Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty, she spent 12 years in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division, Appellate Section. She wrote more than 100 appellate and Supreme Court�briefs and argued more than 60 appeals in all 13 of the federal circuit courts of appeals, twice�en banc, and in three state supreme courts. Her cases covered a wide range of areas including environmental, administrative, and constitutional law, both civil and criminal. Among other cases,�Professor Kovacs�defended the Navy's use of low-frequency active sonar and the display of a Latin cross in the Mojave National Preserve;�she prosecuted crimes under the Bald and�Golden Eagle Protection Act; she pursued a claim to compensate the Oneida Indians for the State of New York's unlawful purchase of their land in the early 19th century;�and she defended the Endangered Species Act against Fifth Amendment takings claims.�

In 2016, Professor Kovacs was a political appointee serving as senior adviser to the director of the Bureau of Land Management in the U.S. Department of the Interior. She also spent three years litigating primarily constitutional claims as an attorney in the Baltimore City Law Department, and she clerked for the Hon. Robert C. Murphy, former Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals.�Professor Kovacs is a�cum laude�graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center.