Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.

[We] won an important patent case in the Supreme Court for our client Return Mail, which had sought compensation from the U.S. Postal Service for unauthorized use of its patent. The lower court allowed the Postal Service to challenge the patent's validity at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. But our outstanding patent attorneys teamed up with our terrific appellate strategists to convince the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reverse. The court's ruling, 6-3, protects patents from federal agency challenge under the America Invents Act's post-grant review provisions because agencies are not "persons" under those provisions.

How did your firm approach appellate success over the past year?

[Our] prominence in many practice areas meant that our appellate victories were rooted in substantive expertise that could not be matched.

What is the most satisfying element of appellate practice in your opinion?

Satisfaction in appellate work includes wrangling with lofty legal issues of the day, but also working to frame a litigation strategy, from trial through appeal, that focuses on how best to advance the interests of a particular client.

What's the most valuable lesson you learned as a young lawyer?

Stick to the highest ethical standards even when they seem not to matter; pursue opportunities of the greatest significance regardless of their prestige.

Submitted by Beth Brinkmann, partner and co-chair of the appellate and Supreme Court litigation group at Covington & Burling.