David T. McTaggart

Special Counsel

  • David T. McTaggart
  • Phone: +1 212 471 1814

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    1540 Broadway
    New York, NY 10036-4086
    USA

David T. McTaggart is a commercial litigator with trial and appellate experience in courts throughout the United States and before the AAA. He has successfully represented individuals and an array of businesses including film production companies, financial institutions, hospitals, insurance companies, professional sports leagues, real estate developers, record labels and telecommunications providers. 

Mr. McTaggart helps his clients solve business problems. Whatever the legal issue – breach of contract, corporate disputes, employment law, fraud, insurance coverage, intellectual property, or securities law – Mr. McTaggart develops creative and efficient solutions based on a realistic assessment of the facts and applicable law. He has taken trials to verdict and his successes include numerous multimillion-dollar recoveries, two of which substantially exceeded limitation-of-liability clauses invoked by the defendants. Mr. McTaggart also has secured dismissal of claims brought against his clients and, where outright dismissal was not an option, he has secured settlements for his clients by demonstrating a firm grasp of the issues and readiness to fight for his clients' best interests. 

Mr. McTaggart is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where he was notes development editor of the New York University Law Review, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Areas of Practice

  • Commercial Litigation
  • Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Litigation
  • Appellate Practice
  • Insurance Litigation

Representative Matters

    Commercial and Securities Litigation

  • Persuaded the New York Supreme Court to reject estoppel and third-party beneficiary arguments to permanently stay a AAA arbitration seeking to recover a seven-figure finder’s fee arising from $200 million federal construction contracts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • Represented secured creditor/loan servicer owed in excess of $30 million in the borrowers’ (32 Tenants in Common) Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and that creditor and four lender defendants in a contentious litigation; court held that borrowers did not meet their burden of proof on any causes of action; debtors’ counsel was disqualified and ordered to disgorge fees and expenses paid by debtors since retention.

  • Represented a commercial mortgage provider in a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, stemming from an $85 million REMIC loan secured by a mortgage on a hotel. When the underlying debtor defaulted on the loan, the client, as special servicer, foreclosed on the hotel and sold it for a fraction of the outstanding balance on the loan, and plaintiff asserted that the client breached its obligations under the servicing agreement by failing to wait for the market to improve before selling.  Prevailed in the Circuit Court, with the Appellate Court affirming the Circuit Court’s decision.

  • Defeated injunction and obtained dismissal of trade secret, tortious interference, and conspiracy claims against medical device company and its employees.

  • Secured nuisance-value settlement in AAA arbitration days after deposing damages expert who valued restrictive covenant dispute in high eight figures.

  • Obtained dismissal of derivative action on behalf of Delaware LLC and its majority member.

  • Won multimillion-dollar arbitration for Fortune 500 bank. Panel found limitation of liability clause inapplicable to home equity loan repurchase agreement and enforced predecessor bank's obligation to repurchase defaulted loans sold in retail branch acquisition.

  • Successfully represented a Fintech company subject to an SEC investigation, resulting in a resolution involving only a books and records violation, with no charges of scienter-based fraud or negligence, and a modest fine.

  • Secured substantial settlement for opt-out institutional investors alleging securities fraud in connection with Wachovia collapse.

  • Advised institutional investors of repurchase rights in connection with mortgage-backed securities during financial crisis.

  • Obtained complete dismissal of SEC's Rule 10b-5 claims alleging vendor caused and/or aided and abetted misstatements in K-Mart 10-K quarterly earnings. SEC v. Orr, et al., 2006 WL 542986 (D. Mich. Mar. 6, 2006).
  • Obtained nine-figure summary judgment on behalf of bond insurer and trustee of eight loan-backed securitized trusts against the first-layer credit insurer for the loans, MBIA Ins. Corp. et ano. v. Royal Indemnity Co., 426 F.2d 204 (3d Cir. 2005).

  • Obtained pre-discovery dismissal of antitrust claims alleging client violated Sections 1 and 2 of Sherman Act.

  • Represented individuals and companies in numerous internal investigations prompted by federal securities and False Claims Act investigations.

    • Insurance Litigation

  • Successfully moved to dismiss a complaint filed by excess insurer that sought to recoup $2 million from client under liability insurance policies that client issued to tour bus company. The court held that full-deductible fronting policies did not require client to contribute to the settlement of underlying personal injury lawsuits, and that client has no indemnity liability under its fronting policies as a matter of law.

