David F. Root
Of Counsel / Atlanta
Dave Root specializes in civil defense litigation. He has tried numerous civil cases throughout Georgia covering a variety of subject areas, including general liability, trucking, construction, and employment.
Dave is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), an invitation only organization of preeminent trial lawyers limited to 1% of the lawyers in each state. He is also a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), a nomination only organization limited to private practice lawyers, corporate counsel and professionals engaged in civil defense work. Dave is also a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association(GDLA).
Dave served two terms as Chair of the DeKalb Bar Association Litigation Section. He is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has written and spoken on a variety of legal topics.
Dave is a member of the practicing bar of all Georgia trial and appellate courts, Federal District Courts in Georgia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Since 2008, Dave has been included in the Georgia Super Lawyers® list.
Dave is a magna cum laude graduate of Wake Forest University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta. He graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law where he participated in Moot Court.
Dave is an elder at North Decatur Presbyterian Church, and is Board member of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, a non-profit organization that engages communities of faith on issues of environmental stewardship.
Results
Dave Root Obtains Summary Judgment in Negligence Suit
September 26, 2019
Dave Root obtained summary judgment on behalf of their client, who served as the volunteer president of the Board of Directors of non-profit corporation, in a negligence suit resulting from the death of a minor. The defense moved for summary judgment on the grounds that their client could not be liable under any tort theory because she was not directly involved in and did not instruct anyone to undertake the allegedly tortious conduct. The defense also argued that there was no proximate cause between the allegedly tortious conduct and the death. The Court agreed and granted summary judgment on those grounds.
For informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in future cases.
Events
Copeland Stair’s Annual Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar in Atlanta, GA – September 12, 2019
September 12, 2019
Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell's Annual Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar was held on Thursday September 12, 2019. Located at the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Gardens, this two-track format addressed the emerging issues that keep you up at night. Some session topics included: the rise in tort litigation, putting together the pieces of the wrongful death case, effective use of recorded statements and the material misrepresentation defense, liability exposure in the age of active shooters and the impact bias has on case evaluation and jury deliberations. For more information on this seminar, please contact Michelle Mattox.
Carlock, Copeland & Stair Announce Lawyers Selected on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® List for 2018
February 22, 2018
Carlock, Copeland & Stair are proud to announce the following attorneys selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2018. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers®. The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers®, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers® undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check. Super Lawyers® Thomas S. Carlock - Civil Litigation: Defense Wade K. Copeland - Civil Litigation: Defense Eric J. Frisch - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense Johannes S. Kingma - Professional Liability: Defense D. Gary Lovell, Jr. - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense Rolfe Martin - Personal Injury General: Defense David F. Root - General Litigation Douglas W. Smith - Personal Injury General: Defense Kent T. Stair - Professional Liability: Defense Frederick M. Valz, III - Insurance Coverage Rising Stars® is a listing of exceptional lawyers who are 40 years of age or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less, and have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 2.5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are honored on the Rising Stars® list. Rising Stars® Lauren Meadows - Civil Litigation Defense Jay M. O'Brien - Personal Injury General: Defense
Carlock, Copeland & Stair Hosted Their Annual Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Seminar
August 24, 2017
Carlock, Copeland & Stair hosted their annual Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Seminar on August 24 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Presentations and Presenters: Have Traditional Rules Gone Up in Smoke? Impact of Growing Legalization of Medical Marijuana - Dave Root and Abby Grozine. Best Practices for Maintaining Your Claims File - Ryan Wilhelm, Jennifer Guerra, and Claire Sumner. Defending the Institutional Bad Faith Claim - Charlie McDaniel and Kathy Carlsten. New Technology, Old Policies: Are Aging Policies Equipped to Handle the Consumer Technology Boom? - Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey. Apportionment: Has It Gotten Insurers Where They Want To Go? - Charlie McDaniel, Graham Thompson, and Kristen Thompson. Additional Insured Jeopardy - Alex Davis, Laura Paton, Sarah Wetmore, Sally Bright and Nick Stewart. Why the Involvement of a Tractor Trailer Escalates a Case - Gary Lovell. Risk-Averse Insurers and the New Juror: Exploring Possible Links Between Fewer Trials, Millennial Jurors, and Seemingly Bigger Verdicts - Doug Smith and Lee Weatherly. Please contact Michelle Mattox at mmattox@csvl.law if you would like our attorneys to present in-house lunch & learn sessions or webinars.
Carlock Copeland’s Annual Seminar: Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith for Claims Professionals
September 15, 2016
Carlock Copeland’s Annual Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar for claims professionals serving Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee was held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on September 15. Melissa Bailey, Jack Daniel, Alex Davis, Charlie McDaniel, David Root, Fred Valz, Lee Weatherly, Sarah Wetmore and Ryan Wilhelm presented. Topics included: • Litigating Coverage Issues Through Appeal • Construction Defect Coverage Issues • Rescinding Policies • Effective Denials and Reservation of Rights Letters • Interplay of Underwriting and Claims • Coverage Issues Involving Additional Insureds • Litigation Coverage Issues In Trucking Policies • Coverage Issues in a Sharing Economy Please contact Michelle Mattox at mmattox@csvl.law for more information.
