Danny David

Managing Partner

[email protected]
Danny David

"Danny is the quintessential stand-up, first-chair trial lawyer. He is relentless and has a track record of victories to prove it. He has excellent judgment, an impressive work ethic and loves to win."

Chambers USA 2023

Danny David is Managing Partner of Baker Botts and leads the firm's Executive Committee, guiding the strategic direction and growth of the firm.

Danny maintains an active practice, representing companies and their officers and directors in securities class actions, fiduciary duty lawsuits, shareholder demands, and suits challenging mergers, and is a Chambers Band 1-ranked lawyer. Over the last ten years, he has worked on litigation related to over 50 mergers with an aggregate transaction value of over $200 billion. Danny frequently represents special committees and audit committees in connection with investigations, governance issues, and derivative litigation. He also advises private equity in activist situations, proxy fights, and special situations.

Danny is routinely called upon for his courtroom acumen as a first-chair trial lawyer. He has served as lead trial counsel in complex civil litigation in courts across the nation and has extensive experience trying a wide range of commercial and securities and shareholder cases in Texas, Delaware, California, and New York.

"He is highly intelligent, tenacious, and unyielding in pursuit of our interests. He is 'on' 24/7, and outstanding across the board. He has an insatiable appetite for winning."

Chambers USA 2023

Danny served as Co-Chair of the firm's Litigation Department from 2019-2023, and prior to that, Danny led the firm's Shareholder and Securities Litigation Practice.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. David was an associate with McKinsey & Company, where he focused on issues relating to corporate strategy for clients in the energy industry.

Related Experience

Securities Class Actions

  • Led defense of board of directors of Vectren Corporation in securities class action related to proposed transaction; the district court granted our motion to dismiss this month (In re Vectren Corp. Sec. Litg., 2019 WL 4243193, S.D. Ind. Sept. 6, 2019)
  • Leading defense of former officers and directors of Warren Resources, Inc. in securities class action (pending) (Cartwright v. D’Alleva, 2018 WL 9343524, S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2018)
  • Led defense of Westar Energy, Inc. in connection with a succession of class and derivative lawsuits filed by shareholders under the federal securities laws and state fiduciary duty law (Reese v. Westar Energy, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-02584 (D. Kan.); and Pill v. Westar Energy, Inc., et al., Civ. A. No. 5:17-cv-4086 (D. Kan.); In re Westar Energy, Inc. Stockholder Litig., Case No. 2016-000457 (Dist. Ct. Shawnee Cnty., Kan.))
  • Defense of Helix Energy and its officers and directors in securities class action; the district court granted our motion to dismiss in February 2017, and no appeal was taken (Izadjoo v. Helix Energy Sol’ns Group, Inc., 237 F.Supp.3d 492 (S.D.Tex. 2017))
  • Defense of Willbros Group and its officers and directors in securities class action (In re Willbros Group, Inc. Sec. Lit., 2016 WL 4920979, S.D. Tex. Sept. 15, 2016)
  • Led defense of present and former CEOs of Warren Resources, Inc. in securities class action (David Speiser v. Epstein et al., No. 1:16-cv-2037-WJM-CBS (D. Colo.))
  • Defense of Key Energy and its officers and directors in securities class action; the district court granted our motion to dismiss in April 2016, and no appeal was taken (In re Key Energy Svcs. Sec. Lit., 166 F.Supp.3d 822 (S.D. Tex. 2016))
  • Defense of Cobalt International and its officers and directors in securities class action (In re Cobalt Int’l Energy, Inc. Sec. Lit., 2016 WL 215476, S.D. Tex. Jan. 19, 2016)
  • Defense of McDermott International and its officers and directors in 10b-5 class action; the district court granted our motion to dismiss in March 2015, and no appeal was taken (Local 210 Unity Pension & Welfare Funds v. McDermott Int’l Inc., 2015 WL 1143081, S.D. Tex. Mar. 13, 2015)
  • Defense of Perot Systems and its directors in a shareholder class action seeking to enjoin Perot Systems’ merger with Dell (Van Buiten v. Dell, Inc., et al., Case No. 4:13-cv-01585 (S.D. Tex. 2013)

Merger Class Actions

  • Defense of TPC Group and certain of its directors in shareholder suits challenging TPC’s acquisition by two private equity firms (In re TPC Group Inc. S’holders Litig., 2014 WL 5500000, Del. Ch. Ct. Oct. 29, 2014)
  • Defense of Frontier Oil and its directors in class actions challenging Frontier’s merger with Holly Corporation. Mr. David argued the case before the Fourteenth Court of Appeals (Kazman v. Frontier Oil Corp., 398 S.W.3d 377 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist. 2013]), no pet.)
  • Defense of Titanium Metals Corporation and its inside directors in litigation challenging its acquisition by Precision Castparts (In re Titanium Metals Corp. S’holders Lit., 2013 WL 5176406, Del. Ch. Ct. Aug. 13, 2013)
  • Defense of NRG Energy, Inc. in shareholder suits challenging its merger with GenOn and a prior proposed acquisition of assets (In re GenOn Energy, Inc. S’holders Lit., C.A. No. 7721-VCN, Del. Ch. Ct.)
  • Defense of Allis-Chalmers and its directors in class actions challenging Allis-Chalmers’ merger with Seawell (In re Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. S’holders Litig., C.A. 5726-VCN, Del. Ch. Ct.)
  • Representation of Titanium Metals and its directors in suit challenging sale to Precision Castparts Corp. (In re Titanium Metals Corp. S’holders Litig., C.A. 8029-CS, Del. Ch. Ct.)
  • Defense of United Airlines in class action lawsuits challenging United’s merger with Continental (Witmer v. Continental Airlines, Inc., et al.; Case No. 2010-29044 (Harris Cty., Texas)
  • Defense of directors of Landry's in class action case relating to CEO's offer to take the company private; case settled (La. Municipal Police E’ees’ Ret. Sys. v. Tilman J. Fertitta, et al., 2009 WL 2263406, Del. Ch. Ct. July 28, 2009)
  • Defense of EGL, Inc. in class action and derivative litigation over the company’s proposed going private transaction and its ultimate acquisition by a private equity firm (Somers v. Crane, 295 S.W.3d 5 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist. 2009], pet. denied))
  • Defense of founders, directors, and largest shareholders of Tanox, Inc. in class action litigation over Tanox’s merger with Genentech (Superior Partners v. Chang, 471 F.Supp.2d 750 (S.D. Tex. 2007))
  • Tried case to a finding of no-liability for the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Chaparral Resources, Inc. in the Delaware Court of Chancery (In re Chaparral Resources, C.A. 2001-VCL, Del. Ch. Ct.)

