News & Publications

Hollingsworth LLP Announces the Election of Four New Partners

Tamara Fishman Barago was a Summer Associate at Hollingsworth LLP and joined the Firm as an Associate in 2010.  She specializes in the defense of complex serial and mass tort litigation — primarily personal injury litigation involving regulated products — and has significant experience with all facets of the litigation process.  She is often called on to craft compelling arguments, such as an appellate brief leading to affirmance of a Daubert and summary judgment win in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and an amicus brief on a First Amendment issue submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Ms. Barago helped achieve a defense verdict for a major pharmaceutical company in federal court in a product liability case where the plaintiff alleged injury as a result of treatment with intravenous prescription medications.  She advises clients on matters including confidentiality and privilege issues and is experienced with corporate witness and expert witness preparation and authoring motions and briefs in state and federal courts across the country.  Ms. Barago’s pro bono work has included negotiating a favorable settlement for a disabled client who was unable to exit a store in an emergency and appearing in court as guardian ad litem in a custody case.  She received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, a Masters from New York University, and a B.A. from Tulane University.

Brett S. Covington's experience spans all phases of litigation leading up to trial, which include successfully defending clients in both federal district court and on appeal.  Following graduation from Georgetown University Law Center, he completed a two-year clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Phillips at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.  Throughout his career, Mr. Covington has developed and implemented strategies to ensure clients’ cases are heard in appropriate venues and courts; coordinated corporate document collection and production; assisted in the preparation and defense of corporate representatives’ depositions; deposed plaintiffs and fact witnesses; and drafted key motions on critical evidentiary and legal issues.  He has also served as second-chair in hearings before the American Arbitration Association which resulted in client victories.  In addition to his commercial litigation experience, which includes successfully defending a telecommunications brokerage firm against a $30 million breach of contract lawsuit in federal court, Mr. Covington has represented clients under both criminal and civil investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.  He is currently part of the defense team representing an agricultural company in litigation centralized before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and in California, Delaware, and Missouri state courts.  As part of his community involvement, Mr. Covington serves on the Board of Directors of Arlington-based Offender Aid Restoration ("OAR"), a restorative justice organization providing second chances to prisoners and ex-offenders through guidance and support services to help them lead productive and responsible lives.

John M. Kalas focuses his practice on deconstructing the opposition’s core corporate liability and scientific theories.  To that end, he has taken and defended dozens of successful depositions of expert and fact witnesses.  He has participated in several multi-day Daubert hearings and also has significant trial experience as a member of multiple trial teams in jurisdictions nationwide.  He has litigated personal injury and property damage claims following alleged exposure to perchlorate and other volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) from groundwater contamination; has defended wrongful death claims associated with alleged exposure to airborne toxins in international litigation spanning three continents; has litigated birth defect claims allegedly associated with occupational and residential chemical exposure; has defended pharmaceutical manufacturers in personal injury claims arising from the use of life-saving chemotherapies; and has represented employers seeking to enforce choice-of-law and arbitration agreements contained within employees’ employment contracts.  Mr. Kalas is currently part of the defense team representing an agricultural company in litigation centralized before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and in California, Delaware, and Missouri state courts.  He is a graduate of the Firm's 2009 Summer Associate class and is a member of the Defense Research Institute.

Mark A. Miller focuses his practice on highly complex litigation, and has defended corporate clients in serial mass environmental tort, products liability, and class action litigation, including both state and federal multidistrict litigation.  He has significant pretrial and trial experience that includes developing and managing the defense of mass toxic tort and products liability cases, coordinating the work of local counsel, selecting and preparing expert witnesses, deposing fact and expert witnesses, and drafting and arguing motions. He litigates parallel tort actions seeking personal injury, property damage, and/or medical monitoring damages.  In 2014, he was part of a trial team that successfully tried a case on remand from one of the most active federal MDLs for a large pharmaceutical company, achieving the first defense verdict in Florida after the jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes following a three week trial.  In the environmental context, Mr. Miller has successfully defended clients in mass toxic tort cases in state and federal courts alleging damages from exposures to chemicals including PCBs, dioxins, nuclear by-products, lead, arsenic, TCE, and emerging contaminants. He also successfully represented a Fortune 500 public utility in a CERCLA cost recovery mediation against the United States in a “war plants” case.