David L. Kelleher

David Kelleher is Counsel with the Litigation Department in the Firm. Throughout his career, he has represented domestic and international businesses in product safety and product liability matters. He has defended clients in federal and state courts across the country against product liability and toxic tort claims involving a wide range of products and equipment, including a cruise ship lift, maritime crane, industrial conveyors, hydraulic lift, railway track equipment, over-under shotgun, and machinery used in the pulp, paper, and packaging industries.

David also counsels clients on product safety issues, including product design and hazard analysis review procedures, pre-sale and post-sale warnings, product recalls and repairs, safety manuals and instructions, recordkeeping practices, and accident investigations. He has conducted client training seminars in Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States.

In addition to his product safety work, David has represented clients in government enforcement investigations and actions, including matters involving Federal Aviation Administration hazardous materials regulations and Occupational Safety and Health Administration workplace regulations.

David’s experience also includes constitutional litigation involving the First Amendment. He served as lead counsel for manufacturers and distributors of video games in a seminal case extending First Amendment protection to video games depicting violent expression. He also represented producers and distributors of motion pictures in a successful First Amendment challenge to restrictions on access to motion pictures containing depictions of violence. 

A native of Boston, David has an appreciation for historic cities, an inherited loyalty to the Red Sox, and a developed passion for the Patriots.

Prior joining the Firm, Mr. Kelleher's career spanned a variety of clients and matters, including those listed below:

• A leading international supplier of technology, systems, and equipment to the pulp and paper industries in scores of risk management and product liability matters for more than 25 years.
• Clients in government enforcement investigations and actions, including matters involving the Federal Aviation Administration’s Hazardous Materials Regulations and Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Lock-Out/Tag-Out Regulations.
• An Austrian-based supplier of railroad track maintenance and construction equipment in defense of a multi-jurisdiction product liability claim. Eggleton v. Plasser & Theurer Export Von Bahnbaumaschinen Gesellschaft, 495 F.3d 582 (8th Cir. 2007).
• Latin American investors in international arbitrations and federal court litigation arising from a Brazilian corporation shareholder dispute.
• Businesses and trade associations in a First Amendment challenge to a City of Indianapolis law restricting the display and sale of video games depicting violence. American Amusement Machine Assn. v. Kendrick, 244 F.3d 572 (7th Cir. 2001), cert. denied 534 U.S. 994 (2001).
• Businesses and trade associations in a First Amendment challenge to a Missouri statute restricting the display and sale of videocassettes and videotapes depicting violence. Video Software Dealers Assn. v. Webster, 968 F.2d 684 (8th Cir. 1992).
• Multiple non-profit membership associations as amici curiae to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the retroactive application of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Rivers v. Roadway Express, 511 U.S. 298 (1994).