David Needham is a trial lawyer focused on complex commercial litigation (banking, accounting, and mass tort disputes) and white collar defense.
Mr. Needham represents prominent companies as plaintiffs and defendants in contract, fraud, and securities litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts. He also represents international organizations, financial institutions, and senior executives in government investigations into bribery, tax evasion, money laundering, market manipulation, and securities fraud.
Mr. Needham’s recent matters include representing an international consortium of plaintiffs from over a dozen countries in billion-dollar fraud and misrepresentation lawsuits against a major U.S. financial institution and a big 4 accounting firm for their participation in the collapse of a Mexican oil services company. He has also represented SEACOR, a global provider of equipment and services supporting the offshore oil and gas industries, in claims arising from the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Deepwater Horizon multi-district litigation.
In addition, Mr. Needham has represented FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, in criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Office of the Attorney General into allegations of bribery and corruption by former high-level soccer officials. He has also represented Julius Baer, a Swiss publicly-traded bank and the world’s largest pure private bank, in a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York into whether the bank helped U.S. citizens avoid paying taxes.
Before joining Quinn, Mr. Needham was a law clerk for two federal judges and an extern in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office.
- Rabobank
- Moneda Asset Management
- Ashmore Group
- EIG Partners
- HBK Capital Management
- Canyon Partners
- Adar Capital Partners
- Waypoint Asset Management
- Nordic Trustee
- Shipyard De Hoop
- Otto Candies
- Coastline Maritime
- Halani Group
- SEACOR Holdings
- O’Brien’s Response Management
- National Response Corporation
- Express Scripts
- Bowlero
- LIV Golf
- X Corp. (formerly Twitter)
- Salesforce.com
- Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
- Swedbank
- Bank Julius Baer
- EFG Bank
- Mercuria Energy
- Megaupload
- Cinépolis
- Caliente Interactive
- Shareholders of Integradora de Servicios Petroleros Oro Negro
- U.S. Bank
- BNY Mellon
- ResCap Liquidating Trust
Select civil experience as lead counsel:
- Otto Candies v. Citigroup & KPMG (S.D. Fla. & 11th Cir.; Del. Ch. & Del. Supr.) – Representing an international consortium of plaintiffs from over a dozen countries in billion dollar fraud and misrepresentation lawsuits against a major U.S. financial institution and a big 4 accounting firm for their participation in the collapse of a Mexican oil services company.
- O’Brien’s & NRC v. BP (E.D. La. & 5th Cir.) – Representing SEACOR, a global provider of equipment and services supporting the offshore oil and gas industries, in claims arising out of the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Deepwater Horizon multi-district litigation.
- Express Scripts v. Kaleo (E.D. Mo.) – Represented Express Scripts, a large pharmacy benefits manager, in a contractual dispute related to drug pricing and rebates.
Select criminal experience as lead counsel:
- FIFA Investigation – Represented international soccer’s governing body in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Office of the Attorney into allegations of bribery and corruption by former high-level soccer officials. The New York Times described the matter as “one of the most complicated international white collar cases in recent memory.”
- Swiss Bank Investigation – Represented Julius Baer, a Swiss publicly-traded bank and the world’s largest pure private bank, in a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation into whether the bank helped U.S. citizens avoid paying taxes. The bank avoided prosecution and paid a penalty reflecting an ~85% reduction from the low-end of the penalty range – the largest reduction ever reported in a criminal context and predicated on what the Justice Department deemed “gold standard” cooperation.
- United States v. Megaupload & Kim Dotcom – Represented one of the world’s largest online cloud storage services in the U.S. Department of Justice’s largest prosecution of alleged criminal copyright infringement.
- New York University Law School
(LL.M., Taxation)- Advocacy Award (Marden moot court competition semifinalist)
- Advocacy Award (Marden moot court competition semifinalist)
- University of Southern California Law School
(J.D., cum laude)- Saks Scholar
- Southern California Review of Law & Social Justice:
- Senior Editor
- Senior Editor
- Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania
(M.B.A., Finance, Director’s List) - Santa Clara University
(B.S., Finance, cum laude)
- The State Bar of New York
- The District of Columbia Bar
- The State Bar of California
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Circuit Courts:
- Second Circuit
- Fifth Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- Eleventh Circuit
- D.C. Circuit
- United States District Courts:
- Southern District of New York
- Eastern District of New York
- District of Columbia
- Central District of California
- Northern District of California
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Diana Saldaña, District Judge:
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Patrick J. Walsh, Magistrate Judge:
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- Extern to the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcón, Circuit Judge:
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star
- Mock Trial Coach, Georgetown Law School
- Pro Bono Legal Services, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Member, New York State Bar Association
- Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Member, Federal Bar Association
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, International Bar Association
- Member, International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA)