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Rising Star: Covington's Kayleigh Scalzo
By Sarah Martinson
Law360 (August 10, 2020, 2:56 PM EDT) -- Kayleigh Scalzo
of Covington & Burling LLP has successfully defended companies
against bid protests over contracts worth billions of dollars, landing
her a place among the government contract attorneys under 40
honored as Law360 Rising Stars.
WHY SHE BECAME A GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS ATTORNEY:
Scalzo knew in law school that she wanted a career in which she
could write and see the immediate impact of her writing, but she
didn't know what area of law she wanted to pursue.
After graduating from law school and spending about a year as a
Covington associate doing mostly white collar work, she decided to
clerk for U.S. Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya of the First Circuit to do
some soul-searching.
When Scalzo returned to Covington after her clerkship, one of her
friends at the firm recommended that she pursue government
contract litigation, where cases are decided based on briefs that
need to be well-written.
"I knew when I came back to the firm I wanted to write and not just
write up witness memos or notes or what have you, but I wanted to
do [Government Accountability Office] persuasive advocacy writing
on a regular basis," Scalzo said.
HER BIGGEST CASE SO FAR:
Scalzo co-led Covington's defense of UnitedHealthcare against two
bid protests in Kansas state court disputing a Kansas Medicaid
managed-care services contract worth up to $15 billion awarded to
the insurer. Covington successfully defeated the protests in 2018
after a two-day bench trial in which Scalzo had a leading role.
The case was particularly challenging because while Scalzo's team
was writing court briefs, they were also preparing for a two-day trial
Kayleigh Scalzo
Covington
Age: 34
Home base: Washington, D.C.
Position: Partner
Law school: George Washington
University Law School
First job after law
school: Associate at Covington
that took place only a couple of months after the bidders filed their protests, Scalzo said.
Scalzo distinctly remembers standing outside Covington's Washington, D.C., office on Palmer Alley
taking a break for a smoothie when she received the news that they won the case. Scalzo screamed and
yelled after hearing the news, drawing the attention of bystanders.
"What was particularly notable and exciting about that case is not only that it moved so quickly but that
we had an actual trial as opposed to just briefing," Scalzo said.
HER PROUDEST MOMENT AS AN ATTORNEY:
The Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition, an organization that provides legal representation to
immigrant detainees, referred a case to Covington in 2016 involving a West African gay man seeking
asylum, which Scalzo took on as pro bono work.
Scalzo represented the man in an individual merits hearing in February 2017, where she successfully
proved he was eligible for asylum in the U.S.
Scalzo said that after he was released from an immigration detention center in Richmond, Virginia, she
went to pick him up and bring him back to D.C. and got to be the first person to show him the U.S.
outside a detention center.
"It was a case of a magnitude I had never experienced before and winning was probably one of the very
best moments of my life," Scalzo said.
HOW THE LEGAL INDUSTRY WILL CHANGE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS:
Scalzo said that when she was entering the government contracts space, she had a friend ask her, "Hey,
isn't government contracts for former military folks?"
But the government contracts bar has become more diverse and will continue to grow more diverse to
include people who have different backgrounds that don't include former government or military work,
she said.
"I think people like me who have no free-standing connection with the procurement community or
government … can feel at home in the government contracts bar," Scalzo said.
— As told to Sarah Martinson
Law360's Rising Stars are attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age. A team of
Law360 editors selected the 2020 Rising Stars winners after reviewing more than 1,300 submissions.
Attorneys had to be under 40 as of April 30, 2020, to be eligible for this year's award. This interview has
been edited and condensed.
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