorney, joined Hogan in 1925. Hogan & Hartson became known for its government, regulatory, and tax work and also developed strengths in litigation, transactional law, and intellectual property. The firm did not venture beyond the Beltway until 1984, but once it did, expansion came rapidly. By the time of the Lovells merger in 2010, Hogan & Hartson had grown to include more than two dozen offices in a dozen countries.

Hogan & Hartson had a long history, but Lovells’ was even longer. The firm dated to 1899 when its predecessor firm was established in London by John Spencer Lovell. The firm then underwent pivotal mergers in 1966, 1988, and 2000 and eventually became known by one name: Lovells.

Blazing Privacy Trails and Health Care

Hogan Lovells focuses on three major practices: corporate & finance; global regulatory & intellectual property, media, and technology; and litigation, arbitration, and employment. Industries the firm handles run the gamut from aerospace and automotive to energy and financial institutions to life sciences and technology, plus many more. Among the firm’s clients are household names like Ford Motor Co., General Electric, IBM, SAB Miller, Chase, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Black & Decker, Apple, Google, and UnitedHealth.

The firm is among the top five in Vault’s ranking for Privacy and Data Security. Hogan Lovells has won Chambers’ Privacy and Data Security Team of the Year more than once—and the award wasn’t even introduced until 2015. Its practice crosses borders and industries—from the financial services to automotive to retail to health industries, and more. And since privacy and data security never sleep, neither does Hogan Lovells, who has a 24-hour hotline for clients with data emergencies. The firm also publishes a blog on privacy policy: Chronicles of Data Protection.

The firm is also well known for its healthcare practice, which sits among the top five in Vault’s practice area rankings. The firm advises a diverse group of clients across the healthcare industry from around the globe. The firm is often called upon to advise on regulatory issues—a hotbed in light of the Affordable Care Act and its evolution.

Problem Solvers

Hogan Lovells’ lawyers have a secret weapon in their arsenal: consultants. The firm is home to Hogan Lovells Solutions, which includes a team of technical and risk consultants who work together with the firm’s attorneys to provide legal, technical, and management advice.

• Represented Oracle on one of the biggest tech M&A deals in 2021—Oracle’s US$28.3 billion acquisition of Cerner Corporation, a leading provider of digital information systems used in hospitals and health systems.
• Obtained the largest trade secrets verdict in the U.S. in 2021—a $152 million trade secrets verdict on behalf of ResMan, the owner and developer of industry leading property management software, and a rare permanent injunction against a former customer and a software developer.
• Working for multiple major pharmaceuticals clients, developed a new regulatory pathway for drug pricing that advances an important public policy objective—value-based pricing of gene and cell 
• Represented nonprofit organizations in a lawsuit against the City of Norfolk challenging the mass displacement of Black residents of a public housing community, resulting in a settlement guaranteeing that every resident can either return to the community or have meaningful choice of neighborhood in relocation. 

• Most Innovative Law Firm in the Business of Law, 2021—Financial Times Innovative Lawyers North America awards
• Most Innovative Law Firm, 2019—Financial Times Innovative Lawyers North America Awards
• Practice Group of the Year in International Trade, Real Estate, Sports & Betting, and Trials, 2021—Law360 
• Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus, 2021—Diversity Lab
• Top Score on Human Rights Campaign Scorecard, 13th consecutive year