Megan Rodgers is a prominent trial lawyer based in Palo Alto, California. As a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, she specializes in high-stakes class-action and mass tort litigation, especially in the tech and life sciences industries. Rodgers has built a reputation for handling complex multi-district cases from start to finish, often as a key member of the trial team. She is widely recognized for her work on major cases involving pharmaceutical distributors, social media companies, and others, and has earned several industry honors for her achievements.
Early Life and Education
Megan Louise Rodgers grew up in the United States (her hometown is not publicly documented). She excelled in academics, graduating cum laude with an A.B. from Bowdoin College in 2006. Rodgers went on to attend the University of Michigan Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude with her J.D. in 2010. At Michigan Law she served as a Book Review Editor of the Michigan Law Review, reflecting her strong writing and analytical skills.
After law school, Rodgers clerked for Judge Dennis Michael Fisher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2010–2011). Early in her career she also worked as an honors paralegal in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. This blend of academic excellence and practical experience laid the groundwork for her future in high-profile litigation.
Legal Career and Practice
Today Megan Rodgers is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP’s Palo Alto office. Covington is a major international law firm, and Rodgers has spent over a decade there working on national and multi-state litigation. She started her career focusing on mass torts – her first assignment at Covington was on the landmark BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation. This early exposure to high-pressure, complex cases guided the direction of her practice. She has remained with Covington ever since, rising through the ranks to become a partner in the firm’s litigation group.
Rodgers’s day-to-day work involves representing major corporations in court. She conducts fact and expert witness depositions, prepares trial strategies, and argues motions at all stages of litigation. Colleagues note that Rodgers is especially skilled at trial advocacy: she has taken cases through jury trials and bench trials, even in difficult areas like mass torts. For example, in a six-month bench trial involving opioid claims, Rodgers defended a pharmaceutical distributor against public nuisance allegations. This hands-on courtroom experience helps her guide cases from early stages through trial verdicts.
Areas of Specialization
Rodgers’s legal practice centers on class actions and mass torts, particularly for clients in technology and life sciences. She regularly handles product liability suits, privacy and data breach class actions, and complex commercial litigation. Her Areas of Expertise at Covington include Litigation and Investigations, Class Actions, Product Liability and Mass Torts, and industries like Life Sciences and Technology. In short, Rodgers brings trial expertise to cases where consumer safety, pharmaceuticals, and tech companies intersect with the law.
Her education and background reflect this focus. In law school she was on a high-achieving track (Editor of the Law Review), and early work on big federal cases like Deepwater Horizon sharpened her mass-torts skills. In practice, she has become known as a go-to lawyer for corporate clients facing tough class-action lawsuits.
Achievements and Recognition
Megan Rodgers’s work has earned her significant recognition in the legal community. In 2023, she was named a “Rising Star” by Law360 in the Class Actions category. The Recorder also listed her among its “Lawyers on the Fast Track” (2023), and the Daily Journal featured her in its “Top 40 Under 40” (2020) list. These honors highlight her status as an emerging leader in litigation. In addition, she is frequently listed in industry directories and has won Rising Star status in legal rankings, indicating peer recognition of her skills and successes.
Inside the firm, Rodgers has assumed high-profile roles on trial teams. She served on Covington’s BP Deepwater Horizon multi-district litigation team, handling aspects of both the MDL in Louisiana and related securities class actions Her work on that case put her on trial teams that navigated unprecedented legal issues after the 2010 oil spill. More recently, she has been a lead counsel in opioid distributor litigation, one of the most important tort cases of the decade. Winning (or favorably resolving) cases of that scale contributes greatly to her reputation.
Rodgers has also participated in Covington’s high-end trial practice. For instance, she was part of the team representing BP in the Deepwater Horizon litigation and has second-chaired multiple bench trials, helping secure full judgments for clients. Taken together, these roles demonstrate her ability to manage large teams of attorneys and deliver results in the courtroom.
Notable Cases
Throughout her career, Rodgers has contributed to several major cases. Below are some highlights:
- Opioids Litigation (McKesson Corp.) – Rodgers served as trial counsel for McKesson, a leading pharmaceutical distributor, in state and multi-district opioid lawsuits. In Washington state, she helped obtain a landmark settlement in the public-nuisance case brought by the Attorney General. After a six-month bench trial, the attorney general settled for $518 million from McKesson (far below the $95 billion originally sought). This result (less than 1% of initial damages) was seen as a major victory for McKesson. (This work was noted in a Law360 Rising Star profile of Rodgers)
- Meta Content Moderation Lawsuits – Rodgers co-led Covington’s defense of Meta (Facebook) in class-action suits filed by former content moderators of social media. These cases alleged that moderators developed PTSD from viewing graphic content. Rodgers’s team won dismissal of the federal case in Florida and achieved final approval of a multi-state settlement ($52 million) in California. Her familiarity with these high-profile tech cases underscores her role in big-league litigation.
