David C. Waterman spent more than four years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida where he served as a federal prosecutor in the Appellate and Criminal Divisions. As a federal prosecutor, David argued appeals before the Eleventh Circuit and directed federal and local law enforcement agencies in grand jury and wiretap investigations. In 2020, David joined Lane & Waterman (the fifth generation in his family to practice at L&W). At Lane & Waterman, David’s practice areas include civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, government regulatory and compliance, and appeals.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, David clerked for The Honorable Michael J. Melloy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (2015 to 2016); The Honorable Mark W. Bennett (Ret.), U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa (2014 to 2015); and The Honorable John A. Jarvey, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa (2013 to 2014).
David earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2013. While at UCLA, David served as a member of the National and State Moot Court Competition Teams and the Vice President of External Affairs of the Moot Court Honors Board. He externed for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (Summer 2012) and for The Honorable David G. Sills, California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District (Summer 2011).
Prior to UCLA, he earned his M.Phil. in Political Thought and Intellectual History from the University of Cambridge in 2010. He earned his B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from The George Washington University Honors Program in 2009, where he studied abroad for the 2007 to 2008 academic year at the University of Oxford.
David is an avid endurance sports enthusiast and has completed five Ironman triathlons. He was a varsity ice hockey player at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford.
The George Washington University (B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, 2009)
University of Cambridge (M.Phil., 2010)
UCLA School of Law (J.D., 2013)
Law Clerk to the Honorable John A. Jarvey, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa (2013-2014)
Law Clerk to the Honorable Mark W. Bennett, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa (2014-2015)
Law Clerk to the Honorable Michael J. Melloy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (2015-2016)
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida (2016-2020)
Iowa – 2013
Southern District of Iowa – 2014
Northern District of Iowa – 2014
Illinois – 2022
Central District of Illinois – 2022
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit – 2022
Member, Iowa State Bar Association
Member, Federal Bar Association
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Scott County Bar Association
Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Member, Iowa Defense Counsel Association
Member, Association of the Bar of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Member, The Dillon American Inn of Court, Chapter of the American Inns of Court Foundation
Fellow, Iowa State Bar Foundation
Member, Federal Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panels (2022)
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, Rock Island County Bar Association
Member, Board of Trustees, Quad City Symphony Orchestra (2021-Present)
Member, Board of Trustees, YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley (2022-Present)
Co-Presenter, “Why Clerk? A View From Chambers on Judicial Clerkships,” University of Iowa College of Law (September 2015)
Co-Author, “A Fresh Look at Jurors Questioning Witnesses: A Review of Eighth Circuit and Iowa Appellate Precedents and an Empirical Analysis of Federal and State Trial Judges and Trial Lawyers,” 64 Drake Law Review 485 (2016)
Co-Presenter, “Allocution,” Twenty-Eighth Annual National Seminar on Federal Sentencing (August 2019)
Presenter, “Project Guardian,” Presented to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on the United States Department of Justice’s initiative started in November 2019 designed to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws across the country, United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (May 2020)
Co-Presenter, “Jury Selection for Defense (Civil),” Dillon Inn of Court (April 2022)
Co-Presenter, “Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) (‘The Steel Seizure Case’) and the Limits of Executive Power,” Dillon Inn of Court (October 2022)
Eleven Lane & Waterman attorneys have been recognized by their peers for professional excellence in the 30th edition of the Best Lawyers in America. In addition, three attorneys were recognized in the third edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for outstanding professional excellence early in their careers.
The firm’s Summer Associate program gives law students hands-on legal […]
The firm’s Summer Associate program gives law students hands-on legal […]