David Lender is chair of Weil’s global, 400-lawyer Litigation Department, and has over 20 years of experience trying and litigating a wide range of complex, international commercial disputes in state and federal courts around the country. Mr. Lender’s practice encompasses all substantive areas of the law, with emphasis on patent, antitrust, consumer fraud, and contracts. In those and other types of litigation, he has tried numerous cases to verdict—many of which have resulted in his clients obtaining, or avoiding, hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
Most recently, as co-lead counsel for General Electric, Mr. Lender secured a $170 million jury verdict against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. in a patent infringement litigation in Texas federal court regarding wind turbine technology—a significant victory in GE’s dispute with Mitsubishi that The Wall Street Journal called “closely watched in the estimated $12 billion U.S. market for wind energy equipment.” Mr. Lender, who was recognized as one of The American Lawyer’s “Litigators of the Week” for his role in obtaining this verdict, is also representing GE in a related antitrust litigation in federal court in Arkansas.
Mr. Lender’s other significant trial achievements have likewise resolved highly complex disputes that were global in scope. He won a complete defense jury verdict for ESPN in New York Supreme Court in a $231 million lawsuit brought by Modi Entertainment Network regarding the launch of the ESPN channel in India, a case requiring the application of both New York and Indian law. Mr. Lender also won a $417 million jury verdict for Exxon Mobil Corporation against Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, in Delaware Superior Court, where he asserted claims for breach of contract and usurpation under Saudi Arabian law.
Across several practice areas, he has played an instrumental role in protecting his clients’ valuable technology, much of which gears the ubiquitous products and daily transactions underpinning the economy today. Recently, Mr. Lender won a major appellate victory for StubHub before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which, on an issue of first impression, ruled that StubHub was immune from liability under the federal Communications Decency Act for the unlawful price of concert tickets resold by third parties on its website—a decision of critical importance to Internet websites and the growth of e-commerce. On behalf of Nuance Communications, he obtained as lead counsel the favorable settlement of a patent infringement litigation regarding error correction technology in voice recognition software, which enables features in many products, including cellular phones.
Among his other notable representations, Mr. Lender was co-lead counsel for ESPN in a $1 billion defamation lawsuit brought by boxing promoter Don King, whom he deposed before obtaining summary judgment. He also has represented Sotheby’s in a number of litigations relating to its auctions, including winning a complete defense verdict involving a consignment of 17th Century New Mexican furniture and decorative arts, and recently was lead counsel for Dow Chemical in obtaining the dismissal with prejudice of a highly publicized RICO litigation brought by Greenpeace.
Mr. Lender is a recognized expert, author and frequent lecturer on electronic discovery issues. He is the co-author of the leading treatise on the subject, entitled Electronic Discovery: Law and Practice, originally published by Aspen Publishers in 2003; author of Privilege Issues in the Age of Electronic Discovery, originally published by BNA in 2008; and head of the firm’s E-Discovery Task Force.
He is regularly recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and noted for his experience in patent and IP law issues, E-Discovery and class action disputes. In 2012, he was recognized as one of five “Class Action MVPs” nationwide by Law360 and named among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
Mr. Lender is on the Executive Board of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and recently won a jury verdict in the Southern District of New York for a prisoner in a §1983 lawsuit.
Mr. Lender received his JD degree with High Honors, Order of the Coif from the Duke University School of Law in 1993, and his BA degree, cum laude, from Duke University in 1990.
Bar Admissions
New York State; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal, Second, Third and Fourth Circuits; U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; U.S. Tax Court