  • Secured dismissal with prejudice of a proposed class action in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging breach of contract and consumer fraud based on alleged “excessive” profits GEICO allegedly earned during the pandemic in not refunding or crediting those profits to policyholders. The court agreed held that private litigants have no legal right to collaterally attack these business practices because they fall within the exclusive domain of the financial services regulator of the State of New York. The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal with prejudice, Grossman v. GEICO Casualty Co., 2022 WL 1656593 (2d Cir. 2022).

  • Represented GEICO in obtaining a class action dismissal with prejudice brought against them in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, in a case centered on claims that GEICO allegedly charged “excessive” premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Represented APCIA, the largest insurance trade association in the United States, in successfully persuading a Washington state superior court to grant a motion for summary judgment to invalidate an emergency regulation by the Washington Insurance Commissioner to ban the use of credit history in insurance underwriting.

  • Obtained multi-million federal jury verdict after 11-week fraud and fiduciary duty trial on behalf of insurance company against former adjuster and outside consultant.

  • Recouped millions of dollars in fraudulent and preferential transfers through court-authorized adversary actions brought on behalf of bankruptcy estate and its principal unsecured creditor insurance company, In re Citron, 428 B.R. 562 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2010), 2011 WL 4711942 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. Oct. 6, 2011).

  • Recovered claim payments for property insurer from homeowner who forged invoices on property loss.

  • Secured settlement for video production company in mediation with excess liability carriers in connection with wrongful death suits arising out of death of R&B star Aaliyah.

  • Represented World Trade Center Properties entities and Silverstein entities in successful coverage litigation arising from destruction of World Trade Center.

  • Represented both insureds and insurers in numerous non-litigated coverage disputes involving CGL, D&O, Professional Liability, Casualty, Environmental and Credit Insurance policies.

    • Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Litigation

  • Represented the Philadelphia Phillies in settling a two-year copyright dispute with the designers of the Phillie Phanatic mascot costume, keeping the original Phanatic at home in Philadelphia forever.

  • Negotiated settlement for film production company in dispute with investor over international proceeds from Oscar-nominated film "Precious."

  • Secured substantial settlement for software company in software license dispute before AAA.

  • Obtained affirmance for insurance company of dismissal of software company's antitrust and trademark suit concerning insurance claim estimating software, Vedder Software Group Ltd. v. Insurance Services Office, Inc., 545 Fed. Appx. 30 (2d Cir. 2013).

  • Secured multimillion-dollar settlement on behalf of French telecom company in excess of limitation of liability clause in vendor's software contract. Claim alleged vendor's software defect contributed to widespread 18-hour cellphone outage in France.

  • Defeated motion for temporary restraining order seeking to prevent Major League Soccer from hosting exhibition match.

  • Advised entertainers, authors, record labels and publishers of rights under copyright law, right of publicity and defamation law.

    • Other Cases of Note

  • Secured dismissal and affirmance on res judicata ground of employment discrimination claim brought against hospital in Harris v. Beth Israel Medical Center, 367 Fed. Appx. 184 (2d Cir. 2010).
  • Defended author in declaratory judgment action to bar enforcement of foreign libel judgment, Ehrenfeld v. Bin Mahfouz, 9 N.Y.3d 501 (2007). The case prompted New York's legislature to enact The Libel Terrorism Protection Act, modifying CPLR 5304 such that New York will not recognize foreign defamation judgments that are contrary to the First Amendment. Similar federal legislation followed. 28 U.S.C. §§ 4101-4105.
  • Represented New York State Bar Association before D.C. Circuit in successful defense of appeal of declaratory judgment that attorneys engaged in practice of law are not subject to FTC privacy regulations issued pursuant to Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, American Bar Ass'n et ano. v. FTC, 430 F.3d 457 (D.C. Cir. 2005).

Education

  • New York University School of Law, J.D., 2001
    - Notes Development Editor, New York University Law Review
  • Vanderbilt University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1998

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Special Counsel, 2022-present
    - Associate, 2015-2022
  • Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard LLP
    - Associate, 2007-2015
  • Proskauer Rose LLP
    - Associate, 2002-2007
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
    - Law Clerk to the Hon. Ira S. DeMent, 2001-2002

Admissions

  • New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Board Memberships

  • NYC Bar – Insurance Law Committee
  • The Legal Aid Society – New Leadership Board (charter member)

Selected Publications

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, "Exotic Insurance Law: A Continuing Legal Education Program for Appellate Court Attorneys," New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, June 7, 2019

  • Speaker, "Regulatory Activism and its Impact on the Insurance Industry," CLE Presentation to Swiss Re, Armonk, New York, April 18, 2018