WilmerHale

Commercial Litigation; Higher Education; Government and Regulatory Litigation; Human Rights; International Litigation; International Arbitration; Litigation; Trials

Partner
Partner-in-Charge, Washington DC Office

David W. Bowker is the partner-in-charge of the firm’s Washington DC office and chair of the International Litigation practice. He is a nationally renowned litigator with nearly 25 years’ experience representing corporate clients, nonprofits, museums, universities, individuals, international organizations, governments, and government officials in a wide range of high-stakes commercial and governmental disputes before the US Supreme Court, US Courts of Appeals, US District Courts, US state courts, and international tribunals.

In 2024, Mr. Bowker was awarded Attorney-of-the-Year for Washington DC, by The National Law Journal. He has also been named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation, selected for inclusion in the “500 Global Litigation Lawyers” by Lawdragon, selected by his peers as a leading appellate lawyer in Best Lawyers in America, and honored as a “Litigation Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal.

Mr. Bowker teaches international law and litigation as an adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He serves as a member of the US Department of State Advisory Committee on Private International Law, a member of the American Law Institute, an Adviser to the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, a board member of the nonprofit Hostage US, a member of the American Bar Association, a member of the American Bar Foundation, and a 25-year member and former Vice President of the American Society of International Law. He is a co-author of Ristau’s International Judicial Assistance: A Practitioner’s Guide to International Civil and Commercial Litigation (2d ed. 2021, Oxford University Press and the International Law Institute).

Before joining the firm, Mr. Bowker served as the Attorney-Adviser for the Law of Armed Conflict in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the US Department of State. He also served on the counterterrorism staff at the National Security Council.

Memberships: US Dept. of State Advisory Committee, Private International Law American Law Institute Hostage US, Board member American Bar Association American Bar Foundation American Society of International Law

Bar Admissions: District of Columbia New York California US District Court for the Eastern District of New York

University of California, Berkeley School of Law, J.D. (1998)

Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, M.A.L.D. (1998)

University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. (1993)