David A. Silva

DAVID SILVA defends companies and their directors, officers, and employees in complex criminal and civil investigations, environmental government enforcement actions, and white collar matters. David frequently represents clients in issues arising out of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as the False Claims Act, financial reporting misstatements, regulatory fraud, environmental violations, and employee misconduct. David has considerable experience representing clients in the pharmaceutical, energy, hospitality, and technology industries, as well as cross-sector matters involving environmental impact and remediation concerns.

David has led over 200 multinational investigations throughout Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, and has presented findings to various federal and state agencies, including the DOJ, SEC, FBI, and EPA, as well as foreign government regulators, including the German Office of the Federal Prosecutor (Bundesanwaltschaft) and the Mexican Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS). Having lived abroad in France, Spain, Taiwan, and China, David is multilingual and often conducts investigations in both Spanish and French. He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and frequently advises clients on compliance, ethics, and data privacy matters. He has also successfully defended over a dozen cases in federal and state courts as lead counsel. David also currently serves as an adjunct lecturer at SMU Dedman School of Law, teaching a semester-long upper-level course on Internal Investigations.

David has been recognized by Legal 500 Latin America for his Compliance and Investigations experience (2024–2026) and selected for the Dallas Business Journal’s 2025 “40 Under 40” list. He was named to the Latinvex 2025 “Latin America’s Rising Legal Stars” list and to the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s 2023 “40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40” list. He was also recognized by the national Latino Leaders publication as a 2021 “Latino Lawyers to Keep on the Watch,” and by D Magazine as one of Dallas’s 2022 “Best Lawyers Under 40.” 

David earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was the Associate Marden Competition Editor of the Moot Court Board. Prior to law school, he graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a B.A. in International Relations, Romance Languages (Spanish and French), and a minor in East Asian Studies (Mandarin).

David formerly served as the Dallas co-chair of Sidley’s Inclusion Committee.

• Representation of a global pharmaceutical company in nearly 150 separate anti-corruption, ethics, and compliance investigations in Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa.
• Investigation and defense of a U.S. public company before the DOJ and SEC in relation to potential FCPA violations in several Latin American jurisdictions.
• Representation of a multinational retailer in an internal investigation regarding allegations of FCPA violations in Latin America and Asia in response to parallel DOJ and SEC investigations.
• Representation of a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company in response to whistleblower allegations of violations of the FCPA, vendor fraud, and Mexico’s COFEPRIS sanitary regulations.
• Representation of a private equity-backed auto parts distributor in response to alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.
• Investigation of allegations of document destruction and spoliation arising out of an internal investigation into the creation and deployment of illicit diesel emissions testing software in violation of the Clean Air Act.
• Investigation and defense of a privately held Mexican pharmaceutical company following allegations of corruption received by U.S.-based distribution partner with contractual audit rights.
• Representation of the CEO of a multinational metals and mining corporation in response to an SEC investigation, including preparation of Wells Submission and defense in follow-on enforcement action.
• Representation of the audit committee of a private equity-backed cybersecurity company in an internal investigation of possible False Claims Act violations, vendor fraud, and employee misconduct.
• Representation of Texas Pacific Land Trust in its proxy contest defense against SoftVest and Horizon Kinetics.
• Representation of The Human Rights Campaign and Human Rights Campaign Foundation to assist in an internal investigation related to the inclusion of the organizations’ president, Alphonso David, in the New York Attorney General’s report of the investigation of Governor Andrew Cuomo.
• Successful defense and dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed against a privately held retailer for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• Representation of a U.S.-based telecom holding company in an investigation of ethics code violations within Argentine subsidiary.
• Defense of a national credit-reporting agency, as lead counsel, in over a dozen federal lawsuits filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including the successful dismissal or summary judgment of seven actions.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley

• Co-Leader, Sidley eDiscovery Taskforce
• Member, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

David also is involved in local and international pro bono efforts. He has worked with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program to successfully represent clients in Section 8 housing cases, property disputes, and criminal misdemeanors, and has worked with Lawyers Without Borders and the U.S. State Department to research and advise on human rights abuses in Latin America. He has devoted hundreds of hours of pro bono representation to migrant families and children in asylum cases, including a trial victory for a Guatemalan mother and son, as well as the ongoing representation of a gay affirmative asylum applicant from Angola seeking to escape Government-sanctioned abuse and torture resulting from his sexual orientation.