| WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP |
David L. Yohai
David L. Yohai is a litigation partner in Weil's Complex Commercial Litigation Group. Mr. Yohai has litigated a variety of complex commercial, antitrust and intellectual property matters for clients in the consumer electronics, insurance, reinsurance, transportation, nuclear power equipment supply, cosmetics and entertainment industries. He has also been the lead lawyer on a number of successful appeals, including cases before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits, the New York Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Courts of Illinois, Oregon and Louisiana.
Over the past several years, Mr. Yohai has represented and counseled Panasonic, ExxonMobil, Disney, ESPN, Farmers Insurance and United Healthcare in a variety of litigations and arbitrations. In 2009, Mr. Yohai defeated a national class, and then an Illinois class, in case brought against ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Citgo and Marathon alleging a conspiracy to fix gasoline prices wherein Plaintiffs were seeking billions of dollars in damages. In 2010, Mr. Yohai successfully defended the Walt Disney Company and ESPN in a number of matters relating to telecasting rights and also was successful on a multi-million dollar counterclaim. In the past, Mr. Yohai has obtained favorable case dispositive decisions for Panasonic Corporation and Panasonic North America, including in one case successfully defending a major antitrust litigation involving the DVD 6C patent pool (obtaining summary judgment for Panasonic on all of the antitrust claims asserted) and in another trying a three-month jury trial to verdict in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The verdict resulted in total victory for Panasonic in a case where Plaintiffs demanded over $750 million in damages and plaintiffs were awarded nothing.
Mr. Yohai also co-heads Weil's insurance litigation practice group and has represented numerous insurance clients. Mr. Yohai has obtained favorable dismissals, denials of class certification, and settlements in numerous cases for Farmers Insurance Exchange, United Healthcare, Penn Treaty American Corporation, Conseco Senior Health Insurance Company, Conseco Life Insurance Company, The Travelers Insurance Company and other significant insurance and reinsurance clients. In 2009, Mr. Yohai argued a significant appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for Farmers Insurance Exchange upholding dismissal of a nationwide class action. He has also participated in several large reinsurance arbitrations in which he achieved favorable decisions. In 2005, he favorably settled a nationwide class action for Penn Treaty involving alleged wrongdoing with respect to over 200,000 policyholders. In 2001, Mr. Yohai settled another nationwide class action for Conseco Senior Health on favorable terms in a case involving over 750,000 policyholders.
In 2005, Mr. Yohai successfully defended the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) in a challenge brought by Madison Square Garden over the rights to build the New York Sports and Convention Center on the West Side of Manhattan. In 2004, Mr. Yohai was lead counsel for M-Systems, Inc, an Israeli electronics manufacturer, in a multi-million dollar fraud and trade secrets matter brought against M-Systems, obtaining a complete dismissal of all claims brought against M-Systems, Inc.
Mr. Yohai has also in the past litigated matters on behalf of Westinghouse Electric Corporation in connection with its supplying nuclear power steam generators to several utilities throughout the nation and has represented Paco Rabanne Parfums, Warner/Chappell Music, Sony Music, Arista Records and others in trademark and copyright infringement matters.
Mr. Yohai has been selected by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, was recognized as a New York "Superlawyer" in 2010 and has also been a PLI lecturer on topics including federal civil procedure, MDL proceedings, e-discovery, and the attorney-client privilege. He previously clerked for the Honorable Robert E. Cowen on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where he worked on a variety of civil and criminal appeals.
Mr. Yohai graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Princeton University with a B.A. where he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif and was a note and comment editor of the New York University Law Review. Mr. Yohai is also a member of the litigation sections of the American and New York State Bar Associations.
- Bar Admissions
New Jersey State; New York State; Southern District New York; US Court of Appeals 2nd Cir.; US Court of Appeals 3rd Cir.; District of New Jersey; Eastern District New York
- Education
Princeton University (B.A., 1991); New York University (J.D., 1994)