David Frederick

David Frederick (born April 9, 1961) is an appellate attorney in Washington, D.C., and is a partner with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C.^[1]

Education and legal training

Frederick earned a bachelor's degree in 1983 from the University of Pittsburgh.^[2] Frederick completed a PhD from Oxford University in 1987 as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1989, Frederick earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he also served as Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review.

Professional career

After law school, Frederick clerked for Judge Joseph T. Sneed of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Byron R. White of the U.S. Supreme Court.^[3] In 1995, he was named Counselor to the Inspector General. One year later, he became the Assistant to the Solicitor General, a position he held until 2001. During his time with the Solicitor General's Office he earned the Department of Justice Inspector General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award and the Coast Guard Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Frederick has argued thirty cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, including nine in the past three Terms. Recent arguments include: Wyeth v. Levine, South Carolina v. North Carolina, Altria v. Good, New Jersey v. Delaware, Watson v. Philip Morris, Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Kircher v. Putnam Funds, Anza v. Ideal Steel, Merrill Lynch v. Dabit, Lincoln Property Company v. Roche, Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. and Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC.

Frederick's victories often strengthen plaintiff and consumer interests. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an ability to persuade conservative justices to take pro-consumer positions.

In Wyeth vs. Levine (6-3), Frederick helped to convince Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter and Thomas that federal approval of labels which provide warnings about side effects of drugs does not bar lawsuits claiming inadequate warnings of a health risk in state law.^[4] In the case, Diana Levine sued Wyeth for failing to warn patients that the drug Phenergan could cause gangrene when administered using direct IV injection. The verdict, which overturned a ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, was a victory for Levine and for victims who could continue bringing their cases to state courts.

In Jones vs. Harris (9-0), Frederick helped to lead the Court to a unanimous decision in favor of investors, reversing a circuit court decision by Judge Frank Easterbrook. The plaintiffs had sued over exorbitant fees charged by mutual fund investment advisers.^[5]

And in his most recent victory, Merck vs. Reynolds, Frederick argued against the application of a statute of limitations for securities fraud cases when the investors lacked direct evidence of fraud.^[6][7] In this particular case, shareholders sued Merck after the value of $10 billion dollar Vioxx tanked due to concerns about dangerous side effects arguing that Merck withheld information about the dangers of the drug. Merck attempted to impose a statute of limitations, which would have ended before the shareholders knew of the drug's dangers but Frederick argued that the statute of limitations should not begin until the plaintiff has enough facts to survive a motion to dismiss.^[8]

Other noteworthy cases argued include: Idaho v. United States, United States v. Locke, Carter v. United States, and California v. Deep Sea Research. In 2001, he represented the United States in oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in United States v. Microsoft Corporation. He has argued cases in eleven of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.^[9]

Frederick also represented the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) during negotiations with Comcast to bring the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles to Comcast's programming lineup in the Washington D.C. area.^[10] Frederick also represented MASN through three successful Federal Communications Commission (FCC) arbitration rulings against Time Warner Cable.^[11]

Frederick was part of the Obama-Biden Legal Policy Team and was rumored to be on President Obama's short list for Solicitor General.^[12]

Publications

Frederick is the author of dozens of legal articles and four books:

Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy (West, 2003)

The Art of Oral Advocacy (West, 2003)

Rugged Justice: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the American West, 1891-1941 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994)

A Brief-Writer's Sourcebook of Supreme Court Jurisprudence (coedited with Stephen J. Marzen, Shearman & Sterling, 1994)

References

1. ^ Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C. Bio
2. ^ University of Pittsburgh News: For Second Year Straight, Pitt Student Named Rhodes Scholar
3. ^ Mauro, Tony. "A Low-Profile Ride to Top of High Court Bar" Legal Times, March 16, 2009
4. ^ "Counsel for Diana Levine...David Frederick," Legal Broadcast News Network Blog, March 17, 2009
5. ^ Savage, David G. "Justices give mutual fund investors a crack at suing over exorbitant fee," Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2010
6. ^ Kendall, Brent, "Some Justices Voice Skepticism of Merck in Vioxx Case," Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2009
7. ^ Mauro, Tony, "Justices Give Boost to Securities Fraud Plaintiffs in Merck Ruling," The National Law Journal, April 28, 2010
8. ^ Jones, Ashby, "On Merck’s Interesting Supreme Court Argument," Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2009
9. ^ University of Texas Law - Faculty Bio
10. ^ Niland, Marty, "D.C. cable outfit seeks end to Nats' flap." The Associated Press, April 7, 2006
11. ^ Terry, Robert, "Second arbitrator rules Time Warner Cable must carry MASN." Baltimore Business Journal, June 9, 2008
12. ^ Mundy, Alicia. "Preempt This: Plaintiffs Attorney David Frederick for Solicitor General." Wall Street Journal: Health Blog, November 11, 2008

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Name	Frederick, David
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Date of birth	April 9, 1961
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