David Schaeffer earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981. He graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1978 with B.A. in Economics and Religion. David started his legal career with the Atlanta firm of Kidd & Vaughan in 1981 and became a partner in 1987. The firm changed its name to Holland Schaeffer Roddenbery Blitch, LLP, in 2008. David joined the firm of Chilivis, Cochran, Larkins & Bever in January, 2011.
David served as President of the Atlanta Bar Association in 2009-2010 and Chair of its Litigation Section in 2003-2004. In his year as President, the Atlanta Bar Association was awarded the State Bar's President's Cup as the best overall bar association in the State of Georgia. David was awarded the Atlanta Bar's Distinguished Service Award in 2004. As a successful litigator and appellate advocate, he was a statewide candidate for the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2010, and has been selected on the short lists for several state and federal judicial positions.
During his thirty years as a civil litigator, David has handled a wide variety of business and personal injury matters for individuals and businesses, both for plaintiffs and defendants. He has tried dozens of jury trials and argued almost twenty appeals in state and federal courts. David considers himself especially qualified and experienced in business litigation matters involving non-compete and other restrictive covenants, trade secrets, business fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and partnership disputes; personal injury matters, including wrongful death claims and serious injuries such as amputations, paralysis and brain traumas; and school redistricting matters. David also represented St. Joseph’s Hospital in defending medical and nursing malpractice claims for 12 years, and has also represented businesses, patients or their families in professional malpractice claims against a variety of entities and professionals. He also assists professionals and managers in negotiating severance agreements and protecting employment rights. Finally, David has participated in hundreds of mediations and arbitrations and is available to mediate business and personal injury/professional malpractice disputes.
A sampling of matters handled by David are listed below:
- Successful domestication and affirmance on appeal of a $101 million foreign judgment in a securities fraud case in 1982. Crosby v. Wenzoski, 164 Ga. App. 266 (1982)
- Numerous dismissals and summary judgments in favor of St. Joseph’s Hospital from 1981 through 1993.
- $4.1 million jury verdict (affirmed on appeal) in a non-compete/business fraud case in 1987. Gaines v. Crompton & Knowles Corp., 190 Ga. App. 863 (1989)
- $1.02 million paid judgment in a tax accounting malpractice claim against a Big Eight accounting firm – affirmed on appeal . Deloitte, Haskins & Sells v. Green, 198 Ga. App. 849 (1991)
- Confidential structured settlement in case involving a college student rendered a quadriplegic as a result of a hazing incident.
- Numerous confidential settlements, including several seven figure settlement in cases involving wrongful death, infected decubitus ulcers, and patient neglect in nursing homes, including successful motions and affirmance on appeal of orders allowing discovery of other similar victim evidence. S.H.C.M. Bonterra, Inc. v. Johnson, Ga. Ct. of App. Case No. A020323 – January 29, 2002 – Order Dismissing Appeal ; S.H.C.M. Bonterra, Inc. v. Benjamin, Ga. Ct. of App. Case No. A020324 – January 29, 2002 – Order Dismissing Appeal.
- Successful reversal of racially based school redistricting plans in Fulton County (following suit and injunction hearing in federal court) and Houston County (following extensive negotiations pre-suit).
- Civil prosecution of executive who downloaded company proprietary data and trade secrets onto a hard drive two days before resigning. With computer theft and misappropriation of trade secret allegations, David was successful in obtaining a landmark order allowing experts to use special software to retrieve electronic evidence of trade secret misappropriation which the executive had deleted before the hard drive was recovered.
- Multiple jury verdicts and settlements ranging from $200,000 to $2.7 million in serious personal injury cases involving brain injuries, death, paralysis, loss of hearing, MRSA infections, and disfigurement.
- Insurance defense matters, including the successful defense of insurance companies and Fortune 500 companies in environmental contamination cases.
- Trade secret misappropriation case against engineer who left employer and took plans for a prototype electrostatic spray nozzle being developed in connection with the University of Georgia Agricultural Research Foundation.
- Jury verdict, affirmed on appeal of tax malpractice and fraudulent conveyance case involving estate taxes and probate disclaimers. Glover v. Ware, 236 Ga. App. 40 (1999)
- Jury verdict following successful appellate reversal of summary judgment in traumatic brain injury case involving hair salon premises at prominent hotel and apparent agency principles. Brown v. Who's Three, Inc., 287 Ga. App. 131 (1995)
- Defense of employment and age discrimination case – jury verdict and appeals, culminating in an 11th Circuit en banc appeal affirming the dismissal of claims and establishing a new standard for review of summary judgments in cases involving subjective reasons for not hiring or promoting managerial employees. Chapman v. AI Transport, 2000 (11th Circuit and 11th Circuit en banc).
- Defense of Robinson-Patman Act lawsuit by competitor alleging unlawful kickback schemes by successful bidder for business at major home improvement company. Case was transferred to Georgia from Ohio federal court and dismissed on the merits in Georgia.
