David Lerch joined the firm in 2023. He is a litigator who approaches cases with a comprehensive view of the legal, regulatory, and commercial landscape to obtain just results for his clients.
Over his legal career, David has successfully handled complex federal and state court litigation, including antitrust matters involving patent pools and standard essential patents, no-poach agreements, monopolization, and buy-outs. He has experience litigating complex matters outside the antitrust context, including a case involving parallel administrative, civil, criminal, and Congressional investigations. He has also litigated Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and Federal Tort Claims Act matters.
David has public sector experience with the Social Security Administration Office of General Counsel, including rulemaking regarding attorney misconduct issues, interagency coordination on Social Security fraud issues, and briefing senior agency officials on issues involving sub-regulatory policy, litigation risk, and impact on stakeholders outside the agency.
At the firm, David’s practice covers a range of antitrust cases, including a class action involving a no-poach agreement by a nationwide tax preparation firm, a buy-out by a large tobacco company, and a class-action involving a health care company which has expanded through a series of anticompetitive mergers. He also plays a key role in consumer protection cases, including a case against a company that manufactures a carcinogenic pesticide, a class action against the institutional investors that backed a cryptocurrency trading company, and class actions against AI platforms asserting copyright infringement on behalf of novelists and other creative professionals.
Prior to joining the firm, David was with a San Francisco firm where he represented a wide range of professionals and corporate clients in litigation involving issues including professional liability. He argued in district court, state superior court, and the California Court of Appeal, represented clients in mediation, and handled novel issues, such as tribal sovereign immunity in professional liability litigation.
David has also managed a wide range of federal litigation and was the Deputy Regional Chief Counsel for the Region IX office at the Social Security Administration Office of General Counsel. In addition, he worked with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal as a staff attorney on immigration and criminal appeals. At WilmerHale, he covered antitrust matters, including federal litigation regarding standard essential patents in the DVD patent pool, advice and guidance regarding licensing matters for a technology company, and merger clearance.
While in law school, David was a senior submissions editor for the Stanford Journal of International Law. Upon graduation he clerked for Judge Christina Snyder in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
David is a member of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section and the Bar Association of San Francisco. He also provides pro bono representation with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.