David Herrington

David has helped clients achieve victories in pursuing and defending against claims of trade secret misappropriation and infringement of patents, copyrights, and trademarks, as well as disputes concerning IP licenses, employment restrictive covenants, and other commercial matters. He has led multiple IP and commercial suits through trial and appeal and in international arbitrations. He also counsels on IP and employment issues in the transactional context, including mergers and acquisitions, licensing, and capital markets transactions.

David’s first-chair successes for clients include winning a groundbreaking cross-border trade secret suit in the International Trade Commission for Korean pharmaceutical Medytox, translating into a highly valuable settlement (and receiving recognition in Litigators of the Week); defeating contract claims for more than $150 million against leading South American airline LATAM by securing victories in the Bankruptcy Court and District Court in the SDNY and a precedential decision by the Second Circuit (also receiving recognition in Litigators of the Week); representing Nortel Networks, Inc. in defeating claims exceeding $120 million for copyright infringement and breach of license as to software in the District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court; representing People’s United Bank in defeating trademark infringement claims by other “People”-named banks as it expanded throughout the Northeast, culminating in victories in the First Circuit and Second Circuit; and representing a Taiwan semiconductor manufacturer in defeating claims under a patent license in the Northern District of California.

In the pro bono sphere, David led the team that represented Tennessee death row inmate Ndume Olatushani (formerly known as Erskine Johnson), overturning his wrongful conviction and winning his freedom. This work was recognized with the New York City Bar Association’s inaugural Norman Redlich Pro Bono Capital Defense Award and in Am Law Daily and the New York Law Journal and was featured in the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico Award to Cleary Gottlieb. He continues to be active in the death penalty field on the global level, including partnering with organizations to challenge capital punishment on human rights grounds. David has chaired the firm’s pro bono committee and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.

David’s speaking engagements include PLI’s Advanced Trade Secrets 2023: New Challenges, New Solutions, and New Opportunities and Strafford’s Google v. Oracle: Implications for Fair Use Doctrine, Developing, Copying, and Licensing Software API and Copyright Fair Use and the Warhol Decision: Navigating the Evolving Landscape, Minimizing Infringement Risks. His publications include Why Arbitrate International IP Disputes? for Global Arbitration Review’s The Guide to IP Arbitration and Provisional and Final Remedies for Juris’s Arbitration of International Intellectual Property Disputes.

David joined the firm in 1991.