David Lewis’s practice is focused on legal ethics and professional conduct, including issues surrounding conflicts of interest, legal advertising regulations, cross-border legal practice issues, litigation conduct, attorney-client privilege and client confidentiality, bar admission requirements, fee disputes, law firm structure and risk management.
He has represented clients in a variety of professional matters, including defending lawyers against charges before disciplinary committees, legal malpractice cases and representing lawyers and law firms in cases involving disqualification.
Mr. Lewis was formerly a partner and general counsel of a national, New York-based AmLaw 200 law firm. Before that, he was an attorney with an international, New York-based AmLaw 100 law firm and a member of its Office of the General Counsel.
Mr. Lewis is the appointed Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee (2011-2014), and he is also the Vice-Chair of the New York State Bar Association's Task Force on Nonlawyer Ownership.
He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct (COSAC) which studies and makes recommendations for changes in the rules of professional conduct that govern lawyers in New York State.
Mr. Lewis was appointed by the President of the New York State Bar Association to serve on the New York State Bar Association’s Special Immigration Committee, which was created to help develop, improve and expand the standards for competent legal representation of immigrants in the United States.
His professional memberships also include the New York County Lawyers’ Association’s Board of Advisors for the Ethics Institute and for its Task Force on Professionalism.
Mr. Lewis has served as an adjunct professor of law, and has taught legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Mr. Lewis is a sought-after speaker, and is often called upon to lecture or serve on panel discussions dealing with complex legal ethics issues and compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. He has participated in many programs dealing with the professional conduct of lawyers, including those sponsored or held by the Practising Law Institute, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers’ Association and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL).
Community Service Activities
Mr. Lewis is very passionate about his pro bono work as an advocate for children’s rights on behalf of the Legal Aid Society.
Mr. Lewis is a 2007 recipient of the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award. He was a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Empire Counsel for a number of years.