Overview
David Walton is a partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office and Chair of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Team, advising clients and formulating strategy for addressing the rapidly evolving challenges presented by the emerging role of AI in the workplace.
Dave’s work with AI is a natural outgrowth of his many years working at the intersection of technology and law. Since the 1990s, Dave has focused his practice on trade secrets, restrictive covenants and employment litigation, but with a particular emphasis on using legal innovation and evolving technologies to help achieve clients’ desired outcomes and enhance the delivery of services. He brings deep experience in labor and employment law, trade secrets, electronic discovery, privacy, data security and computer forensics to clients’ issues. A creative thinker and savvy negotiator, Dave devises cost-effective and pragmatic approaches to mitigate clients’ risks and achieve business goals.
His trial work, especially in the area of trade secrets, has been nationally recognized. Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania focused on one of Dave’s notable trials in his best-selling book, Give and Take. Dave has litigated numerous trade secret and restrictive covenant matters, as well as employment discrimination cases, ERISA disputes, and executive employment contract cases. In traditional labor matters, Dave has secured mass-picketing injunctions and successfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements. He has extensive experience handling large trade secret and mass employee mobility cases that involve 50+ depositions and multi-week trials. In one case, he secured what is believed to be the largest jury award ever for a claim under the Pennsylvania Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Dave regularly handles cases involving these sophisticated issues across a variety of industries, and against some of the largest and most well-known law firms in the country.
A Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and AI Governance Professional (AIGP), Dave frequently writes and speaks on legal technology, digital forensics, cyber law, e-discovery and employment litigation. He also recently obtained a Certification in Data Analytics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.