R. David Donoghue

R. David Donoghue is a trial lawyer on Holland & Knight's Aviation Team. He concentrates on technology-focused complex civil litigation across a broad spectrum of substantive areas including aviation, copyrights, patents, product liability, trade secrets and trademarks. His practice spans diverse technology areas including aircraft control systems, satellite communications, computer software, internet technologies, automotive technologies, satellite radios, electrical technologies, television production equipment, nutritional supplements and numerous medical devices.

Mr. Donoghue has litigated complex, technology-based cases to positive conclusions for his clients in courts around the country. Mr. Donoghue's most recent trial experience includes a successful jury verdict, including a finding of willfulness, in the Northern District of Illinois. He has also handled appellate matters in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth, Ninth and Federal Circuits.

Mr. Donoghue routinely leverages his deep understanding of aerospace and aeronautical engineering for the benefit of his clients. For example, Mr. Donoghue recently led a team asserting trade secret misappropriation claims related to a fixed-wing autonomous vehicle focused upon the client's proprietary avionics platform. In a recent technology litigation, Mr. Donoghue's understanding of fluid dynamics allowed him to reduce his client's expert costs while driving the case toward a positive outcome. Similarly, in a recent patent dispute over a combustion engine technology, Mr. Donoghue was able to use his understanding of propulsion systems to leverage an early settlement on favorable terms for his client. In a recent trade secret matter involving nozzles, Mr. Donoghue coupled his understanding of fluid dynamics and material science to help develop a winning technology-based strategy for his client.

As an undergraduate aerospace and aeronautical engineering student at the University of Michigan, Mr. Donoghue focused his studies on propulsion systems and structural mechanics. He was awarded a research grant to develop and build a low-cost, mass-producible turbojet engine. Additionally, Mr. Donoghue was elected to lead his senior class in developing comprehensive plans for a mission and craft to launch from Earth, rendezvous with a comet and return a sample of the comet to Earth. As team leader, Mr. Donoghue also led his team's presentation of their plan to representatives of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. Mr. Donoghue also completed a study of the effectiveness of vortex generators and suction along the surface of an airfoil in improving the airfoil's stall parameters.

Mr. Donoghue was previously with Aptiv (formerly known as Delphi Technologies), the world's largest automotive supplier, where he was a founding member of Aptiv's Technology Licensing and Litigation group, and handled substantial international intellectual property litigation and licensing matters.

Mr. Donoghue has served as an adjunct professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, teaching legal research and writing and intellectual property courses. Mr. Donoghue also teaches a federal district court litigation practice course at Solo Practice University. At the beginning of his legal career, Mr. Donoghue served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gordon J. Quist of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.