David Balser is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who represents Fortune 500 companies and other leading businesses in high stakes litigation throughout the United States. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Balser has been identified as one of "America's Leading Lawyers" for Litigation by Chambers USA; by Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation; by Georgia Trend magazine as one of "Georgia's Most Effective Lawyers" for Business Litigation; and by Atlanta Magazine as a “Top 100” Georgia Super Lawyer. He represents companies in a wide array of industries, including financial institutions, private equity and hedge funds, telecommunications providers, media companies, energy providers, manufacturers, consumer product companies, and professional services firms.
In addition to trying complex business cases, Mr. Balser defends consumer class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country. A leading expert in class action defense, Mr. Balser has successfully defended more than 25 consumer class actions in the past five years, including recently defeating class certification in a bellwether case in “bet-the-company” multi-district litigation, resulting in dismissal of the lead cases and all related tag-along cases.
Mr. Balser also defends law firms against claims of negligence, malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty and has successfully represented several of the nation's top law firms in a variety of professional liability matters.
Mr. Balser frequently writes and speaks on topics related to trial advocacy, class actions, and legal ethics, malpractice and professionalism.
Civic Activities
Mr. Balser and a team of litigators successfully represented pro bono, on appeal, Marcus Dixon, an African-American scholar-athlete from Rome, Ga. who received a ten year prison sentence for having consensual sexual relations with a high school classmate. In a landmark 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Georgia reversed Mr. Dixon's conviction. Dixon v. State, 278 Ga. 4 (2004). Mr. Balser's Supreme Court oral argument was broadcast live on the world-wide web, and the case was widely reported by national news media, including the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Fox News, Nightline, The O'Reilly Factor, The Today Show, HBO Real Sports, The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, The Abrams Report, Court TV, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, The National Law Journal, People Magazine, and National Public Radio. Mr. Dixon, after his release from prison, excelled as a student-athlete at Hampton University and is now playing in the NFL.
Mr. Balser works closely with The Georgia Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that uses DNA testing to exonerate wrongfully convicted criminal defendants. He serves on the State Committee and the National Judiciary Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and serves on the board of directors of Bermuda-based Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society, Ltd. (ALAS) and its U.S. subsidiary, ALAS, Inc., a leading provider of professional liability insurance for U.S. law firms.
Mr. Balser has served on the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The JNC, comprised of judges, lawyers, and non-lawyers, interviews and sends a "short list" of nominees to the Governor for the State's judgeships. Mr. Balser served on the State Elections Board from 1996 through 2002 and has served as general counsel to various federal candidates' campaign committees.
Clerkships
Mr. Balser clerked for the Honorable Charles A. Moye, Jr., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia.