- Travel Sites Class Action (Expedia/Orbitz) – Rodgers represented Expedia Group, Hotels.com, and Orbitz.com in a putative nationwide class action. She and her team successfully defeated class certification on behalf of these online travel companies. By challenging the class, Rodgers effectively protected her clients from potential multi-million-dollar liability, a key strategic win.
- BP Deepwater Horizon MDL – Early in her career, Rodgers was on the Covington team for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation (MDL 2179). She also worked on the related securities class action (MDL 2185). Those cases involved thousands of plaintiffs and billions in claims. Participating in that effort gave Rodgers experience on one of the largest environmental and insurance-tort cases in recent history.
- Other Technology and Class-Action Matters – Rodgers has also worked on technology-related class actions. For example, she represented a U.S. government contractor in a foreign-judgment enforcement case (challenges to a Kuwaiti judgment) and advised various tech companies facing privacy/data breach class suits. While many details of such cases are confidential, her representative matters include a broad range of consumer and corporate class actions.
These examples show the breadth of Rodgers’s practice. She often works behind the scenes on giant cases, but when details emerge (as in the opioids and Meta matters), her role becomes clear to the legal press. In a 2023 Law360 article, Rodgers explained that her first assignment – the Deepwater Horizon MDL – “offered her ‘incredible’ professional opportunities,” and that she quickly focused her career on the mass-torts field. Her quotes reflect a passion for challenging litigation and for working with strong teams: “The cases just continued to be really interesting and provided me with the opportunity to grow as a lawyer,” she said. “The people are a huge component as well.”
Pro Bono and Public Service
Outside her billable work, Megan Rodgers is active in pro bono public-interest advocacy. She has led Covington teams writing amicus briefs in high-profile constitutional cases. For example, Rodgers spearheaded a brief for the National Women’s Law Center in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a free speech and anti-discrimination case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She also led a brief on behalf of prominent historians and the Center for Reproductive Rights in a Michigan Supreme Court abortion-rights case These efforts illustrate her commitment to civil rights and justice issues beyond her corporate docket.
Rodgers has even argued appeals in federal court, such as defending a Washington, D.C., lawyer accused of obstruction of justice. While her day job is corporate defense, she makes time for causes she believes in. Her pro bono contributions show a broader legal philosophy: using her trial skills to assist in cases that have societal impact.
Personal Approach and Philosophy
Megan Rodgers is known among colleagues as diligent, strategic, and team-oriented. In interviews and articles, she emphasizes learning and collaboration. She told Law360 that she found working on enormous cases to be an “honor” and one of the “biggest opportunities” of her career. Rodgers strikes a balance between confidence in trial and humility about the work: as quoted in Law360, she said, “It was just an honor to be there and be supported by my colleagues in the joint defense group… it was just one of the biggest opportunities I’ve had as an attorney”.
While Rodgers rarely gives public speeches, Covington highlights that she shares her expertise through video interviews (e.g. a class-action insights series). She mentors junior lawyers at the firm, helping new associates develop trial skills. In this way, her personal philosophy blends continuous learning (“grow as a lawyer”) with leadership for her peers and team, as reflected in her own words.
Mentorship and Community Work
Although Rodgers’s profile doesn’t list formal mentorship programs, her involvement in pro bono and law firm training suggests she values guidance. Outside the firm, she has served on legal panels and workshops (for example, Covington profiles mention her speaking to students about acquisitions in her adjunct teaching role). She served as an adjunct professor at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law earlier in her career. (about transactional law), which demonstrates her interest in legal education.
She also contributes to the legal community through associations. Rodgers is admitted to the California and D.C. bars and is a member of the American Bar Association, where many trial lawyers network. While she doesn’t have public records of nonprofit board service like some attorneys, her pro bono brief work and media features indicate an effort to advance legal causes.
Conclusion
Megan Rodgers’s career reflects the trajectory of a rising star in American litigation. With strong academic credentials (Bowdoin, Michigan Law) and early clerkship experience, she developed into a trial-savvy partner at a top law firm. Her track record—defending corporations in some of the most challenging class-action cases of our time—has earned her top industry honors. Rodgers’s work on opioid and technology cases, in particular, shows how she applies rigorous preparation and courtroom skill to protect her clients and shape legal outcomes.
Beyond the courtroom, Rodgers has shown a dedication to public-interest legal issues through her pro bono work on free-speech and reproductive rights cases. She embodies a blend of fierce advocacy for her clients with a service-minded approach to the profession. In interviews she emphasizes growth and teamwork as keys to her success. Taken together, the public record portrays Megan Rodgers as a committed, high-achieving lawyer whose influence continues to grow in the field of class actions and mass torts.
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