David Barton, resident in the firm’s Los Angeles office, practices business law, representing both public and private clients in a variety of transactions and specializing in middle-market company M&A, reorganizations, and workouts. David has extensive experience in both domestic and international transactions, including Australia, Canada, and Mexico. From 1992 to 1997, David was vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Sizzler and remained in charge of the company’s legal affairs throughout its chapter 11 reorganization. David holds an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell‘s highest rating for ethical standards and legal ability and has been named to every edition of Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law since 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1981.
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., summa cum laude, 1978)
- Leningrad State University, USSR (Certificate of Participation, 1977)
- Harvard University (J.D. 1981)
- Phi Beta Kappa; Pi Gamma Mu; Mu Alpha Gamma; Regents Scholar
Bar and Court Admissions
- 1981, California
- Member, Transactions Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar (2012-2015)
- Co-chair, Corporate and Securities Law Committee Insider Trading Procedures Practice Area Group (1997)
- Member, American Corporate Counsel Association Corporate and Securities Committee (1995-1997)
- Representative of Sizzler International, Inc., California Business Roundtable (1992-1993)
- Member, State Bar of California Business Law Section Corporations Committee (1989-1992)
- Member, State Bar of California Business Law Section Partnership Committee (1986-1989)
Speaker, “Assessing, Building and Preserving and Transferring Value in California LLCs,” Lorman Education Services (November 2007) Lecturer, Export Marketing Seminars, Los Angeles District Office of U.S. Department of Commerce (June-July 1990) Moderator, “Organizing and Advising California Partnerships,” Continuing Education of the Bar and California State Bar Business Law Section (May 1989)
- SEC Disclosure, Filing Requirements for Public Companies in Chapter 11 Journal of Corporate Renewal, January 2009
- Tougher SEC Standards Are Clogging the PIPEline Journal of Corporate Renewal, May 2007
- “Keeping the Debtor in ‘Suspense’: California Corporate Status in Chapter 11,” 30 California Bankruptcy Journal 379 (2010)
- “Rule 144A: Why Foreign Companies Are ‘Taking the Plunge’ into the U.S. Private Placement Market,” Int’l Executive 9 (Nov./Dec.1990)
- “California’s Real Estate License Requirement: Obstacles and Risks for Real Estate Syndicators,” 5 California Business Law Practitioner 145 (Fall 1990)
- “Recent Development, Taxation of Foreign Income —Decree of the Supreme Soviet of U.S.S.R. of May 12, 1978,” 20 Harvard International Law Journal 213 (1979)
- Consultant, Advising California Partnerships ch. 2 (CEB 2d ed.)
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