David A. Robinson is the executive partner of Holland & Knight's Newport Beach office. Martindale-Hubble AV+ rated for more than 30 years and a Southern California Super Lawyer, Mr. Robinson focuses in complex business trials and arbitrations, has appeared as counsel in over 10 states, and serves as outside general counsel and chief legal strategist for select clients.
Mr. Robinson's clientele includes corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities, industry associations, governmental agencies, high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Licensed in California, Colorado and Nevada, Mr. Robinson has successfully prosecuted and defended cases involving trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, corporate governance (e.g., disputes involving shareholder voting rights, stock buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, the appointment of provisional corporate directors and other corporate control issues), patent and trademark infringement, real estate acquisition and development, land use, water rights, healthcare (on behalf of hospitals and physician groups), breach of contract, fraud, false arrest, defamation, product liability, wrongful death, First and Fifth Amendment, civil and voting rights, wrongful discharge, employment practices, Ponzi schemes, taxation, environmental and regulatory (e.g., Clean Air Act) disputes. In addition, Mr. Robinson has extensive experience litigating shareholder derivative actions filed in federal and state courts.
Before joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Robinson founded and served as the president of a business law firm that focused in trial, appellate, transactional, labor and real estate matters. After completing law school, he interned with the Hon. Joseph R. Grodin of the California Supreme Court.
Mr. Robinson presently serves as the chairman of the University of California at Riverside's A. Gary Anderson School of Business Dean's Council, formerly served as a member of the California State Bar Judicial Evaluations Nominations Commission (JNE), chairman of the Orange County Bar Association Legislative Affairs Committee, member of Chapman Law School's Board of Visitors, chairman of the Irvine Valley College Foundation, and as vice president of Finance and Strategic Planning for the Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council.
Mr. Robinson's reported decisions include: Barnes, Crosby, FitzGerald & Zeman LLP v. Jerome L. Ringler, 212 Cal. App. 4th 172 (2012); Choi v. Orange County Great Park Corp, 175 Cal. App. 4th 524 (2009); Ekstrom v. Marquesa at Monarch Beach Homeowners Association, 168 Cal. App. 4th 1111 (2008); Joseph P. Saline v. Superior Court (Commonwealth Energy Corporation), 100 Cal. App. 4th 909 (2002); and Videotape Plus Inc. v. Lyons, 89 Cal. App. 4th 156 (2001).
Representative Experience
Representative Defense Victories
• Won multiple judgments for a corporate hospital conglomerate wrongfully accused of orchestrating a false arrest, libel and other purported acts of intentional wrongdoing
• Received a unanimous jury verdict in favor of a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-traded silicon chip manufacturer in a multimillion-dollar product liability action
• Won a jury verdict exonerating a law firm sued for alleged suppression of free speech rights
• Won a judgment rejecting breach of contract, unfair competition and other tort claims against an association of emergency room physicians
• Received a defense arbitration award following a 43-day evidentiary hearing, dismissing claims of accounting manipulation and fraud against sellers of vertically aligned manufacturing businesses
• Received a judgment exonerating an entertainment industry client of fraud, conversion and unfair business practice charges
• Received a judgment exonerating a nationwide manufacturer of freight trailers in a multiparty wrongful death/product liability action
• Received the dismissal of numerous misrepresentation and breach of warranty claims against sellers of various hotel, shopping center and apartment properties
• Received numerous defense judgments against executive wrongful discharge claims
• Won a defense judgment following a four-part trial involving embezzlement through a Ponzi scheme of hundreds of millions of dollars spread across dozens of sham entities and offshore accounts
• Won multiple judgments invalidating competitor trademarks
Representative Plaintiff Victories
• Won multiple judgments quieting title and expunging competing ownership claims to commercial, retail and residential property in California and Colorado
• Received a jury verdict against a real estate attorney for fraud and malpractice
• Received a judgment validating millions of dollars' worth of disputed preferred corporate stock
• Received a judgment extinguishing disputed easement/right-of-way claims across beachfront property
• Received a judgment for fraud and breach of warranties against the seller of an interstate freight shipping business
• Received a judgment for fraud against preserving trade secret information belonging to several clients
• Represented the seller of a franchised hotel property near a major theme park in Southern California
• Received multiple judgments and permanent injunctions enforcing the rights of corporate shareholders, directors and elected governmental officials and to inspect documents, compel special elections and force the resignation of senior corporate managers
• Received a settlement, reached midway through trial, that awarded the client 100 percent of a disputed multimillion-dollar California lottery prize
• Received a stipulated judgment, entered after the commencement of trial, reforming and enforcing an NYSE commercial lender's recorded security interest in a complex of commercial properties
• Received a settlement awarding a client exclusive title to multiple patents issued in the United States and China
• Received a settlement establishing a shipyard's right to a 35-year sublease extension
HONORS & AWARDS
• Orange County Visionary, Los Angeles Times, 2024
• Southern California Super Lawyers magazine, Business Litigation, 2007, 2015-2017, 2019-Present
• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated, 1998-Present
• Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion, Silver Level, 2019, 2022
Publications
Commercial Parties, Transactional Lawyers and Litigators Beware: California Law Has Changed, Holland & Knight Alert, SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
Supreme Court Sets Stage for Widespread Challenges to Real Estate Development Impact Fees, Holland & Knight Alert, APRIL 15, 2024
A Deep Dive into High Court's Permit Fee Ruling, Law360, APRIL 26, 2024
Before Closing That Killer Deal: Considerations for Negotiating and Drafting Appropriate and Enforceable Arbitration Provisions, UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium, MARCH 2012
Speaking Engagements
12th Annual Inland Empire Economic Forecast Conference
Emcee / The Great Recovery: Could it be Derailed? Growth, Change, and Renewal in a Post-Pandemic Economy / November 10, 2021
MEMBERSHIPS
• University of California, Riverside, A. Gary Anderson School of Business, Dean's Council Chairman, 2021-Present
• American Healthcare Lawyers Association (AHLA), 2014-Present
• American Arbitration Association, Commercial Dispute Panel, 2011-Present
• University of California Hastings College of the Law, Board of Governors, 2017-2020
• State Bar of California, Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE), 2015-2017
• Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Advisor, 2013-2014; Board of Visitors, 2012-2014
• Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council, Vice President of Finance and Strategic Planning, 2004-2006
• Irvine Valley College Foundation, Chairman, 2003-2005
• Orange County Bar Association, Legislative Affairs Committee, Chairman, 1994-1995
• Orange County Republican National Lawyers Association, Federalist Society
• American Bar Association
