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David J. Worley

Member Emeritus and Of Counsel

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Practice Areas

  • Complex Civil Trial and Appellate Litigation

Biography

David Worley graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1980. After two years as a congressional aide, he attended the University of Virginia School of Law, where he won the Johnson & Swanson Award for excellence in written advocacy and was a member of the National Moot Court Team. He earned a Juris Doctor from UVA in 1985.

David Worley has over 30 years of experience in complex civil trial and appellate litigation, with substantial experience in securities, data breach and other consumer class action litigation, and many years representing trustees of union pension funds and international and local unions. He represented major counties in Georgia and other parts of the nation in complex high value Fair Housing Act financial harm cases, relating to the subprime lending and foreclosure crisis, against major money-center banks. He was co-counsel in litigation on behalf of almost every large Georgia county against numerous telephone carriers alleging failure to charge and remit statutorily-required 911 fees. Bankruptcy trustees and other corporate stakeholders relied on Mr. Worley in direct litigation against their company's officers and directors, and against company accounting firms and other professional advisors, for breaches of fiduciary duties and fraud.

Worley has served as Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of both the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Association, and as Co-Chair of the Federal Legislative Developments Committee of the American Bar Association's Committee on Labor and Employment Law. He was a contributing editor to The Fair Labor Standards Act (BNA, 2000) and Discipline and Discharge in Arbitration (BNA, 1998) and has lectured on litigation and arbitration topics at numerous continuing legal education seminars. For many years he was a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee.

From 1998 to 2001, Worley served as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. He is a former Democratic nominee for the United States Congress, has been a Member of the Democratic National Committee and a delegate to seven Democratic National Conventions. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Clayton State University Foundation, the Clayton County Library System,Clayton County Aging Program, the Fayette District Committee of the Boy Scouts of America and as. a member of the Georgia State Election Board.

Education

  • University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia
    • J.D. - 1985
    • Honors: Johnson & Swanson Award (Best Brief, First‑year Legal Writing Program)
    • Honors: Best Brief Award, Region IV, National Moot Court Competition
    • Honors: National Moot Court Team
  • Harvard College
    • B.A. - 1980
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Major: Government

Pro-Bono Activities

  • Member, Georgia State Election Board, 2004 to 2021
  • Georgia State Co‑Counsel, Obama for America, 2008
  • Member, Democratic National Committee, 1998-­2001, 2008-­16
  • Chairman, Democratic Party of Georgia, 1998-­2001
  • Biden for President, National Finance Committee, 2020
  • Hillary Clinton for President, National Finance Committee, 2016
  • Vice-Chair, National Finance Committee, John Kerry for President, 2004
  • Candidate for Presidential Elector, 2012, 2004, 2000
  • Georgia Delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2020
  • Member, Georgia State Democratic Committee, 1986 to 2021
  • Democratic Nominee, United States Congress, Sixth Congressional District, 1988, 1990

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association, Member
  • Atlanta Bar Association, Member
  • Federal Bar Association, Member
  • American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, Committee on Federal Legislative Developments, Co-Chair, 1996 to 2000
  • State Bar of Georgia Labor and Employment Law Section, Chair, 2001 to 2002
  • Atlanta Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section, Chair, 1999 to 2000
  • AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, Past Member

Bar Admissions

  • Georgia, 1985
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 1985
  • U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1988
  • Georgia Court of Appeals, 1985
  • Supreme Court of Georgia, 1985

Honors

  • Selected by Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission as Finalist for Appointment to Georgia Court of Appeals, 2002
  • Named “Georgia SuperLawyer” by Atlanta Magazine in field of Securities Litigation, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Named one of “100 Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend Magazine, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

Representative Cases

  • Bellsouth Telecommunications LLC v. Cobb County and Gwinnett County, 802 S.E. 2d 686, 2017 WL 2590853 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017)
  • Jones v. Tauber & Balser, P.C., 503 B.R. 162 (N.D. Ga. 2013)
  • In re Verilink Corp., 457 B.R. 832 (N.D. Ala. 2011), and six other reported decisions
  • Earthlink v. Eaves, 293 Ga. App. 75 (2008)
  • Atwater v. National Football League Players Ass’n, 2007 WL 1020848, 181 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2993 (N.D. Ga. 2007)
  • National Air Traffic Controllers Ass’n v. Dental Plans, Inc., 2006 WL1663286, 38 Employee Benefits Cases (BNA) 2755 (N.D. Ga. 2006)
  • Hipps v. United Steelworkers of America, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4716, 85 FEP Cases (BNA) 367 (N.D. Ga. 2001)
  • Hoffman v. St. Joseph’s Hospital, 1998 WL 283540, 4 Wage & Hour Cases 2nd (BNA) 972 (N.D. Ga. 1998)
  • Turlington v. Atlanta Gas Light Co., 135 F.3d 1428 (11th Cir. 1998)
  • Turner v. American Federation of Teachers, Local 1565, 138 F.3d 878 (11th Cir. 1998)
  • Evans v. McClain of Georgia, Inc., 131 F.3d 957 (11th Cir. 1997)
  • Harrison v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 162 L.R.R.M. (BNA), 2062 (N.D. Ga. 1999)