Derivative Actions

  • Representation of Special Litigation Committee of Sterling Bancshares in connection with threatened litigation relating to its merger with Comerica Bank (John Stockton v. Anat Bird, et al; Case Nos. 2011-07148 & 2011-21925 (Harris Cty., Texas))
  • Representation of the Special Litigation Committee of Lufkin Industries in connection with a derivative suit challenging its merger with General Electric
  • Defense of Imperial Sugar and its directors in derivative suits challenging its acquisition by Louis Dreyfus
  • Representation of Titanium Metals and its directors in derivative suit challenging related party transactions (Bauman v. Simmons, et al, Case No. 3:11-cv-03607 (N.D. Tex. 2011); La. Mun. Police Ret. Sys. v. Harold C. Simmons, et al., C.A. 7059-CS, Del. Ch. Ct.)
  • Representation of the CEO and other senior executives of Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. in litigation and investigation relating to options practice
  • Representation of Special Litigation Committee of Meridian Resources in a derivative action relating to its merger with Alta Mesa Holdings
  • Representation of ICO in a derivative action relating to its merger with A. Schulman
  • Defense of Baker Hughes Incorporated along with its current and former officers and directors in a series of derivative cases in state and federal court arising out of the Company’s 2007 FCPA settlement, with all cases being dismissed (Midwestern Teamsters Pension Trust Fund, et al. v. Baker Hughes, Inc., et al., 2010 WL 3359560 (S.D. Tex. May 26, 2010), 2009 WL 6799492 (S.D. Tex. May 7, 2009))

Additional Securities Matters, Corporate Investigations, and Other Trials

  • Defense of Independent Directors, CEO, and CFO of IDEV Technologies, Inc. before trial court, appellate court, and the Texas Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court, won three motions to dismiss and two appellate court victories (Pinto Technology Ventures, L.P., et al. v. Sheldon, et al., 526 S.W.3d 428 (Tex. 2017); Sheldon v. Pinto Technology Ventures, L.P., et al., 2019 WL 336985 (Del. Ch. Ct. Jan. 25, 2019)
  • Led successful effort to recover multi-million dollar put right in connection with the sale of a business (QC Holdings, Inc. v. AllConnect, Inc., 2018 WL 4091721 (Del Ch. Ct. Aug. 28, 2018))
  • FCPA investigations for oilfield services companies involving multiple issues in several countries; defense of multiple CEOs concerning various FCPA and insider trading matters
  • Defense of companies in connection with FINRA/OSRA matters; defense of broker-dealers in FINRA and NASD arbitrations
  • Defense of Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank in $13 billion fraud and tortious interference suit brought by Huntsman Corporation over Huntsman’s failed merger with Hexion, described as the “trial of the year” in 2009 (Huntsman Corp. v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA), LLC, et al.; Cause No. 08-09-09258 (Montgomery Cty., Texas); Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, et al. v. Huntsman Corp., 269 S.W.3d 722 (Tex. App.--Beaumont 2008, no pet.))

Awards & Community

Recognized in Litigation: Securities-Texas by Chambers USA, 2016-24

Recommended and recognized as a "Next Generation Partner" for Securities Litigation-Defense and M&A Litigation-Defense by The Legal 500 U.S., 2018-24

Recognized as One of the Top 10 Lawyers Under 40 (Rising Star) by Law360 in Securities, 2010

Identified by Houston Business Journal, as a "40 under 40" for leadership in the community, 2010

Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a leading litigation lawyer in the area of class action and complex commercial litigation, 2009 and 2019

Selected for membership of Texas Bar Foundation, 2010

Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer - Rising Star, (Thomson Reuters), 2007-18

Listed among "Lawyers on the Fast Track" by H Texas in 2004

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School 2000
magna cum laude
Boykin C. Wright Memorial Award for victories in the Ames Moot Court Competition

A.B., Politics, Princeton University 1997
summa cum laude
John G. Buchanan Prize for highest academic standing in politics
New York Herald Prize for best thesis

Admissions & Affiliations

State Bar of Texas, Antitrust and Business Litigation Sections, Litigation Section

United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fifth and Seventh Circuits and United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, District of Colorado, Central District of Illinois

American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Securities Litigation Committee; Section of Business Law

Houston Bar Association, Securities Litigation and Arbitration Law Section, Mergers & Acquisitions Section, Section on Minority Legal Opportunities

Federal Bar Association for the Southern District of Texas Chapter, Past President and Board of Directors

Council on Foreign Relations, Term Member

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Advance Team, and Ovarian Cancer Research Program, Board of Directors

BakerRipley, Executive Committee and Board of Directors

Hermann Park Conservancy, Past Chair, Executive Committee and Board of Directors

The Menil Collection, Menil Council and Development Committee

Space Center Houston, Board of Directors