Dave is the Partner-in-Charge of Pierce Atwood LLP's Portsmouth office. Focusing his practice on complex commercial litigation in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and beyond, Dave has successfully represented multi-national corporations and smaller companies in various disputes involving royalty agreements, development agreements, property tax assessments, joint development agreements, fuel storage and throughput agreements, trade secrets, unfair competition claims, employment claims, and environmental claims. Dave brings a creative approach to difficult legal problems and is a very effective advocate in court. He appears regularly in federal and state courts in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has also served as lead counsel in cases in Utah and Colorado.
Before joining Pierce Atwood in 2001, Dave was a litigation associate at Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP in Boston. He served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Melvin Brunetti, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1995 to 1996. Prior to law school, he worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dave was born in Rochester, New Hampshire and grew up in the Seacoast area.
In his litigation practice, Dave has:
- Represented companies and shareholders in closely held company disputes involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty and minority freeze outs
- Defended public companies against piggy-back registration claims, warrant claims, and revenue recognition claims. Represented shareholder in dispute over stock options
- Represented employers in defending wage claims, ADA claims, FMLA claims, and wrongful termination claims
- Represented wholesale energy providers (both oil and nuclear) and chemical manufacturers
Recent Experience
- Lead trial counsel for a corporate taxpayer in obtaining judgment that municipal joint development agreement was unconstitutional
- Lead trial counsel in enforcing a purchase and sale agreement following disputed auction
- Lead appellate counsel for multi-national busing company successfully reversing administrative tax ruling
- Lead counsel in obtaining dismissal of employment claims against hotel operator in U.S. District Court in Boston.
- Lead counsel in obtaining dismissal of federal and state privacy claims against large retailer in U.S. District Court in Boston
- Lead counsel in defeating attempt to enjoin a state agency from issuing a ruling on exemption from property taxes
Civic Activities
Board of Directors, Cross Roads House, 2002-2007
Steering Committee, Friends of the South End, 2004-present