Construction and Commercial Litigation

• Ohio

• Ohio State and Federal Courts, 1978
• Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
• U.S. Supreme Court

• The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, J.D., 1978
• Williams College, B.A., 1971

David is a member of Frost Brown Todd LLC and practices with the litigation department.  He received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1971 and his J.D. degree from The Ohio State University Law School in 1978, and joined the firm immediately after graduation.

In the past 28 years, he has represented numerous clients in the construction industry, including contractors and sureties.  He also handles complex commercial litigation for clients in state and federal courts, including several class actions.  As lead counsel, he represented telecommunications clients confronting class actions in Kentucky and Indiana raising state and federal anti-trust and consumer fraud issues.  He has also handled two price fixing class actions, one in Ohio and the other in Kentucky in the medical insurance area.  Currently, he is co-lead counsel in three actions filed on behalf of employers in Kentucky to recover damages arising from the assessment of more than $90,000,000 due to the short fall in a self-funded workers compensation program.  Other cases have included a multi-million dollar dispute between a franchisor and its franchisees before the American Arbitration Association.

He has spoken in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, California and Ohio on various issues regarding litigation strategy, discovery, and construction disputes.  His presentations have been to the ABA’s Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, the Surety Claims Institute, the National Association of Credit Management, the Construction Financial Management Association, the National Business Institute and the Ohio Legal Center.  In his tenure with the Firm, he served a three year term on the Executive Committee and between 2001 and 2007 was the Vice-Chair of the litigation department.  He has represented clients in matters pending in Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, Indiana and West Virginia.  David was recognized by his peers for selection in The Best Lawyers in America^® from 2005 to 2007.

David is active in the community.  He is General Counsel to Ohio Swimming, Inc., Chair of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor Foundation, and a Board Member and Treasurer of the FreeStore FoodBank, and a Trustee of the Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District.

• The Best Lawyers in America® "Lawyer of the Year," Litigation - Construction 2013
• The Best Lawyers in America® 2005-2013
• Selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers® 2008
• AV® Rated, Martindale-Hubbell®

• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Section; Fidelity and Surety Committee; Vice Chairman, 2000-2005; Member, Law Committee, 2003- present
• Ohio State Bar Association

• APPELLATE COURT REVERSES TRIAL COURT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT, FINDING CLAUSE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PAY-IF-PAID TREATMENT
• Appeals Court Affirms Trade Group’s Standing to Sue for Violation of Wage and Hour Regulations
• Federal Court Upholds Pay if Pay Clause as Valid Defense Available to Principal and Surety
• Bond Form Makes a Difference in Ability of Owner to Obtain Benefits of Bond
• Honesty is Best Policy in Judgment-Debtor Exam
• Court Allows Claim for Pre-arbitration Discovery and Reverses Grant of Motion to Stay
• Ohio Court Upholds Statute Requiring Out of State Corporation to Register to Do Business or Face Dismissal of Claims
• You Can't Crash My Party: Court Rules Mere Presence of Third Parties Does Not, by Itself, Prevent Arbitration
• Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division Upholds Summary Judgment in Favor of Surety in Indemnity Suit
• Florida Appellate Court Upholds Jury Finding that Surety Was Not Given Proper Notice to Trigger Bond Obligation and Holds that Surety IE Entitled to All Attorneys' Fees

Past

Welcome to the 21^st Century New Federal Rules on E-Discovery
ABA, FSLC, January 2007

Discovery in the Electronic Age
Surety Claims Institute, June 2006

Back to Basics, Contract Surety Claims Handling
Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, 2004

Electronic Discovery Issues
Lorman Education, 2004

Wading Into the Swamp of Electronic Discovery
Surety Claims Institute, 2004

Taking and Defending Effective Depositions in Ohio
Lorman Education, 2002-2004

Application of the UCC to Construction Contracts
Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, January 2001

Insuring Projects with Fragmented Design Responsibilities
Fidelity and Surety Law Committee January 2000 moderator

"Analyzing and Negotiating Construction Disputes",
a chapter in Negotiating Construction Law Disputes, Aspatore Books, 2008

Surety's Indemnity Agreement, 2nd Edition
Co-author of chapter on Surety's Enforcement of Rights, FSLC Law Committee, 2008

Law of Performance Bonds, 2nd Edition
Co-author of chapter on Extra-Contractual Liability, FSLC Law Committee, 2009

South Carolina Rejects Claim under Commercial General Liability Policy for Defective Work
FSLC Newsletter, 2005

CGL/Builder’s Risk Monograph
Co-Editor, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, ABA, 2004

Predicting When Construction Contracts are subject to Article 2 of the UCC
The Construction Lawyer, Winter 2001