Dave earned his BS in 1992 from the University of Iowa and his JD in 2001 from the University of Iowa College of Law. While in law school, Dave was hired by Professor Sandy Boyd as a Research Assistant to help with the formation of the Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center. Through his graduation in 2001, Dave worked as a research assistant for Professor Boyd and the Center. After graduation, he entered private practice and later joined the College of Law as an Adjunct Professor of Law in 2013. Dave rejoined the Center in 2022 as its Associate Director.

While in private practice, Dave focused on art and cultural heritage law; business transactions; estate planning and probate; franchising and distribution; land use and real estate development; museum law; and nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations law. While in practice, Dave earned Martindale-Hubbell’s top “AV” Peer Review Rating and was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© for Franchise Law for 2022 and 2023. He also authored the Iowa section of the American Bar Association’s Franchise Desk Book.

Dave currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the American Bar Association’s Art & Cultural Heritage Law Committee and regularly contributes to its section of the American Bar Association’s Year in Review publication. He is a frequent speaker at colleges and universities, local businesses, museums, and continuing education events on topics including art and cultural heritage law; business formation; estate planning; governance of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations; and museum law. Dave continues to teach as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the College, where he teaches Art, Law, and Ethics; Cultural Property/Heritage; and Art & Entertainment Law.

Dave is active in the local community through volunteering and board service. He presently serves on the boards of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art (Treasurer), Humanities Iowa (President), Iowa Museum Association, Iowa Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (President), Surface Design Association, and YMCA Camp Wapsie (Chair). He previously served on the boards of the Bur Oak Land Trust, Friends of the Animal Center Foundation (President), the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation (President), Legion Arts, the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, and the YMCA of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Area. Dave lives in Iowa City with his wife and one of their three children, with their oldest two children nearby as third-generation students at the University of Iowa.