Prior to joining Cahill in September 2005, David served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he led the nation's most significant investigations and prosecutions of white collar and organized crime, and terrorism. Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, David served from 2002-2003 as Deputy United States Attorney, and was named on September 11, 2001 as co-chair of the Justice Department's nationwide investigation into the 9/11 attacks. Among those that David personally prosecuted in that role was John Walker Lindh, who had been dubbed "the American Taliban." As U.S. Attorney, David also served as a member of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force and the Attorney General's Advisory Committee for White Collar Crime.
David has a long and successful track record conducting investigations and litigating complex cases covering business and white collar crime, securities fraud, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, organized crime and terrorism. His practice is focused on internal corporate investigations and the defense of publicly held companies, boards of directors, committees and officers and directors in business litigation and proceedings before government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, and the Department of Justice. He also represents clients in various public law and policy matters.
Most recently, David served as special counsel to Governor George Pataki to provide an independent review of the findings and conclusions of the New York State Ethics Commission regarding the actions and conduct of New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. Other recent assignments include his representation of: corporate officers before the SEC; a Fortune 500 corporation before the Department of Justice concerning election law issues; one of the nation's leading telecommunications and entertainment companies on lobbying matters; and the compensation committees of two of New York’s largest companies with respect to option grant issues. In addition, David has engaged in a variety of civil litigation and has guided numerous underwriters concerning the criminal and regulatory exposure of entities in which they are interested.
From its formation in 1995, until 2002 when he was named Deputy United States Attorney, David served as the Chief of the Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit, where he personally prosecuted Ramzi Yousef for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Under his leadership, the Unit successfully investigated and prosecuted dozens of cases of international significance, including investigations of the Millennium bombing plot, the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Upon college graduation and throughout law school, David served as a police officer and fireman in his home township of East Hampton, New York. David is currently an adjunct professor at New York Law School.
