David B. McConnell

ABOUT Dave

Dave McConnell has advised food and beverage makers, creative content producers and entrepreneurs in many other businesses for the past twenty-three years.  As the co-founder of a distillery based in Portland, Dave understands the range of challenges that all startups face and he has a particularly deep base of experience working with alcohol-related businesses.  Dave’s clients appreciate his keen sense for practical solutions and sound business advice as much as his legal expertise as he helps them deftly navigate data privacy and protection questions, trademark and copyright licensing, complex local, state and federal and regulatory requirements and a number of other mission-critical matters.  Dave’s goal is to help clients anticipate and avoid problems when possible and to deal with issues creatively and efficiently when trouble is impossible to avoid.

Dave graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law.  He has been awarded the highest possible rating for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability by Martindale-Hubbell for many years. Dave has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in the New England Super Lawyers directory for Business Litigation.  In addition to his legal work, Dave was a former member of the Board of Directors for Perkins Thompson, helping to manage the business aspects of the law firm.  Dave has also held elected and appointed offices in Falmouth, Maine and he sits on a number of non-profit boards.

Dave currently lives in Falmouth.  He loves to surf, ski, hike, hunt, boat and generally enjoy the beautiful Maine outdoors with his wife and three kids.

• FTC Investigations: What To Expect When The FTC Comes Calling
• Wyndham’s Shot Across the Bow: A Challenge to the FTC’s Authority to Enforce Data Security Standards
• Cyber Liability Insurance Policies
• eBay Fumbles Breach Notification
• LinkedIn Privacy Claim Survives a Motion to Dismiss
• Facebook “Bug” Leads to Inadvertent Disclosure of Six Million Users’ Contact Information
• Data Security Breaches: Not Just a Threat to Big Business Anymore
• Data Security Starts With the Simple Stuff
• A Survey of New England Breach Notification Laws
• Why Your Organization Needs a Data Incident Response Plan: The Growing Need for a Planned Response.
• Once More unto the Breach: Courts Give Consumers More Rights for Cyber-Data Security Breaches
• Ten Tips to Protect Your Company From Cyber-Security Breach Liability

Publications / Seminars

• Co-Author of the firm’s Data Security Blog
• Plenary speaker at the annual Maine State Bar Association meeting on “Legal & Ethical Limits on Governmental & Private Party Access to Data & Metadata” in 2014.
• “Legally Fit in 2010″ in Best Ever You
• “The Sevin Made Me Do It: Mental Non-Responsibility and the Neurotoxic Damage Defense”, 14 Virginia Environmental Law Journal 151, 1995. Reprinted in MacArthur Foundation Law & Neuroscience Project Bibliography, 2010
• Co-Author, “Surgeon Demographics and Medical Malpractice in Adult Reconstruction,” Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, November 7, 2008
• Presenter, Seminar on Antitrust Law
• Presenter, Seminar on Applying HIPAA
• Presenter, Seminar on Legal Research

Membership

Mr. McConnell is a member of the American Bar Association, the Cumberland County Bar Association, and the Maine Trial Lawyers Association.

Service / Achievements

At the University of Virginia School of Law, Mr. McConnell was awarded the Dana H. Rowe Memorial Scholarship and was Articles Development Editor of the Virginia Environmental Law Journal. Mr. McConnell is a Director and past President of the Board of Directors for the Nathan and Henry B. Cleaves Law Library, and a Fellow of the Maine Bar Foundation.  He is past President, and current Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Choices Are For Everyone, Inc., serving developmentally disabled children and adults.  Mr. McConnell is also Treasurer of the Board of Directors of VLP, Inc., providing pro bono services to low-income Mainers.

Mr. McConnell is a former Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the Town of Falmouth. He is also a past Board Member of the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra and past Vice-President of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Maine.

Interests

Mr. McConnell lives in Falmouth, Maine and enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and three children.