Member Bio
David is the managing partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP. As firm managing partner, he chairs the firm's Executive Committee, a governing body of seven partners who oversee firm standing committees, strategic initiatives and firm operations. In 2005 the American Bar Association awarded Nelson Mullins the John Minor Wisdom Award for public service and professionalism.
David has been recognized as one of the top ten products liability lawyers in the world by The Guide to the World's Leading Products Liability Lawyers. He practices in the areas of pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, business litigation, technology law and litigation, and coordination of national litigation.
David has served as national trial counsel for companies in the pharmaceutical, computer, and consumer products industries. He speaks throughout the country on pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and computer and technology-related litigation issues. David is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
David is a past president of DRI, the 22,000 member national professional organization of lawyers who defend companies and individuals in civil litigation (Board of Directors, 2002-present; chairman, Drug and Device Law Committee, 1999-2001; South Carolina state chairman, 1993-97; Law Institute). He is a permanent member of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference and a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (chair, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee, 1996-98; faculty, IADC Trial Academy 1994). Additionally, David is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and member of the Richland County Bar Association and the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association.
David is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2001-2007 editions and The International Who's Who of Products Liability Lawyers, as well as The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers. He is the current board chairman and former president of the Lawyers for Civil Justice, a national coalition supporting excellence, fairness and improvements within the civil justice system at both the state and national levels. He also serves on the board of the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence. David is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project, Georgetown University Law Center and a trustee of the Business Partnership Foundation, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. He serves on the Clemson University Board of Visitors. He is also a Liberty Fellow, a program modeled after the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship Program. David has participated in the CEO Executive Seminar at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of City Year Columbia and is on the Board of the Foundation for the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.
David is the author of "A Corporate Counsel's Guide to Discovery in the Information Age," Washington Legal Foundation, 2001; "What You Should Know About Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs?" Defense Counsel Journal, 68, 1, January 2001; "Consultant Liability for Year 2000 Problems," The Defense Practitioner's Guide to the Year 2000 Problem, 1998; "Toxicology Made Easy: What Every Trial Advocate Should Know," Defense Counsel Journal, 63, 3, July 1996; and "Gaining Access to Federal Court: The Sham Defendant Doctrine in Drug and Medical Device Cases," Rx for the Defense, Spring 1994.
In 1984, David earned a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of South Carolina School of Law where he was named to The Order of the Coif. He taught legal writing, served on the editorial staff of the South Carolina Law Review and was a member of the Order of Wig and Robe, and the National Moot Court Team. David earned a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management from Clemson University in 1981.