Professional Biography

David T. Biderman Partner

Firmwide Chair, Consumer Products & Services Litigation

  • Los Angeles

    D +1.310.788.3220

    F +1.310.843.1242

    Los Angeles

    1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700

    Los Angeles, CA 90067-1721

    +1.310.788.3220

    DBiderman@perkinscoie.com

  • San Francisco

    D +1.415.344.7003

    F +1.415.344.7050

    San Francisco

    505 Howard Street, Suite 1000

    San Francisco, CA 94105-3204

    +1.415.344.7003

    DBiderman@perkinscoie.com

loader

Overview

David Biderman, a partner in Perkins Coie's San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, focuses his practice on mass tort litigation and consumer class actions. He heads the firm's Consumer Products & Services Litigation group. He has represented a wide variety of companies in state and federal courts in California for 30 years.

On consumer class actions, David represents packaged food companies, coffee companies, dairy companies, footwear companies and others whose nutritional or health claims have been challenged. He also has represented search engines and other online companies. He has a record of favorable results for clients. He successfully tried a major consumer fraud class action on behalf of one of the world’s major search engines in a case involving online gambling advertisements. For that same client, he negotiated a favorable settlement of a class action challenging its online advertising pricing. He represented a major coffee retailer in defeating a class action on standing grounds. He also has litigated pre-emption defenses arising out of food labeling and obtained a dismissal for a client whose nutritional statements were challenged.

For fifteen years, David managed the firm’s full-service product liability team responsible for defending over 1,000 toxic tort cases pending in Los Angeles and Northern California state courts. These cases entailed ongoing trial activity at various levels for several trials set each month. The highly experienced and well-coordinated team has handled thousands of asbestos toxic tort cases for a variety of clients, including Fortune 500 companies from such industries as consumer products, aerospace manufacturing, household goods, dry cleaning and industries that generate electromagnetic fields, such as electric utilities and operators of wireless communications systems.

David speaks and writes regularly on class action issues. He has presented to the American Bar Association (ABA), the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the Product Liability Advisory Group and others on consumer class actions. David has served the courts through the Civil Litigation Subcommittee of the California Judicial Council, on special committees formed by the state courts to address toxic tort litigation, and as a member of the ABA’s American Jury Project.

David has been recognized by clients and by professional organizations for his client service and work ethic. Chambers USA has listed him as a top attorney for Food & Beverage: Regulatory & Litigation, with clients noting that he is “an excellent litigator who offers really great client service” and that he “keeps his clients front of mind and is very effective with opposing counsel.” David has also been named by Law360 as an MVP of the Year for Food & Beverage and has regularly been listed in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Super Lawyers publications. He has been honored by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Los Angeles Business Journal as a “Top Rainmaker.” A frequent writer on professional topics, David has published articles in the National Law Journal, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the Defense Research Institute’s member publication, For the Defense, and the Washington Legal Foundation.

Ranked in Chambers USA Three Years in a Row

Food and Beverages: Regulatory & Litigation

Professional Recognition

  • Listed in Thomson Reuters “Stand-out Lawyers,” 2024
  • Highlighted in Business Today, as a "Top 10 Most Influential Food & Beverage Regulatory Lawyers in 2023"
  • Listed in Chambers USA "America's Leading Lawyers" for Food and Beverages: Regulatory & Litigation, 2021 – 2023
  • Recipient of Law360 MVP Award, Food & Beverage, 2017
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Commercial Litigation; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants, 2012 – 2024
  • Rated Superb on Avvo.com
  • Highlighted as one of the leading rainmakers in "Diversity & The Bar"
  • Listed in Super Lawyers and San Francisco magazines as a Northern California "Super Lawyer," 2004, 2007 – 2023
  • Peer Review Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell
    (AV®, BV® and CV® are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.)

Professional Leadership

  • University of California, Los Angeles, Adjunct Professor, Law 693 Food Litigation, 2021 – present
  • Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
  • Pound Civil Justice Institute, 2013 Forum for State Appellate Judges, Faculty Member
  • The Association of Southern California Defense Counsel
  • Asian/Pacific Bar of California, Advisory Council, 2009 – present
  • Japanese American Bar Association (JABA), 2009 – present
  • American Bar Association: American Jury Project, 2004 – 2005; American Jury Commission, 2005 – 2006; Commission on an Independent Judiciary, 2006 – 2007; Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Products Liability, General Liability and Consumer Law Executive Committee, 2005 – 2006; Litigation Section Securities Litigation Committee, 2005 – present; Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee, 2008; Minority Trial Lawyer Committee, 2005 – 2006
  • Judicial Council of California, Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee 
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association: Litigation Section; Corporation Section; Banking and Business Law Section
  • Los Angeles County Superior Court, West District, Civil Advisory Board, 1997 – 1998
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), Vice President of Programs, 1999; Treasurer, 2002 – 2005 
  • Product Liability Advisory Committee, 2003 – 2011 
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers 
  • Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel 
  • Bar Association of San Francisco 
  • DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar 
  • State Bar of California
  • Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council of California
  • California Advocates Inc., California Asbestos Project Steering Committee

Experience

News

Insights

RELATED INFORMATION

Bar and Court Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

Education

  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1981, Articles Editor, Virginia Journal of Natural Resources Law
  • Emory University, B.A., 1977