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David W. Ichel
Partner

425 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10017-3954
Phone:  (212) 455-2563
Fax:  (212) 455-2502
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David W. Ichel is a Partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department.  He has spent more than 30 years at the Firm litigating complex commercial disputes and advising companies, boards of directors, industry associations and institutions on litigation-related issues, including JPMorgan Chase, Vivendi, Heineken and Toys “R” Us among others.  He has been particularly active in claims involving commercial fraud and contract, securities, product liability and mass tort, insurance company insolvency litigation, insurance coverage, distributor termination, antitrust and unfair trade practice, libel/slander and advertising/labeling.  He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., the United States Supreme Court and numerous other federal Circuit and district courts throughout the United States.


Recent representations have included:

  • Obtaining for clients Heineken NV and Heineken USA and other alcohol beverage manufacturers the complete dismissals of class actions in ten state and federal courts across the country alleging that alcohol beverage marketing targeted underage consumers and seeking over $2 billion damages;
  • Reversal of class certification and negotiation of a favorable settlement for JP Morgan Securities Inc. in the largest consolidated securities litigation proceeding in history, the Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation;
  • Representation of Bank of America and various investment funds in one of the two largest U.S. life insurance company insolvencies in history, Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, in which he obtained more than 100 cents- on- the- dollar recovery for his creditor clients;
  • Representation of Seagram in a RICO lawsuit brought against Seagram, Diageo and Pernod Ricard by the Republic of Colombia;
  • Dismissal of defamation and related tort lawsuit brought by "anti-gangsta rap" activist C. Delores Tucker against Universal Music and Warner Music arising out of lyrics on the Tupac Shakur album "All Eyez on Me."

Mr. Ichel joined Simpson Thacher in 1978 and was elected a partner in 1985.  He received his B.A. in 1975, summa cum laude, from Duke University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  He received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1978, where he was a member of the Duke Law Journal.  He currently is the Chairman of the Board of Visitors of Duke Law School.

Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has repeatedly selected Mr. Ichel as a leading lawyer in the areas of general commercial litigation and products liability & mass torts, describing him in its 2011 edition as “‘a fantastically strong litigator with a diverse set of experiences in areas of the law.’”  He has also been cited in The Legal 500 United States, where its 2011 edition quotes clients describing him as “’results-focused’ and ’service-oriented,’” and as someone who can “’clearly explain complex legal concepts.’”  Mr. Ichel is similarly recognized in a number of other publications, including Euromoney Benchmark Litigation Survey, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Who’s Who (World and America).

Honors/Associations
•  Chair, Board of Visitors, Duke University Law School
•  American Law Institute
•  Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Chair, Product Liability Committee, 2005 - 2008
•  Product Liability Advisory Council
•  MFY Legal Services, Inc., Director and Past Chair
•  American Bar Association
•  New Jersey State Bar Association
•  Federal Bar Council
Recent Cases
•  Hakki v. Zima Co., 2006 WL 852126 (D.C. Sup. Ct. March 28, 2006) aff'd, No. 06-CV-467 (D.C. Ct. App. June 26, 2007)
•  Kreft v. Adolf Coors Co., 05 CA 2315 (Colo. Ct. Apps. Div.1 Oct. 4, 2007)
•  Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC v. Billing, _U.S._, 127 S. Ct. 2383 (2007)
•  In re: Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, 483 F.3d 70 (2d Cir., 2007)
•  Tucker v. MTS, Inc., 229 F.3d 1139 (3d Cir. 2000), Cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1078 (2001)
•  Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. v. McGuire, 814 S.W.2d 385 (Tex. 1991)
•  American Mart Corp. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 824 F.2d 733 (C.A.9 (Nev.) 1987)
Publications
•  New York Court of Appeals Rejects Martin Act Preemption of Common Law Claims of Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Gross Negligence
•  Supreme Court Considers Tolling of Statute of Limitations in Section 16(b) Claims
•  The Supreme Court Finds State Failure-to-Warn Claims Against Generic Drug Manufacturers Impliedly Preempted
•  The Supreme Court Limits Rule 10b-5 Liability to Person or Entity Making Alleged Misstatement
•  The Supreme Court Rejects Loss Causation Requirement at Class Certification Stage
•  The Supreme Court Considers Loss Causation at Time of Class Certification
•  The Supreme Court Considers Implied Preemption of Failure-to-Warn Claims Against Generic Drug Manufacturers
•  The Supreme Court Rejects Bright-Line Rule on Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•  The Supreme Court Finds No Conflict Pre-emption Based on Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•  The Supreme Court Finds Design Defect Claims Preempted under the Vaccine Act
•  The Supreme Court Considers the Materiality Requirement in the Context of Drug Companies’ Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•  The Supreme Court Considers the Liability of Investment Advisers in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•  The Supreme Court Considers Conflict Preemption Case Concerning Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•  The Supreme Court Hears Express Preemption Case Relating to Alleged Vaccine Design Defect
•  New York Appellate Court Issues Significant Ruling Rejecting the Aggregation of Personal Injury Claims Based on Forum Non Conveniens in In re OxyContin II
•  The Supreme Court Affirms the Constitutional Validity of the PCAOB; Strikes Down “Double For-Cause” Removal Provisions as Unconstitutional
•  The Supreme Court Limits the Extraterritorial Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the U.S. Securities Laws
•  The Supreme Court Rejects “Inquiry Notice” as Trigger to Start Running the Statute of Limitations in Securities Fraud Cases
•  The Supreme Court Considers the Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the United States Securities Laws in “Foreign-Cubed” Cases
•  The Supreme Court Considers the Constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
•  The Supreme Court Considers the ‘Inquiry Notice’ Standard in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•  “Attractive Advertising” Suits Held Judicially Unappealing
•  Supreme Court Rules that IPO Litigation is Immune from Antitrust Scrutiny
•  Litigation Update: Courts Dismiss Class Actions Challenging Alcohol Beverage Industry's Advertising
•  Editor, Professional Liability Insurance for Attorneys, Accountants and Insurance Brokers: Capacity and Coverage Problems, Practising Law Institute, 1986
•  Co-Editor, Introduction to Business Insurance: Law and Litigation, Practising Law Institute, 1985
•  Should the Business Insurance Policy Be Construed Against the Insurer? Another Look at the Reasonable Expectations Doctrine (Ostrager and Ichel) 33 Federal Insurance Counsel Quarterly 273, 1983
•  The Role of Bargaining Power Evidence in the Construction of the Business Insurance Policy: An Update (Ostrager and Ichel) 18 The Forum 477, 1983
Speaking Engagements
•  David Ichel to Speak at PLI's "Pretrial Practice 2011" Seminar
April 5, 2011
Admissions
•  New York 1979
•  New Jersey 1979
•  District of Columbia 2004
•  U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit 1984
•  U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit 1985
•  U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit 1989
•  U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit 1998
•  U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit 2006
•  U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1979
•  U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1979
•  U.S. District Court District of New Jersey 1979
•  U.S. Supreme Court 1984
•  U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 2003
Education
•  Duke University School of Law, 1978 J.D.
Duke Law Journal, Editor
•  Duke University, 1975 B.A.
summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa



•  Litigation
•  Securities/Shareholder Litigation
•  Antitrust
•  Product Liability and Mass Tort
•  Insurance/Reinsurance
 
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