About

David specializes in representing companies and directors in litigation involving mergers and acquisitions, fiduciary duties, activism and corporate governance. He also writes and speaks extensively on these issues and has taught classes on corporate governance and shareholder litigation at law schools across the country, including Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School and Duke University School of Law.

David is a recognized authority on fiduciary duty litigation and has litigated numerous corporate control transactions and securities litigations in state and federal courts in Delaware, California, New York and elsewhere. Some recent examples include —

• Representing TIBCO and its directors in its sale to a private equity group, including defeating a motion for preliminary injunction and winning a motion to dismiss with prejudice.
• Representing a private equity consortium in the first expedited arbitration in the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, which resulted in a complete victory for David’s clients (including the award of attorneys’ fees).
• Representing Chevron in the first case in Delaware finding in favor of forum-selection bylaws.
• Advising and representing Google in connection with its precedent-setting adoption of its non-voting stock.
• Representing ISSI in response to an activist campaign, its subsequent sale following a public auction process, and then successfully defending the company in litigation challenging the buyout process.

David is actively involved in numerous civic matters. He currently serves as general counsel to the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee and is a director of the Wildlife Conservation Network, the Smuin Ballet and the Bay Area’s classical music station, KDFC. David has also served as lead trial counsel in many high profile pro bono cases — including cases in which WSGR was honored by organizations such as the Equal Justice Society, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union — and has served as co-counsel to amici filing briefs in the Fisher v. University of Texas cases in the US Supreme Court.

In addition, David has held numerous leadership positions at WSGR, including serving on the firm’s board of directors and venture capital fund board, as well as chairing the policy and pro bono committees. He also served on the board of directors of the California Culinary Academy (NASDAQ:COOK).