Biography
David has been teaching at SLS annually since 2006, in conjunction with his full-time practice of law in Silicon Valley. As of 2015 he also became a Lecturer at the Hasso Plattner School of Design at Stanford (a/k/a “the d.school”), researching and teaching at the intersection of law and design.
David’s legal career began in the courtroom, with several dozen first-chair trials and appeals. He was lead counsel before the Florida Supreme Court on behalf of the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association, challenging the prima facie constitutionality of a proposed sales tax on commercial speech. He also argued before the Alaska Supreme Court on behalf of the State of Washington on a statutory construction that directly affected Washington’s Level 1 Trauma centers.
He has served as general counsel for public, private and non-profit technology companies. He has testified before the California Assembly on software legislation, and before Congress on behalf of the Business Software Alliance. His thesis for the JSM degree explored the potential applicability of software design methodologies to environmental law and policy. His personal website is here; he is currently working on a book applying design and negotiation strategies to improve the impact of social activism.
Education
- AB, Carleton College
- JD, University of Miami School of Law
- JSM, Law Science and Technology Stanford Law School