David Fleischer is a litigation partner in the New York office of Haynes and Boone. He has more than 30 years of experience litigating cases across multiple industries and areas of law. His practice primarily concentrates on high-stakes business litigation in the entertainment, real estate and bankruptcy areas.
David regularly represents clients in a wide range of commercial litigation matters, including intellectual property and contract disputes, real estate litigation, consumer class actions, governmental investigations, bankruptcy and creditors' rights and corporate governance. He regularly appears in state and federal courts as well as arbitration and mediation forums throughout the United States.
In December 2011 David secured summary judgment dismissing copyright infringement claims against Marvel Entertainment and its licensees by a comic book writer claiming ownership of the copyright in Marvel's Ghost Rider character featured in a blockbuster film released in 2007 and to be featured in another film scheduled for release in 2012.
David represented Marvel Entertainment in a declaratory judgment action seeking to invalidate copyright termination notices issued on behalf of the heirs of Jack Kirby, which sought to obtain rights in numerous iconic Marvel characters including The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Nick Fury and many others. A decision rendered in August 2011 granted Marvel Entertainment's motion for summary judgment invalidating the termination notices.
In March 2010 David secured dismissal on behalf of Marvel Entertainment of a lawsuit seeking more than $750 million in damages and other relief. The would-be derivative plaintiffs in that action claimed that Stan Lee signed over to Stan Lee Media, a now defunct company with which Mr. Lee is no longer affiliated, rights to iconic characters he created while employed by Marvel, including Spider-Man, Ironman and The Incredible Hulk. Manhattan federal district court Judge Paul Crotty held that the plaintiffs lacked standing, had filed claims barred by the statute of limitations, and failed adequately to plead legally sufficient claims. In a related action by Stan Lee Media collaterally attacking the dismissal of the derivative claims David obtained a 28-page decision in February 2011 rejecting the collateral attack on Judge Crotty's decision.
In February 2011 David also secured a judgment on Marvel Entertainment's behalf declaring that Marvel's contractual obligation to pay royalties on sales of a very successful Spider-Man role play toy terminated upon expiration of a patent related to the toy. In a related action, in January 2012, on summary judgment David obtained a declaratory judgment to the effect that Marvel had satisfied any obligation it might have had to negotiate a royalty agreement related to that Spider-Man toy after expiration of the patent.
