A partner in the Litigation Department and Deputy Chair of the Investment Funds Litigation Practice Group, David Friedman focuses his practice on a wide variety of commercial litigation disputes and criminal and regulatory defense. He has significant experience litigating in federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels. He represents private funds clients in disputes involving fund governance and investor claims, and guides private fund clients through regulatory investigations and enforcement matters. David is also a partner in our Securities Litigation Practice Group, and routinely represents clients in securities class actions and securities fraud investigations, and advises on related disclosure and corporate governance issues. He also has significant experience representing clients in insurance disputes, internal investigations, and at all stages of criminal and regulatory investigations and proceedings.
David is listed in Lawdragon’s 2024 “The Next Generation” list, and recognized by Benchmark Litigation on their 2024 and 2025 “40 & Under” lists.
David’s significant representations include:
- Blackstone Alternative Asset Management in the dismissal of a multi-billion dollar derivative lawsuit related to the Kentucky state pension system;
- The National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins franchise in conducting a high-profile independent review of the team’s signing of Mitchell Miller;
- CNA Financial, and affiliates, in numerous lawsuits in state and federal courts seeking coverage for business losses relation to the COVID-19 pandemic;
- the founder and former CEO of Premium Point Investments, a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, in a criminal securities fraud trial involving allegations of mismarking—in which the court granted a motion for a new trial based on evidence unearthed by the defense team following trial, leading to a successful resolution;
- numerous hedge fund and private equity fund clients in a variety of litigation and enforcement matters;
- a multinational investment bank in a CFTC investigation concerning the bank’s interest rate swaps and Treasuries trading;
- NextEra Energy in the dismissal, with prejudice, of a federal securities class action alleging that the company made false and misleading statements in connection with the legal and reputational risks arising from the political activity of its subsidiary Florida Power and Light a federal securities class action, and in related derivative litigation;
- The Philadelphia 76ers in an internal investigation relating to the use of certain anonymous Twitter accounts to post information concerning the club, its personnel and related topics;
- Underwriters in the dismissal of a securities class action in Arizona state court arising from Carvana’s secondary offering; and
- Vertiv Holdings Co., and its directors and officers, in a securities class action and related shareholder derivative litigation, alleging false and misleading projections, which were revealed to be false when it failed to meet its guidance due to supply chain issues and inflation.
While at Columbia Law School, David was a James Kent Scholar and a recipient of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize. He served as Executive Notes Editor of the Columbia Law Review.
