Meet our People

David works with clients on a range of commercial intellectual property, technology and consumer law matters and has a leading trade promotions and marketing law practice.

David has broad experience in intellectual property and technology law. He has a particular focus on:

• Consumer law (misleading conduct; consumer warranties; product safety; unfair terms).
• Information technology and telecommunications (software and hardware procurement; services agreements; regulatory issues; corporate governance; software licensing).
• Intellectual property (IP licensing; sale of IP assets; due diligence; infringement and ‘freedom to operate’ advice; confidentiality agreements; copyright advice; trade mark filings).
• Marketing, media and consumer goods (social media; spam law; advertising standards and clearances; trade promotions; loyalty programs; charitable fundraising; food labelling).
• Privacy law (compliance audits; risk management for offshoring of data; data breaches; privacy complaints; privacy contractual disputes).

His clients include top Australian and international companies across various industries. He is regularly called upon to write articles and present at seminars and conferences.

“David Smith is deeply knowledgeable, responsive, and precise” – client testimonial, Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 Guide.

Since 2014, each year David has been nominated and selected as a Best Lawyer in the areas of Gaming Law, Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law and Privacy and Data Security Law. In the 2018 edition of Best Lawyers, David was awarded Lawyer of the Year – Privacy and Data Security Law in Victoria.

His professional affiliations include membership of the Victorian Society for Computers and the Law and the International Association of Privacy Professionals. David is a past director of ASX-listed Environmental Clean Technologies Ltd and is a past-President of the Bicycle Network, Australia’s representative body for transport and recreational cycling.

Some examples of David’s recent experience include:

• Advising a major telecommunications company on consumer law issues.
• Advising listed gambling businesses on privacy law matters.
• Advising major consumer brand owners on misleading and deceptive conduct, product warranties, food labelling and labelling of other products.
• Assisting an international luxury brand to establish e-commerce sales in Australia.
• Establishing privacy and spam law compliance programs for clients and assisting clients to respond to data breaches.
• Advising on hundreds of marketing and promotional campaigns for consumer brands.