David Priebe was born in Syracuse, New York on October 16, 1960, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Liverpool. David graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1981, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Mathematics. David then attended the Graduate School of the Yale University Department of Political Science, earning Masters of Arts and Masters of Philosophy degrees. After working for technology companies in upstate New York, he moved to California. David received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law in 1990, and passed the California Bar the same year. As an undergraduate, David was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; at law school, David was selected for the Order of the Coif.
David practiced from 1990 through 2001 at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a nationally recognized law firm, and served the final two years of that tenure as a partner of the firm. In June 2001, David joined Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, a leading high technology law firm. The firm is now known as DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP.
David is interested in practically all areas of the law. His practice has focused on the defense of high technology companies and their officers and directors in securities class action lawsuits and related shareholder derivative lawsuits and SEC investigations. Among the companies David has helped to defend are Sybase, Seagate, Boeing, Vanstar, 3DO, Merisel, Informix, Cirrus Logic, Digital Microwave, and Frame Technology. David is proud to defend these clients because they are not faceless corporations: they consist of thousands of talented and dedicated officers, employees, and directors, the overwhelming majority of whom are honest persons who deserve protection against serious allegations of fraud (often leveled by persons who take a professional interest in accusing people of fraud, based on their mistaken view of the facts). David also advises companies and individuals on selling stock consistent with the securities laws, particularly under the trading plan defense recognized by SEC Rule 10b5-1(c). David further advises companies on how to comply with disclosure laws and keep their shareholders well-informed. Among David's other areas of interest are officers and directors fiduciary duty law and federalism.
David also has a keen academic interest in the law and public policy. To advance those interests, he wrote Piling On: The Reemergence Of The Parallel Derivative Lawsuit As The Federal Securities Class Action Window Closes, PLI (1999); Directors' Reliance On Internal Controls In Light Of Caremark And W.R. Grace, PLI (1998); and other articles published on his personal Internet site, www.10b-5.com. David also co-authored Federal Securities Law and the Internet, 1 Cyberspace Lawyer 4 (July 1996); and various articles discussing the pleading standards of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other aspects of the securities laws.
David lives in Sunnyvale with his wife and two children.