WilmerHale is pleased to announce that David Donovan has rejoined the firm’s Washington DC office as a partner in the Litigation/Controversy Department and member of the Business Trial Group.
“We are very pleased to welcome Dave back to WilmerHale,” said Howard Shapiro, chair of WilmerHale’s Litigation/Controversy Department. “He is an exceptionally talented lawyer and a trusted colleague and counselor, and we are very proud to have him return to the firm.”
Mr. Donovan rejoins the firm from the Washington Redskins, where he held the positions of general counsel and chief operating officer since 2005 and 2009, respectively. He has broad experience representing clients in complex commercial and regulatory disputes and investigations, and his tenure with the Redskins broadened his expertise in employment and collective bargaining; securities; insurance; corporate governance; trademark and copyright licensing and protection; media rights; and press relations, among other issues. During his time with the Redskins, Mr. Donovan was also general counsel to Red Zebra Broadcasting (since 2006) and president of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation (since 2009).
“Having spent 20 great years at the firm before my six years with the Redskins, I am very much looking forward to returning to WilmerHale,” said Mr. Donovan. “It will be great to work again with the many talented lawyers at the firm and reunite with old friends.”
WilmerHale’s litigation capabilities are nationally recognized. The firm represents clients in complex civil and criminal litigation, corporate investigations and international arbitrations. Its lawyers receive national and international recognition as top-rated practitioners. The inaugural 2010 Best Law Firm rankings by US News Media Group and Best Lawyers ranked WilmerHale’s general commercial litigation in the first tier nationally.
Mr. Donovan graduated with honors from Iowa State University with a BS in journalism and political science in 1980, where he was editor-in-chief of the Iowa State Daily. He earned his JD, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984, where he was editor-in-chief of The Georgetown Law Journal. He was a judicial clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Flannery in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 1984-85. Mr. Donovan is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is admitted to practice before a number of federal courts, including the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.