M. David Possick, an experienced financial institutions and class action defense litigator, has joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP as a partner in its New York office and as a member of the Business and Distribution Litigation team. He joins the Firm after spending more than a decade as a litigator in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he represented major financial institutions, motor vehicle manufacturers, and other global companies in high-profile company matters.
Recognized as a New York “Super Lawyers Rising Stars“ in the areas of Business, Securities, and Antitrust Litigation, Mr. Possick has experience in a range of complex commercial matters, including securities, ERISA and antitrust class actions, bankruptcy matters, contract disputes, and other high-stakes civil litigation. Among his most recent matters, he has been involved in litigation throughout the United States related to the emissions characteristics of a motor vehicle manufacturer’s diesel vehicles, including the negotiation and implementation of a $1.2 billion settlement with a class of franchise dealerships. He also helped achieve dismissal at the pleading stage of an ERISA “stock drop” class action for a U.S.-based global banking and financial services company, in the first such dismissal under the “more harm than good” test created in 2014 by the Supreme Court’s Fifth Third Bank v. Dudenhoeffer decision.
During the past decade, Mr. Possick’s matters have included defending financial institutions and other global companies in class actions and other complex civil litigation, which decisions have led to, among other things, developments favorable to defendant corporations in the application of loss causation principles under the federal securities laws and in the application of the exhaustion requirements of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989.
"David brings valuable and sophisticated litigation experience to our New York office and in particular to our financial services and automobile clients facing class action claims," said James K. Lehman, managing partner of the Firm. "We are excited about David joining the Firm and the skills and experience he can offer to our clients, both current and new."
“David is a terrific addition to our expanding New York office,” added Richard D. Smith, managing partner of the New York office. “We are delighted that he has joined us.”
Mr. Possick joins more than 25 attorneys in the franchise and distribution law and litigation group who represent regional, national, and international franchisors, distributors, and multi-unit franchisees, including motor vehicle manufacturers. “Our Firm is a long-time trusted leader among firms nationwide in the representation of automobile manufacturers, and David’s experience defending class actions in the auto arena further enhances our ability to meet our clients’ needs,” said Steven A. McKelvey, Jr. who leads the Firm’s automotive industry group.
Mr. Possick earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 2005 and earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 1999.
Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins has more than 525 attorneys and other professionals with offices in California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. For more information on the Firm, go to www.nelsonmullins.com.
For additional information, contact Jan Easterling, Nelson Mullins Communications Coordinator, at 800.237.2000, ext. 9794.
