David M. Brodsky retired from the partnership in December 2011. He is a well-known trial lawyer who specialized in complex financial investigations and litigation and has more than 35 years experience as a federal prosecutor, internal general counsel and private practitioner.
David was Co-Chair Emeritus of the Securities Litigation and Professional Liability Practice Group. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, he was a Managing Director and General Counsel – Americas at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) from 1999 to 2002, and was chairman of the Litigation Department of Schulte Roth & Zabel from 1980 to 1999.
David has advised foreign and domestic companies, audit and special committees, and senior executives and independent directors with respect to internal investigations of suspected criminal conduct, complex securities litigation, including class actions, SEC and other regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, and white collar criminal inquiries and prosecutions.
In recent years, in publicly-reported matters, he represented Agria Corp., Ameriprise, Cambrex, CIBC, Cowen & Company, DeutscheBank, E&Y, Emcor, Footstar, Hecla Mining Corp., Nash Finch Company, Morgan Stanley, and Société Générale, and the senior executives of many public companies, including the former CEO of UnitedHealth Group and Andrew Forster, a senior executive at AIG Financial Products.
David has written numerous works on litigation topics, including:
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Federal Securities Litigation: A Deskbook for the Practitioner (co-author), DataTrace Publishing Company
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Recommended Practices in the Conduct of Internal Investigations (principal draftsman), American College of Trial Lawyers, 2008
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Recent developments in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Journal of Securities Compliance, Volume 1, Issue 3 (2008) (co-author)
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Update on the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, The Sedona Conference Journal, Fall 2007
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Want to Certify a Class Action?, New York Law Journal, Dec. 4, 2006 (co-author)
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Under Fire: The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Inside Litigation, Spring 2005
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The Role of Forensic Accounting in Identifying and Reacting to Allegations of Financial Fraud and Employee Misconduct, in WHAT EVERY LAWYER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT FORENSIC ACCOUNTING 39 (PLI Corp. L. & Practice, Course Handbook Series No. 7444, 2005)
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Private Actions and Private Rights: Current Hot Topics in Securities Litigation, 1151 PLI/Corp. 773 (1999)
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“Opening Statements” in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, West Publishing (annual)
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“Judgments” in Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, West Publishing (annual)
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"The Planning Process” in Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, West Publishing (annual)
David is a frequent lecturer in forums on shareholder class actions, securities enforcement, both civil and criminal, internal investigations, corporate attorney-client privilege, corporate ethics, and the roles of audit committees and boards of directors in crisis management in programs sponsored by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Practicing Law Institute, American Lawyer Conferences, Sedona Conferences, American Conference Institute and the Conference Board Member Magazine. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Securities Law, Regulation & Compliance.
A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Life Member of The American Law Institute, David was named in The International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers 2010 as a leader in the field of business crime defense. He has consistently been named by Chambers & Partners as one of the best business lawyers in the United States in securities litigation, “bet-the-company” litigation, white-collar criminal litigation and enforcement matters. He is also recognized as a Tier 1 “Star” securities litigator in both the Euromoney Institutional Investor Benchmark: Litigation 2009 and 2010 guides. He has also been cited as a leading attorney in the US Legal 500 Litigation Guide for White Collar defense and is listed in the 2010 Best Lawyers in America survey in the Bet-the-Company Litigation category. David is also listed in the 2012 Best Lawyers in America survey as a recommended attorney in five categories: Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law and Criminal Defense-White Collar.
David has had an active career as well in public service and pro bono activities. Following a clerkship to a Federal District judge, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and an Associate Independent Counsel (In the Matter of Michael Deaver). He was a member of the Board of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. He was Chairman of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and a member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of that public interest law firm for twenty years. He was Director Emeritus and an advisor to the Executive Director. Until June 2009, he was also a member of the Board of Equal Justice Works, the national pro bono organization, and served as Chair of the Nominating Committee. In 2010, he served as a member of the Nominating Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He was also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Securities Law, Regulation and Compliance.
David is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third and D.C. Circuits, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York and the Northern District of Texas.