SEATTLE, January 11, 2023: Morgan Lewis continues to build its Pacific Northwest presence following the opening of an office in Seattle with a 34-member team by adding veteran litigator and corporate legal advisor David Howard as a partner. David previously served as Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, competition law, and compliance worldwide. Before joining Microsoft, David led Dechert’s white collar and securities litigation practice, after serving as a federal prosecutor.
“David’s unique experience positions him to navigate a company, executive suite, and board of directors through its biggest legal challenges and crises,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “From David’s time as Microsoft’s chief litigator, he is keenly aware of the array of legal and regulatory issues that specifically confront the operations of the global technology industry.”
David joined Microsoft in 2010 to lead its litigation team, including intellectual property, antitrust, privacy, and consumer class action litigation as well as cases before the US Supreme Court. He also oversaw the company’s internal investigations and related regulatory and enforcement matters worldwide. In private practice for nearly 20 years with Dechert, David represented corporations and individuals in complex civil and criminal matters, including grand jury investigations and prosecutions, US Securities and Exchange Commission investigations and confidential internal investigations. He also served with the White House Counsel’s Task Force on the Iran/Contra Matter and was an Assistant US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for eight years.
“David’s perspective honed through a variety of roles in the legal community, coupled with his tenure in the tech industry, adds a thoughtful voice and depth to our West Coast team,” said Eric Sitarchuk, leader of Morgan Lewis’s global white collar litigation and government investigations practice. “Crisis management, board audit committee investigations, and major litigation and government investigations can be business critical to any global operation, and David knows how to manage all through the full lifecycle of a matter.”
Morgan Lewis has added other former in-house lawyers from the technology industry to its team, including Amy Schuh, a former corporate senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer at a major information technology services company, and Denise Wood, former Amazon senior corporate counsel, who led the global telecommunications/networking infrastructure legal team for Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“David is a well-known and veteran lawyer who brings a valuable perspective and relatability to our clients,” said Patty Eakes, co-managing partner of Morgan Lewis’s Seattle office. “He strengthens our presence and services in Seattle, an important corporate hub in the Pacific Northwest.”