David J. Carroll is a Partner in the Los Angeles office. Mr. Carroll’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, a variety of other civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, and internal investigations. Mr. Carroll has handled multiple complex commercial matters involving disputes arising from complex merger agreements; civil rights cases raising complex questions of constitutional law; employment cases arising from the terminations of C-suite executives; and other matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Carroll served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the California Attorney General. There, he litigated cases in both state and federal court arising from the California correctional system and advised senior state officials on state correctional policy. Mr. Carroll also practiced at a litigation boutique firm, where he represented public entities in employment and constitutional cases, represented design professionals in commercial construction cases, and represented contractors in catastrophic injury cases.
Mr. Carroll earned his B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology from Pitzer College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Southwestern Law School. While in law school, Mr. Carroll served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; he was Lead Articles Editor for the Southwestern Law Review; he obtained the highest class grade for Antitrust Law and Products Liability; and he placed second in Southwestern’s Intramural Moot Court Appellate Brief Writing Competition. After law school, Mr. Carroll served as a law clerk for the Honorable Otis D. Wright, II of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Notable Representations
- Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of the union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors, which enjoined enforcement of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s newly-adopted prosecutorial directives. The preliminary injunction was affirmed in substantial part on appeal in a published opinion;
- Led an internal investigation on behalf of a multi-billion dollar asset-management company;
- Secured a successful settlement on behalf of the former chief executive officer of a commercial cannabis company who was wrongfully terminated;
- Assisted in securing a sentence of time-served and minimal supervised release on behalf of a criminal defendant in the first federal prosecution of a “birth tourism” business in the United States;
- Recovered on behalf of a client approximately $3.4 million in assets seized by the federal government;
- Defended multiple commercial cannabis companies and associated individuals in civil enforcement actions brought by the California Department of Justice;
- Represented a senior corporate executive in connection with multiple criminal and civil investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
- Co-authored an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, where the Court addressed the patentability of the human genome.
Education
- Southwestern Law School, J.D., magna cum laude
- Pitzer College (Philosophy & Psychology), B.A.
Clerkships
- Hon. Otis D. Wright, II, U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- Hon. Arthur L. Alarcon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (externship)
Bar Admissions
- California
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
