David
Scher
David Scher is a trial-tested attorney with a particular sensitivity to client concerns while achieving important victories for employees and whistleblowers, including a $57 million False Claims Act settlement, a $466,816 Equal Pay Act verdict, and a $282,000 District of Columbia Whistleblower Protection Act jury verdict. Mr. Scher focuses his practice on qui tam, whistleblower retaliation, and discrimination cases in D.C., Maryland, California, and nationally. He represents federal and corporate whistleblowers who have reported their employer’s wrongdoing. In Browne v. University of District of Columbia, Mr. Scher won an important victory for a whistleblower who took on school administrators for deceiving the federal government. In Cooke v. United States, Mr. Scher won a hard fought trial, obtaining for his client the pay she was wrongfully denied because of her gender. In Shen v. Shinseki, he secured a rare court order prohibiting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from terminating his client, a Title 38 pathologist, while her civil rights complaint was pending.
Mr. Scher is a frequent news commentator and has appeared on local news WUSA9 (Montgomery county, Maryland), KSBW8 (Salinas, Monterey, Santa Cruz), as well as ABC World News and on Hearst Television, Inc. stations across the country. Additionally, Mr. Scher has been interviewed by Forbes.com, Politico, and the Washington Post on topics such as employment discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, free speech issues and related employment matters.
Mr. Scher affords The Employment Law Group® law firm's clients the benefit of years of diverse legal experience. He has experience handling immigration matters, having drafted appeals leading to the invalidation of regulations potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants. He also serves The Employment Law Group® law firm's clients by providing them with unparalleled electronic discovery expertise and a strong background in complex litigation.
A graduate of Cornell University and Fordham Law School, Mr. Scher began his career in New York and New Jersey practicing in the field of corporate commercial litigation. He then worked as in-house counsel for several major corporations, including Sony Electronics, Pearson PLC, and USWeb where he focused on Silicon Valley during the high point of the Internet boom, specializing in technology transactions, intellectual property, and commercial law. In 2003, David combined his legal and technical expertise to work as a legal consultant for Kroll On Track, providing electronic discovery consulting to top 200 law firms in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
During his career, David has negotiated multi-million dollar alliance and joint venture transactions, settled numerous cases with minimal impact to his clients, managed an eight person in-house law department, and handled the first licensing agreements for the Sony VAIO and the first hosting and application service agreements for USWeb.
Leveraging his California legal experience, David is currently heading the firm's rapid expansion into California employment law. In sum, David can step into any case and do what needs to be done for his clients.
Areas of Practice:
- California Employment Law
- Whistleblower Retaliation
- Gender Discrimination
- Equal Pay Act
- First Amendment Claims of Public Employees
Bar Admissions:
District of Columbia
Virginia
California
New York
New Jersey
U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia
U.S. District Court District of Maryland
U.S. District Court District of New Jersey
U.S. District Court Northern District of California
U.S. District Court Central District of California
U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Publications
Co-Author: “Is Bullying in the Workplace Illegal?” Los Angeles Daily Journal & San Francisco Daily Journal (February 15, 2013)
Co-Author: “Health Care Law Expands False Claims Act Liability Under Anti-Kickback Statute,” Health Care Fraud Journal (May 2012).
Author: "Blowing the Whistle", California Lawyer (October 2011).
Author: "Grim Consequences for Spoliation of Evidence," Maryland State Bar Association Fall Newsletter (December 2010).
Speaking Engagements
Panelist: “You Put What on Your Facebook Page?!: The Array of Thorny Employment Issues Posed by Social Networking and the Internet.” American Bar Association’s (ABA) 6th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 3, 2012.
Panelist: “Social Media and Employment Law: Risks to Employees and Employers.” D.C. Bar’s CLE, “Changing Currents in Employment Law,” October 12, 2012.
Panelist: "’You Put What on your Facebook Page….’ – The Array of Thorny Employment Law Issues Posed by Social Networking and the Internet," Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, January 26, 2011.
Panelist: “Litigating Successfully under the Equal Pay Act: Lessons Learned from Murtagh-Cooke v. NTSB,” Metropolitan Employment Lawyers Association CLE, January 30, 2009
Panelist: "The Economics of Electronic Discovery," George Mason University School of Law, November 11, 2008.
