Dave Walton is an experienced litigator with a detailed, hands-on understanding of technology and e-discovery issues. He is vice chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, managing director of the firm’s Electronic Discovery Practice and Advisory Services (ePAS), and co-chair of the firm’s E-Discovery Task Force. Dave brings a unique combination of skills to his practice – in addition to substantial trial experience, he offers a demonstrated understanding of technology and its impact on litigation outcomes.
Dave represents a broad range of clients from large multinational corporations to small companies, serving employers in all types of employment law, ranging from proactive counseling to litigation, including preparation of policies and procedures, hiring and termination, employment discrimination, employment contract disputes, restrictive covenants, and trade secrets. He has assisted employers facing challenges posed by the information-age technology, and has provided representation in negotiations and arbitrations for his unionized clients. He has lectured to attorneys and human resource professionals on wide-ranging issues in employment law, providing clients with the tools necessary to effectively manage their workforce.
Dave has extensive first-chair trial experience in representing both plaintiffs and defendants in large cases involving restrictive covenants, trade secrets, unfair competition and duty of loyalty claims. In these cases, he has developed his skills in using computer forensics to catch employees who try to take confidential information and trade secrets. Dave has also successfully defended numerous clients who were wrongfully accused of taking such information or were alleged to have done something when hiring an employee from a competitor.
As an industry leader in restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, Dave has significant experience litigating restrictive covenant cases and has obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions for employers enforcing employment agreements. In addition, Dave has won numerous motions for summary judgment in federal and state courts in cases involving more traditional claims of employment discrimination and ERISA violations. He also has substantial experience securing injunctions against labor unions for improper picketing.
Dave is an active member of The Sedona Conference, most recently speaking at its national conference, and is a contributing member of The Sedona Conference's drafting team on proportionality. Dave is a frequent speaker at other national conferences on e-discovery and digital forensics. Dave has also published numerous articles in these areas. As part of this practice, Dave designs and implements document retention policies, customized protocols for preserving and collecting ESI. He also provides extensive training to clients on proactive measures and best practices to effectively resolve e-discovery issues and significantly reduce costs.
Dave is a member of the labor and employment law committees of the American and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, and the Montgomery County Bar Association. He was named a "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer – Rising Star" several times by Law & Politics.
Dave earned his undergraduate degree from Ithaca College in 1991, where he played varsity baseball and earned numerous all-state and all-conference honors. Dave earned his law degree, with honors, from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1995, where he was awarded the Sheppard Scholarship. At Richmond, Dave served as an editor of the University of Richmond Law Review, earned the American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum Book Awards and served on the Honor Court.
