Catherine Dargan On Building Billion-Dollar Deals

Catherine Dargan

Firm: Covington

Title: Partner

Forbes List: America’s Top M&A Lawyers 2025

As global chair of Covington’s Corporate Practice and head of the M&A team, Catherine Dargan has overseen work that spans multibillion-dollar mergers, cross-border acquisitions and complex carve-outs for some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated companies.

Dargan began her career at the firm’s DC headquarters, where Covington’s deep regulatory bench provided a natural edge for a life-sciences niche. She steadily built a portfolio that evolved into one of the premier M&A practices, with clients like Merck, Bristol Myers, AbbVie, Gilead and Novartis. Over 25 years of practice, Dargan expanded her cross-industry expertise, carving a spot in the upper echelons of an elite field by leading blockbuster deals, including Novartis’ recent $12 billion acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. She works with clients in a wide range of business categories—from technology to manufacturing to gaming. And she has grown her considerable book of business by being nimble, knowledgeable and indispensable, qualities that also helped land her on Forbes’ first-ever Top M&A Lawyers List.

“I wake up every day thinking about how to solve problems and how to execute more efficiently, how to anticipate the next big obstacle and plan for an actionable solution,” Dargan says. “Doing a deal requires creativity and resourcefulness—it’s like putting together a puzzle. It’s also about building relationships and doing the very best work you can on every single deal.”

Dargan expects M&A work to remain brisk, despite external challenges like geopolitical instability, tariffs and the government shutdown. She says there’s tight competition for innovative products in the medical, technology and AI space that companies want to acquire and pipeline—before a competitor does. And for corporations vetting megadeals in an unpredictable economic climate, Dargan considers it her job to be a trusted advisor as well as legal counsel. She gives credit to colleagues and a firm she says puts a premium on collaboration.

“We want to make sure to have the right expertise at our fingertips,” Dargan says. “We’re trying to help [clients] assess the risks so they can continue to do what they do in an uncertain world. It’s part of our role.”

One of the most rewarding parts of her job? Working with innovative clients, many of whom are trying to solve some of the world’s most complex problems: “It’s a great field. And I feel incredibly fortunate to enjoy what I do.”

For the full list of America’s Top M&A Lawyers, click here.