David S. Harris

With nearly fifteen years of experience, David Harris focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, including intellectual property, class action defense, antitrust, and employment matters in state and federal courts and arbitrations. David is an accomplished lawyer who has earned a reputation for presenting complicated legal and factual issues in a concise and easy-to-understand manner. He has an extraordinary track record of winning on the papers. For example, he helped secure a complete defense victory in a federal antitrust case by showing on summary judgment that the plaintiff had not suffered antitrust injury or damages; helped win an unwinnable personal injury case on summary judgment based on the little-known completed and accepted doctrine; and litigated a malicious prosecution case until the defendants gave up and stipulated to judgment. In just the past several years alone, David won summary judgment in two cases (one in Texas federal court and another in California state court); won summary adjudication against a plaintiffs strict products liability and negligence claims; successfully moved to decertify a consumer class action; and convinced the plaintiff in a proposed consumer class action to dismiss her case after taking her deposition and presenting compelling expert opinion showing her claims lacked scientific merit. David has successfully defended and secured many of his victories on appeal. In one such case, he prepared the winning Ninth Circuit brief on an issue of first impression regarding the forum non conveniens doctrine. In another, he helped convince the Ninth Circuit to uphold the trial courts dismissal of an antitrust action on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to show cognizable injury under the federal antitrust laws. David also prepared and argued an appeal that led the Ninth Circuit to reverse the lower courts summary judgment order and hold that the client was not contractually liable for deaths and certain personal injuries allegedly cause by the clients products. Most recently, he briefed, argued, and obtained a complete victory for his client, a national airline, in an appeal in the California Court of Appeal regarding, among other things, the Airline Deregulation Acts express preemption clause. In addition to working with Willenken as Of Counsel, David also maintains and runs his own boutique litigation firm (David S. Harris, P. C.), which he founded in early 2022. Before that, David honed his practice at law firms in Los Angeles and Washington, D. C. He began his legal career as a law clerk for Chief Justice Dana Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court. David lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. David and his wife are active in community affairs, including their synagogue, the local school district, and a number of non-profit organizations, including the Law Project of Los Angeles, which provides legal advocacy for system-involved workers, families, and children.