David Rivkin
Partner
David Rivkin is a commercial litigation and arbitration attorney specializing in cross-border business disputes.
David Rivkin is a commercial litigation and arbitration attorney specializing in cross-border business disputes. Many of the matters David handles involve allegations of intellectual property infringement, shareholder and joint venture conflicts, and executive employment agreements. His arbitration work is frequently international and he is very experienced in obtaining discovery in the United States for use in non-U.S. legal and administrative proceedings. Much of David’s work involves representing clients from around the globe, with an emphasis on Latin America and Europe.
In addition to his commercial litigation and arbitration practice, David counsels businesses ranging from large multi-national industrial concerns to technology startups in a variety of sectors, including software, ecommerce, consumer products, hospitality, professional services, agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, fashion and luxury goods, on a variety of strategic and day-to-day matters including:
- Licensing and SaaS agreements, NDAs and other commercial contracts, including vendor agreements and RFPs;
- Employment, data privacy, and bankruptcy issues;
- Corporate governance and shareholder relations, including maintenance of corporate books and records;
- Drafting and negotiating joint venture agreements, operating agreements, partnership and shareholder agreements, and various corporate transaction documents;
- Raising capital including through sale of equity, debt and SAFE agreements;
- Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions;
- Risk assessment and mitigation;
- Trademark and copyright prosecution and protection and trade secret issues.
David maintains extensive contacts with business people and attorneys worldwide, and is well-attuned to the differences in custom, culture, sensibilities, and legal systems that may impact representation of non-U.S. clients.
David began his career at Fox Horan & Camerini in the late 1990s as an associate, rising to partner in 2007, before departing in 2012 to open the New York office of a large national firm. Most recently, David was a partner at Wuersch & Gering from 2017 to 2024.
- Represented German software development company in copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Northern District of California.
- Represented German aircraft manufacturer in breach of contract litigation with a U.S. based partner.
- Represented European investors in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in proceeding to obtain evidence for use in a foreign litigation in Portugal.
- Advised French agricultural company and its U.S. subsidiary in variety of contractual, financial, employment and corporate governance and intellectual property matters.
- Represented New York-based investment bank in litigation related to alleged breach of restrictive covenants and disclosure of confidential information.
- Advised Panamanian investment firm in connection with investment made in an industrial enterprise that was nationalized by the Venezuelan government.
- Advised UK-based SaaS provider on US corporate governance, employment, intellectual property and licensing issues.
- Represented French technology company in arbitration proceeding commenced by U.S. and Canadian investors seeking damages for alleged breach of contract to purchase the French company’s interest in a Caribbean submarine cable company.
- Represented California-based builder and operator of wireless communication networks in litigation against its former joint venture partner for breach of contract and fraud.
- Represented various European, Asian, and Latin American parties in numerous proceedings to obtain evidence located in the United States for use in foreign proceedings.
- Represented Brazilian bank in U.S. litigation involving claims by holder of fraudulent letter of credit.
- Defended Swiss-based major international sports federation in breach of contract action brought by a leading credit card company.
- Defended Chilean technology concern in an arbitration proceeding commenced by a private equity investor in several of the client’s energy projects.
- Prosecuted breach of contract and intellectual property claims against an international beverage company resulting in a settlement at mediation.
- Defended U.S.-based steel distributor in lawsuit brought by competitor, raising novel issues of law on scope of civil RICO; the case was successfully argued for the client before the United States Supreme Court.
- Defended Argentine party to a joint venture agreement in a dispute involving the distribution of sports-related television programming in Latin America.
- Represented Singapore-based production company in negotiations to bring “Bollywood Oscars” to Tampa, Florida and to New York/New Jersey.
- Represented software development company in litigation commenced by a major New York newspaper involving the development and delivery of a computerized circulation management system;
- Represented international textile manufacturer in an arbitration involving licensing and trademark dispute with a New York apparel company;
- Represented prominent foreign clothing manufacturer in arbitration proceeding before the World Intellectual Property Organization concerning unlawful registration by a third party of client’s trademark as a domain name;
- Negotiated and drafted joint development and licensing agreements for the development and commercialization of vertical wind turbine and high power density motor technology;
- Negotiated and drafted key pharmaceutical technology agreement in connection with the sale of a leading Argentine pharmaceutical company to GlaxoSmithKline;
- Negotiated and drafted research and development agreements and manufacturing agreements for a satellite communication company;
- Negotiated and drafted software licensing and acquisition agreements involving currency trading applications;
- Negotiated and drafted agreement for the acquisition of rights to proprietary software for use in the financial services industry;
- Successfully prosecuted numerous trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office;
- Used Digital Millennium Copyright Act to take down unauthorized online images of Swiss watch manufacturer’s products.
- Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law — J.D. — 1999
- University of Arizona — B.A. (Political Science) — 1992
ADMISSIONS
- State of New York
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
- American Bar Association
- Former Editor in Chief of “The International Dispute Resolution News” a publication of the International Litigation Committee, International Arbitration Committee, and Internationa Mediation Committee of the Section of International law, American Bar Association
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Former Co-President of Young Israel of Scarsdale (Scarsdale, New York)
- Former Commissioner of a community youth athletic league (Westchester County, New York)
Community Volunteer for Westchester Unites, a Voter Registration Not-For-Profit (New Rochelle, New York)