David Barnes

David represents clients in both federal and state courts, and before federal and state agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and California Department of Toxic Substances Control. His litigation experience includes arguing a criminal sentencing hearing in the Northern District of California, deposing both expert and fact witnesses, and drafting successful demurrers and motions for summary judgment in Proposition 65 matters. Before joining Hogan Lovells, David served as first chair prosecutor in a federal criminal matter while interning at the Yosemite National Park Legal Office. He obtained a conviction that was ultimately upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

David also maintains an active pro bono practice. In 2022, he obtained grants of asylum for his client and her children as lead counsel in a contested merits hearing in the San Francisco Immigration Court. He was honored with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area’s 2023 Father Cuchulain Moriarty Award for asylum advocacy. His pro bono experience also includes representing a class of individuals in Section 1983 lawsuits against several St. Louis municipalities alleging that they engaged in unconstitutional debtors’ prison practices to coerce payments of unpaid fines from traffic tickets and other minor ordinance violations.