David W. Ichel is a Partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department. He has spent more than 35 years at the Firm litigating complex commercial disputes and advising companies, boards of directors, industry associations and institutions on litigation-related issues, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Novartis, Vivendi, Heineken, Ducati and Toys “R” Us, among others. He has been particularly active in claims involving commercial fraud and contracts, 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.
David 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.
David teaches a course on Complex Civil Litigation at Duke Law School, is a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke Law School (Chair, 2009–14), American Law Institute, Product Liability Advisory Council, MFY Legal Services, Inc. (Chair, 2000–02, Board Member since 1994), New York City Bar Ass’n (Chair, Products Liability Committee (2005–08), UJA Federation Lawyers Div’n (Executive Committee 1995–2013), Federal Bar Council, N.J. Bar Association and American Bar Ass’n. He is a frequent speaker on litigation topics.
Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has repeatedly selected David as a leading lawyer in the areas of general commercial litigation and products liability & mass torts. Quoting from a client in its 2012 edition “Every company needs a fireman for their hugely important national litigations; he is our fireman. He really is world-class.” 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.” David 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).
