David P. Roosa

Partner

Biography

David primarily handles cases involving serious personal injury, traumatic brain injury (“TBI”), insurance bad faith denial of benefits, and nursing home abuse. David has jury trial experience in state, federal, and municipal courts. David and Friedman | Rubin partner Ken Friedman recently obtained a $1.7m verdict in the Western District of Washington’s first ever fully remote jury trial, in which the judge, the jury, the attorneys, and the witnesses all participated via Zoom. (See our press release here and a Bloomberg Law report – here]. David also occasionally tries criminal cases, and has obtained two defense verdicts in 2015, and another in 2017, for wrongfully accused citizens. At the appellate level, David has briefed a number of cases before Washington Division I and Division II court of appeal commissioners, and authored (uncredited) the prevailing briefs in the Wyoming Supreme Court case Irene v. Seneca, et. al., 337 p.3d 483 (Wyo. 2014).

David grew up in Alaska and graduated from West Anchorage High School in 1997. After high school, he spent one year as a Rotary International Exchange Student in Rostock, Germany. Upon returning to the U.S., David studied at the Ohio State University and graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in International Business and a B.A. in German Language and Literature. David then spent roughly two years in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, at the Centro ISI English Academy through the AIESEC program teaching English to adults and children.

Before starting a career in the legal field, David worked for three years as a Licensed Customs Broker and Ocean Import Manager for a global logistics/freight-forwarder and NVOCC in Chicago, IL.

David lives with his wife and two sons in West Seattle. His hobbies include competitive running and swimming, outdoor grilling, watching Ohio State football games in the fall, and playing the guitar – badly.

Presentations

Honors & Memberships

Member
American Association for Justice

Member
Seattle Plaintiffs Attorney Roundtable

Eagle Member
Washington Association for Justice

Nation's First Zoom Jury Trial

In October, 2020, David Roosa and Ken Friedman obtained a $1.3M verdict in the nation’s first federal civil jury trial conducted entirely via Zoom. Click the link below to read about it.
$1.3 Million Awarded by Virtual Jury to Woman Injured on a Cruise Ship

Published Decisions

Hausman et al v. Holland America Line-USA et al, 2015, No. 2:2013cv00937 – Document 270 (W.D. Wash. 2015)

On summary judgment, Hon. Judge Barbara Rothstein held: (1) joint and several liability applies to personal injury action for injured cruise ship passenger under Federal Maritime Law; and (2) defendants were precluded from apportioning fault to a third party where defendants failed to present evidence during discovery that a third party was at-fault. The case was tried to a jury verdict by Rick Friedman and David Roosa and settled for a confidential amount.

Fresh Start Subs Co. v. Hartford Financial Services (W.D. Wash. 2015)

Remanding case to State Court after defendant Hartford removed on diversity grounds. Hon. Judge Thomas Zilly ruled that reliance on punitive damages multiplier was too speculative to carry the defendant’s burden of proof as to amount in controversy. The case settled prior to trial for a confidential amount.

Irene v. Seneca, et. al., 337 p.3d 483 (Wyo. 2014)

Reversing the trial court’s dismissal of a negligence action against bail bondsman under Rule 12(b)(6). The trial court ruled that bail bondsman’s act of returning a DUI arrestee to a bar while arrestee was still intoxicated (arrestee subsequently drove drunk again and dragged the Plaintiff for over a mile, nearly killing him) was a “professional act” and thus subject to Wyoming’s two year statute of limitations under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-3-107. The Wyoming supreme court reversed the ruling and remanded for trial on the merits.

Education

Seattle University School of Law, J.D., 2012

Ohio State University, B.S., B.A., 2001