David C. Spellman

Shareholder | Seattle | 206.223.7392 | spellmand@lanepowell.com

Areas of Practice

David Spellman is a Shareholder with the Intellectual Property Litigation Group. Since 1986, he has represented clients in a wide variety of disputes involving commercial relationships, construction, consumer protection, corporate governance and rights, government regulations, insurance, intellectual property, inventors, licensing, marketing, personal injuries, racketeering, real estate, retail, unfair business practices, white-collar crime, and other areas. David is an advocate in trials, alternative dispute resolution proceedings, hearings, and public meetings. He serves as an advisor to clients negotiating transactions and has been selected by parties as an arbitrator to decide disputes.

Professional Experience

David has been a lawyer with Lane Powell since graduating from law school.

Admitted to Practice

David is admitted to law practice in Washington and before the federal courts in Eastern and Western Washington, the federal court of claims, and the federal court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Academics

David graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center in 1985 where he was an editor of the American Criminal Law Review.

David graduated with honors from Seattle University with a degree in philosophy and completed Seattle University’s two-year seminar program where members study in a chronological manner the art, thought, history, and great works of civilization.

Practice Group and Specialty Team Memberships

• Antitrust and Trade Regulation
• Construction and Environmental
• Intellectual Property and Technology
• Litigation
• Real Estate
• Securities Litigation
• White Collar Criminal Defense, Regulatory Compliance and Special Investigations

Representative Matters and Clients

David along with members of various Lane Powell teams has prosecuted and defended clients in the following types of cases:

Intellectual Property

• Victims of cybersquatting.
• Parties asserting and defending against patent claims.
• A co-author who received an arbitration award and judgment for copyright infringement against a leading manufacturer of homes.
• Defendants which defeated temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction motions for alleged breach of contract and misappropriation in two cases.
• A sign company which received a preliminary injunction enjoining trademark infringement against a national company.
• Companies which received temporary restraining orders enjoining use of trade secrets.
• A local restaurant which received a preliminary injunction enjoining trademark infringement by a national chain.
• A local manufacturer which received a jury verdict for willful infringement of trademark by a national medical products distributor.

Commercial and Contract Disputes

• A bank which prevailed in an appeal of a customer claim.
• A local government which defeated a general contractor’s claim on summary judgement.
• A public agency which defeated a bidder’s protest in the trial court and on appeal.
• A subcontractor which received a monetary award against contractor.
• A contractor which prevailed on an appeal of an adverse decision involving a lien claim.
• A subcontractor which received a monetary award against a general contractor.
• A transportation company which defeated a competitor’s bid protest.
• A timber company which filed suits for relief from the effects of federal forest management acts and regulations on a long-term contract and related property.
• A manufacturer which filed suit for breach of contract, false advertising and labeling claims against a national manufacturer and distributor of products for pets.
• Shareholders and members seeking deriative relief.
• A whistleblower.
• A bankrupt mining company which sought from its executives the return of assets transferred shortly before the appointment of a receiver.
• Lumber wholesalers prosecuting a racketeering suit against Canadian wholesalers, lumber graders, and related individuals and companies, which had participated in the sale of millions of dollars of misgraded lumber causing building inspectors to shut down projects in Western Washington for several weeks in 1990.

(Because each case depends upon unique circumstances, these prior results are merely representative and should not create an expectation about results in any individual case.)

David also has experience in constitutional, antitrust, price discrimination, and franchise law and government investigations and regulatory proceedings on the state and national level.

Publications

• “Premature Post-mortem for the Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing in Washington Contract Law,” Antitrust, Consumer Protection and Unfair Business Practices No. 21, Summer 2002 at 6-10 (Co-author)
• “Rule 52: Decisions, Findings and Conclusions,” 2 Washington Civil Procedure Deskbook at 52-1, WSBA 1992, 1997, 2002, & 2006 (Co-author)
• “Antitrust and Unfair Competition Issues Involving Intellectual Property,” Washington Consumer Protection, Antitrust and Unfair Business Practices Law Developments (Second) at 295, WSBA 2001 (Co-author)
• “Competing for Talent and Protecting Business Value: Non-Compete Agreements and Trade Secret Law in Washington,” Fifth Annual Intellectual Property Institute at 2-1, WSBA March 2000 (Co-author)
• “Restraints of Trade,” Washington Consumer Protection, Antitrust and Unfair Business Practices Law Developments (Second), WSBA 1988, 1993, & 2001 (Co-author)
• “1993 Supplement” to Washington Consumer Protection, Antitrust and Unfair Business Practices Law Developments (Second), WSBA 1993 (Associate Editor)

Speaking Engagements

David has taught classes on antitrust, price discrimination, trade secrets, and other areas of the law including recently “Mis-LEED®ing Advertising and Marketing”.

Professional and Community Activities

David is a member of national, state, and local bar associations. He is a frequent author in bar publications. He donates his expertise and time to community organizations and campaigns.