Dan Katz has tried numerous complex cases, spanning many substantive areas, for a wide array of corporate and individual clients. He has tried cases in state and federal courts before both judges and juries, and has handled numerous arbitrations and administrative proceedings. He also has argued many appeals in state and federal courts.
Dan has practiced in fields as diverse as financial services, franchise, automotive, employment, real estate, construction, healthcare, RICO, securities, and antitrust law. He has also been lead counsel in major class actions and multiple party cases of all types in numerous jurisdictions. He has appeared in, for example, New York, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and California courts.
Born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Dan received his B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Williams College in 1979 and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1983. Dan clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit before joining Williams & Connolly in 1984. Dan served on the firm's Executive Committee from 2009 to 2011.
Dan is currently a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law School and also served multiple terms on the Board of Visitors.
Representative Experience
Though all cases vary and none is predictive, Dan’s experience as lead counsel includes:
- Winning dismissal of all claims against computer chip manufacturer in multidistrict class action litigation and then successfully argued appeal before the 9th Circuit.
- Won defense judgment on behalf of publicly traded Hong Kong company in convertible bond dispute following trial in New York Supreme Court (Commercial Part) and then successfully argued appeal in the First Department.
- Obtained reversal of class certification in a labor and employment matter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for a public company.
- Won reversal of class certification in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a public company in an antitrust price-fixing case.
- Successfully defended automotive OEM in a trial before the TN Motor Vehicle Commission brought by dealer alleging unfair conduct.
- Defeated class certification in Texas state court for publicly traded automotive retailer alleging violations of the Texas Finance Code.
- Won a liability verdict for a nationwide hotel company in a case seeking specific performance and then obtained specific performance in a separate trial.
- Obtained reversal in the Western District of North Carolina, under the “manifest disregard” standard, of an arbitrator's certification of a nationwide class against a public company.
- Obtained reversal for a public company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of a refusal to enforce an arbitration clause with a class waiver.
- Won affirmance for a major private company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit of a substantial counterclaim judgment and dismissal of RICO and other statutory claims.
- Obtained summary judgment in the Southern District of California for a public company in a breach of contract action brought by a major automobile manufacturer.
- Won a defense liability verdict in a civil rights trial in Florida Circuit Court for one of the largest U.S. private companies.
- Won summary judgment in a putative class action for a public company on joint employer theory in the Southern District of California.
- Won a plaintiff's award in an arbitration against a commercial construction company in Washington, D.C.
- Won a plaintiff's verdict for a manufacturing company in New York Supreme Court against a defendant corporation for breach of a commercial lease.
- Won sanctions for multiple companies for abusive litigation and discovery tactics in state court, federal court, and arbitration.