David F. McGowan

B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Political Science, 1986

J.D., Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley, 1990

David McGowan is the Lyle L. Jones Professor of Competition and Innovation Law and the Director of the Center on Intellectual Property Law and Markets at the University of San Diego School of Law. He has experience in several fields, ranging from antitrust and intellectual property litigation to securities and corporate governance litigation. He was one of the earliest analysts of the law and economics of open source software and served as co-counsel in the first case affirming the enforceability of an open-source license, in which he argued and obtained summary judgment for the plaintiff.

Dave also focuses on legal ethics and professional liability issues. He has served as an expert witness on ethics issues and advises lawyers on ethics problems. He is the former co-chair of the San Diego County Bar Association Legal Ethics Committee and the author of Developing Judgment About Practicing Law, an ethics casebook published by West.

Dave began his career as a clerk to the Hon. A. Raymond Randolph of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then worked at Skadden before moving to Howard, Rice, where he became a director shortly before moving to teaching.

Dave knew Mark, Michael, Ragesh, and Daralyn in law school. Ragesh introduced Dave to Dave’s spouse, Miranda. Dave later repaid the favor by introducing Joe to the group. Dave spends his spare time cycling, chasing his son Benjamin around the beaches of San Diego, and listening to Jussi Bjorling, Victoria de los Angeles, Sam Cooke, and Waylon Jennings.

Selected Publications