David H Dickieson

David Dickieson has over 30 years of litigation experience.

Mr. Dickieson came to Schertler & Onorato, LLP in 2007 after spending 17 years heading up the Washington litigation team of a national law firm that grew to over 500 lawyers during Mr. Dickieson’s tenure. In that role, Mr. Dickieson has been on the front line of numerous tax and commercial litigation matters across the United States.

Notably, Mr. Dickieson represented the UBS whistleblower in a complex whistleblower campaign before the IRS, the Department of Justice Tax Division, the SEC and the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, resulting in a $104 million whistleblower reward and a restructuring of the world's cross-border banking system.

The foundation for Mr. Dickieson’s trial work was strengthened by his tenure at the United States Department of Justice Tax Division from 1984 to 1989. In 1988, Mr. Dickieson was the senior attorney assigned to the largest civil tax fraud case up to that time – In re Conti-Commodity Corp. ––involving billions of dollars of phantom commodity trades intended to generate tax losses for commodities speculators. Mr. Dickieson’s successful handling of that tax case led to an offer from a premier national tax law firm in 1989.

Mr. Dickieson’s private litigation practice has spanned virtually all forms of trial work. In 1990, Mr. Dickieson won a record jury verdict of $7.3 million in a case of optometric malpractice. He has represented clients in Bankruptcy Court, Tax Court, state courts, and federal courts. Mr. Dickieson also has substantial experience in alternative dispute resolution through mediation or arbitration procedures where clients can typically get a quicker, less expensive resolution of civil disputes in a private, confidential setting with no publicity or published decision.

Mr. Dickieson has taught continuing legal education courses in the area of legal ethics and he served as the ethics counselor for his previous law firm for over 15 years.

Active in community programs, Mr. Dickieson has served for ten years on the board of directors of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and is also on the advisory board of SquashEmpower – a non-profit organization which combines academic tutoring with coaching in the sport of squash for urban middle school children. Mr. Dickieson has also spearheaded numerous pro bono legal activities including providing teams of lawyers for legal referral clinics for the disadvantaged sponsored by Bread For The City.

Admitted to Practice law in:

• 1980, District of Columbia
• 1981, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• 1985, U.S. Claims Court, now called U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• 1990, Maryland
• 1990, Virginia
• 1990, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
• 1991, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia,
• 1991, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
• 1992, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia
• 1993, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• 1994, U.S. Tax Court
• 2000, Pennsylvania
• 2003, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• 2006, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Virginia

Law School: University of Michigan, J.D., 1979

College: Cornell University, B.A., 1977

Department of Justice experience: Trial Attorney, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1984-1988; Senior Trial Attorney, Office of Special Litigation, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1988-1989.