David P. Salant

David Salant is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, where his practice focuses on high-stakes securities, commercial, and white-collar disputes involving complex financial concepts. David has significant experience bringing and defending lawsuits in courts across the country, including as lead trial counsel.

Securities Litigation and Enforcement: David has successfully litigated a wide variety of U.S. securities law disputes on behalf of issuers, underwriters, investment companies, investment advisors, securities exchanges, and individuals, including questions of adequate securities registration, alleged material misrepresentations, putative securities class actions, beneficial ownership reporting, control person liability, and short-swing profits. He has opposed the SEC in civil litigation and persuaded investigating regulators at the SEC, FINRA, and national securities exchanges to abandon contemplated enforcement actions.

Complex Commercial Litigation: David has successfully represented public and private companies defending their transactions and business conduct in and out of court, including disputes arising out of business combinations, joint ventures, investment agreements, and employment agreements. He has also helped companies and individuals to recoup investments that had been procured by fraud.

White-Collar Criminal Disputes: David has represented senior executives accused of securities, accounting, and tax offenses, as well as investment firms and professionals under scrutiny for trades in derivatives and cryptocurrencies. He has presented cases to federal authorities and successfully forestalled threatened criminal charges.

Pro bono: David maintains an active pro bono practice that includes lawsuits to redress violations of detainees’ Constitutional rights. He has presented civil rights claims to a federal jury and obtained favorable pre-trial settlement of excessive force allegations.

Education

David received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Columbia University.

Prior Professional Experience

Prior to law school, David worked in the Equity Derivatives Group on the equity trading floor of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Representative Matters

• Represented The Nasdaq Stock Market in securing complete dismissal on summary judgment of putative securities class action concerning high-frequency trading.
• Represented Rio Tinto Group in securities enforcement action concerning multi-billion-dollar investment in Mozambique.
• Represented Piedmont Lithium in obtaining complete dismissal of putative securities class action and related shareholder derivative suits concerning lithium project.
• Representing Amazon.com in lawsuit concerning Key for Business service.
• Represented investment firm in fully recouping from startup company investment procured by fraud.
• Represented former CEO of publicly traded technology company in eight-week securities and wire fraud trial.
• Represented former pharmaceutical company executive in forestalling criminal charges threatened by federal authorities.
• Lead trial counsel to plaintiff in federal civil rights action concerning excessive force allegations.

Capabilities

• Litigation
• Crisis Management
• Securities Enforcement
• Securities Litigation
• Transnational Litigation
• Trials
• White Collar Defense and Investigations

Credentials

Education:

• Harvard University - 2015 Juris Doctor
• Columbia University - 2010 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• New York Bar

Clerkships:

• USDC, Southern District of New York, Hon. Naomi Reice Buchwald, 2015 - 2016