David Partida

David Partida maintains a broad and deep complex litigation practice. Clients trust him with their most pressing and sensitive matters because he is an aggressive and candid counselor who always zealously advocates for their interests no matter the circumstance.

David routinely represents individuals, companies, and non-profit organizations in disputes in a wide-ranging set of industries, including hospitality, non-profit, banking, real estate, consumer goods, start-ups (biotech, medical devices, software, social media, transportation), manufacturing, professional services, media and streaming services (television, radio, music), transportation, oil and gas, agriculture, and construction.

David has litigated a litany of disputes involving fiduciary breaches, fraud, breach of contract, board and shareholder disputes, securities, trade secrets, patents, trademarks, false advertising, employment, bankruptcy, tax, insurance, corporate governance, corporate compliance, government investigations, and executive compensation, among other issues. 

In all matters, whether bet-the-company litigations or routine business disputes, David doggedly assesses and pursues his clients’ objectives.  He realistically evaluates all his cases’ strengths and weaknesses and considers each from his clients’ and the judge’s or jury's perspective, developing and executing efficient, cost-effective, and judge or jury-friendly strategies.

David has successfully first or second-chaired trials, hearings, and depositions; delivered opening statements and closing arguments; examined fact and expert witnesses; and successfully argued many decisive motions.  He has also authored multiple briefs that have successfully achieved early dismissal with prejudice, obtained summary judgment, opposed class certification, obtained or defeated temporary restraining orders and injunctions, and prevailed on, or defeated, many discovery motions.

David maintains admissions in both New York and California and has practiced extensively in both jurisdictions and numerous federal and state courts across the nation. He passionately maintains an active pro-bono practice for which he has received numerous awards.

• Obtained a critical temporary restraining order on behalf of a founder against rogue directors attempting to steal his start-up’s intellectual property resulting in founder maintaining control of the critical intellectual property.
• Prevailed on behalf of a majority shareholder in an expedited Delaware Chancery Court trial (affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court) where hostile corporate management contested the validity of the appointments of the majority shareholder’s nominated directors with the victory resulting in the majority shareholder retaining control of the corporation.
• Successfully achieved pre-trial dismissal of a state dissolution action preserving the existence of one of the oldest and most prominent non-profit membership organizations in America.
• Represented the founder of a healthcare company in four dueling litigations in two states concerning the founder’s wrongful ouster as CEO and dilution following sale of the company in a billion-dollar SPAC acquisition, ultimately resulting in a favorable settlement for the client.  
• Represented a family who owns numerous San Francisco hotels and motels in a weeks-long trial involving hundreds of millions in real estate sales and claims for tens of millions in compensation by a disgruntled former business partner of 50 years.
• Represented owner of a landmark San Francisco hotel in a weeks-long trial concerning a dispute with a brand and hotel management company involving hundreds of millions in claimed damages.
• Defeated class certification in a case involving hundreds of millions in claimed damages against an international supplement manufacturer, effectively ending the litigation.
• Oversaw on-site data preservation and forensic investigations for multiple clients in connection with large data breach incidents each involving hundreds of compromised retail locations, thousands of points of sale, and tens of thousands of consumer account records.  
• Secured a multi-million dollar settlement for a prominent agri-business in a tax related accounting malpractice matter.
• Secured a favorable outcome for a senior BP engineer charged with obstruction of justice related to the British Petroleum Macondo oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

• "Courts Continue Grappling With Whether Cryptocurrencies Are Securities and Whether Digital Trading Platforms Are Liable for Securities Violations" (April 9, 2024)