Dave Schooler is a proven high-stakes trial attorney who has tried more than 100 jury and bench trials in business litigation, products liability, employment litigation, professional liability, mass tort, environmental and property damage litigation, and high exposure personal injury cases. He has been nationally recognized by the bench and bar in numerous peer-elected elite trial organizations based on his skills, experience, and ethics, including ABOTA, IADC, and FDCC. He is a national and state board-certified civil trial specialist. Dave is regularly listed by Benchmark and Best Lawyers as one of the best commercial litigators Minnesota. He has been an AV top-rated attorney by Martindale Hubbell since 2002.
- Professional Negligence: Lead counsel many malpractice/negligence claims including defending a nationally known Title IV trial attorney in a $10 million dollar professional negligence case resulting in a defense verdict.
- Employment Litigation: Represented hundreds of employers involved in employment litigation including successfully defending a Fortune 500 Bank in a $20 million dollar discrimination case resulting in a defense verdict.
- Mass Tort/Products/ Multidistrict Litigation: Lead counsel in automotive litigation, artificial joints, power tools, farm equipment, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and defending over 200 asbestos cases for a Fortune 500 mining company as regional trial counsel.
- Business Litigation: Defended companies, individuals, boards, and executives in shareholder litigation resulting in multiple defense verdicts.
- Intellectual Property: Defended numerous companies in trade secret and unfair competition lawsuits and successfully litigated the first reverse engineering coding case in Minnesota federal court.
- Class Actions: Lead counsel for Federal and State wage and hour class actions, housing class actions, and pharma/products liability class actions
- Successfully handled hundreds of cases as panel counsel for EPL, D&O, Environmental, LPL, A&E, CGL, Premises and Operations, and other lines
- Higher Education: Represented major university in Title IV litigation involving elimination of sports programs, gender discrimination, student discipline, and related matters
- Financial Services: Served as co-counsel for multiple Fortune 500 banks in $5 billion dollar financial services litigation relating to mortgage-backed securities and lead counsel for a Fortune 500 Bank for many HAMP lawsuits
- Other Significant Matters: Achieved many defense verdicts in of cases involving transportation, explosions, chemical spills, chemical off gassing, and environmental contamination
- Electronic Privacy Concerns in Single-Plaintiff Litigation and Class Actions, FDCC Quarterly (Marquette Law School) Vol. 61.4
- Ethical Issues for Defense Counsel in Employment Practices Liability Insurance Litigation, The International Association of Defense Counsel, 2013
- The Eight Defenses to Retaliation Claims, Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, 2019
- Speaker, Social Media and Data Privacy Policies and Pitfalls, Lloyd’s of London Professional Liability Summit, May 2017
- Employment Law for the Mid-Market Employer Staying “In The Know” on Employment Trends in 2016, August 2016
Admissions
- Minnesota
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota,
- U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota
- U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
Memberships
- The Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- International Association of Defense Counsel, Elected Member
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Elected Member
- State Bar of Minnesota, Member
- Hennepin County Bar Association, Member
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
- Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association (MDLA)
- American Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association, Member Defense Research Institute (DRI)
Education
- J.D., cum laude, William Mitchell College of Law, 1992
- B.A., St. Olaf College, 1987
Honors
- Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Commercial Litigation, 2025-2026
- Benchmark Litigation, Labor & Employment Star – Midwest
- Named one of “America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators”
- Fellow, American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell
- Super Lawyers® distinction in Business Litigation, Employment Litigation, Professional Liability, 2010-2019
*Not admitted to practice in North Dakota