David enjoys litigating complex cases of all types, including those involving contract, fraud, patent, non-compete, trade-secret, and unfair-competition issues. He defends companies in product-liability lawsuits and agency investigations. In internal investigations, David assists clients facing potential business conduct issues of all types (theft, corruption, financial improprieties, sexual harassment, and general workplace misconduct) as these may arise whether domestically or internationally under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other laws. And he also defends individuals who are the subject of such investigations or have been charged with financial fraud and other business crimes.

Business Disputes

David has brought and defended business-litigation matters his entire career. As a plaintiff, David seizes the first-mover advantage and presses it relentlessly. When called upon to defend, he aims to out-plaintiff the plaintiff—meaning that he tries to be the first to figure out what happened so that his team can formulate a legal strategy based on those early findings. Regardless of the situation and approach, David works as hard as he can to meet the client’s needs and goals so that the process and the result reflects the client’s view of how the case should be managed and what constitutes a win. Representative experience:

• Represented a manufacturer asserting claims for breach of contract, tortious interference, Lanham Act violations, and misappropriation of trade secrets, and defended that client against monopolization and tortious interference counterclaims
• Represented a family-owned duty-free store operator in an antitrust and unfair-competition dispute against a world-wide duty-free operator in which his team made new law in North Dakota. (To those pursuing wrongful-interference-with-business claims in that state: You’re welcome.)
• Defended a national accounting firm facing negligence and malpractice claims arising from a mutual fund’s collapse, and a bond trader in a breach-of-contract case against a former employer.

Products Liability

Products cases across the United States have long been a cornerstone of David’s work. He has defended manufacturers involved in personal injury/wrongful-death claims and related government agency investigations related to fires and explosions, industrial and manufacturing products (such as electronic controls, limit switches, and light curtains), and consumer goods. He has developed a proactive approach to these kinds of cases that is premised on targeted expert involvement up front coupled with aggressive use of summary judgment and creative settlement solutions. Representative experience:

• Guided a client with a product at the center of investigations by the Chemical Safety Board, OSHA, and other government agencies that ultimately concluded the product was not the root cause or a contributing factor in a very large explosion (and David went on to win summary judgment for the client in the related products-liability claim)
• Obtained summary judgment from a Michigan court after a client’s product failed and the plaintiff became a quadriplegic as a result of severe brain and spinal injuries
• Resolved California litigation against a “target” defendant by allowing the plaintiff’s counsel, who represented a severely injured worker who had fallen into an industrial mixer, access to his client’s experts for use against the other defendants

White-Collar Criminal Defense

David routinely defends clients in white-collar criminal cases and guides them through internal investigations of suspected wrongdoing. Representative experience:

• Represented an accountant in a high-profile federal tax-fraud prosecution
• Represented a whistle-blowing CFO who then became the subject of an internal investigation
• Represented a medical-device manufacturer involved in a Medicare-fraud investigation in Illinois and Minnesota
• Represented an executive with a large health insurer who was investigated by various federal agencies for alleged backdating of stock options
• Represented officers for a commercial builder who were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in connection with a criminal antitrust/bid-rigging investigation in Georgia

Internal Investigations

David is regularly involved in conducting due diligence and internal investigations in the United States and around the world. Whether he is investigating matters related to the FCPA, False Claims Act, import/export practices, financial wrongdoing, workplace misconduct, whistleblower allegations, or other sensitive circumstances, David has proven adept at navigating thorny issues and getting to the root of things. He has proven himself skillful at coordinating and supervising the efficient work of forensic-accounting resources as well. Representative experience:

• Represented a Fortune 100 company with operations in South America in an investigation that was sparked by anonymous employee reports after a compliance review indicated potential improprieties involving certain employees and a local partner that included bribery and self-dealing
• Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of the Archdiocese relating to allegations of misconduct by its Archbishop
• Conducted an internal investigation of a publicly traded company regarding corporate-governance issues as well as issues implicating the internal-controls framework established by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”)
• Investigated a former employee’s allegations that a company was violating its internal governance policies and U.S. law

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America (2013-present)
• Selected to Super Lawyers list, Minnesota Super Lawyers (2019-present)
• Recognized as Minnesota State Bar Association North Star Lawyer for pro bono service (2019)

• Minnesota
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• International Association of Defense Counsel (Chair, White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations Committee, 2018-2020)

David is a regular guest lecturer on investigations and FCPA/compliance issues at local law schools:

• University of St. Thomas School of Law (“Investigations: Criminal, Civil, and Internal” and “Executive Perspectives in Ethics and Compliance”)
• Mitchell Hamline School of Law (“Internal Investigations”)
• Faculty Panel Presenter at the HCBA Corporate Counsel International Business Law Institute program (“International Counsel Under Fire”)
• Faculty Panel Presenter, International Association of Defense Counsel program (”In-House Counsel in the Cross Hairs”)

• Walk-In Counseling Center, Board member (2022 – present)
• Carleton College Multi-Cultural Alumni Network, Board member (2021 – present)