Dave Root participated on the Defense Team at the upcoming Masters in Trial ABOTA event
April 21, 2016
Dave Root participated on the Defense Team at the Masters in Trial: A Trial Demonstration from Opening Statement through Jury Deliberation presented by the Georgia Chapter of ABOTA on April 21.
2016 CLM Annual Conference – Orlando, FL
April 6, 2016
Dave Root, Angela Kopet, Lee Weatherly, Sarah Wetmore, and Patrick Norris attended the CLM Annual Meeting being held in Orlando, FL from April 6-8, 2016.
Carlock Copeland Attorneys Selected for Georgia 2016 Super Lawyers® AND Rising Stars®
February 19, 2016
February 19, 2016 Carlock, Copeland & Stair, LLP is proud to announce our lawyers selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2016. Thomas S. Carlock and Johannes S. Kingma have been selected for inclusion on the Top 100 Super Lawyers® in the State of Georgia. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers®. The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers®, which is a service of Thomson Reuters. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers® undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check. Top 100 for the State of Georgia - Super Lawyers® Thomas S. Carlock - Top Rated Civil Litigation Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia Johannes S. Kingma - Top Rated Professional Liability Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia Super Lawyers® Thomas S. Carlock - Civil Litigation: Defense Wade K. Copeland - Civil Litigation: Defense Eric J. Frisch - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense Johannes S. Kingma - Professional Liability: Defense D. Gary Lovell, Jr. - Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense David F. Root - General Litigation Douglas W. Smith - Personal Injury General: Defense Kent T. Stair - Professional Liability: Defense Frederick M. Valz, III - Insurance Coverage Rising Stars® is a listing of exceptional lawyers who are 40 years of age or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less, and have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 2.5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are honored on the Rising Stars® list. Rising Stars® Shannon M. Sprinkle - Professional Liability: Defense Peter Werdesheim - Professional Liability - Defense
Dave Root presented “Privacy and Social Media in the Workplace” – December 1, 2015
December 1, 2015
Dave Root presented “Privacy and Social Media in the Workplace” at the Sterling Education Services Employment Law: Beyond the Basics program in Atlanta on December 1, 2015. Dave’s presentation included the following topics:
- Balancing an employer's right to know vs. employee's privacy
- Wireless devices and employee's and employer's privacy violations
- Monitoring and creating policies regarding Internet, email, texting, and other electronic communications
- Use of social networking sites in the employment context: risks, best practices, and policies
- Off the job behavior, e.g., blogging and dating
- The NLRB and social media
- Case law studies
News
CSVL Attorneys Selected to 2021 Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® Lists
February 15, 2021
Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2021. Super Lawyers® recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® list. Our Super Lawyers® are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Charles M. McDaniel, Jr. David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz, III Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here are ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey
CSVL Attorneys Named to 2020 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists
February 15, 2020
Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2020. Super Lawyers® recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® list. Our Super Lawyers® are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Charles M. McDaniel, Jr. William D. Newcomb David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz, III Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here are ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey Stephen J. Cohen
CSVL Attorneys Named to 2019 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists
February 28, 2019
Copeland Stair Valz & Lovell, LLP is proud to announce that several of our lawyers have been selected for inclusion on the Georgia Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for 2019. Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice. Attorneys are chosen for this honor through a nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent research on candidates. The lengthy process identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Meet our Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®! Super Lawyers®, only five percent of attorneys in the state of Georgia are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers list. Our Super Lawyers are: Wade K. Copeland Eric J. Frisch D. Gary Lovell, Jr. Rolfe M. Martin Jay M. O'Brien David F. Root Douglas W. Smith Kent T. Stair Fred M. Valz Rising Stars® list recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state – those who are 40 years old or younger, or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys are named to the Rising Stars® list, here is ours in Atlanta: Melissa L. Bailey Please click here to read about our South Carolina Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®!
Publications and Presentations
You’ve Heard of the Sky Falling, but is it Rising in Tort Litigation? A Year of Astronomical Verdicts and Notable Appellate Cases – Presentation at Copeland Stair’s 2019 Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Seminar
9/12/2019
Dave Root, Jennifer Guerra, Lee Weatherly and Caroline Niland examined the rise of verdicts in the Southeast within the past decade. With such a significant surge in high verdicts, this presentation provided a review of verdicts over the past year as well as decisions from the appellate courts in Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. The team provided attendees with insight into the factual and legal issues that contribute to eight and nine figure verdicts. With this information, attendees were also given strategies to keep a case from becoming another "significant verdict." For more information on this presentation or firm seminars, please contact Michelle Mattox.