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David E. Kovel

Managing Partner

  • New York
  • 250 Park Avenue
    Suite 820
    New York, NY 10177
  • 212.699.1149
Headshot photo of David E. Kovel
Biography
David E. Kovel is co-managing partner of the firm and is based in our New York office. A former commodities trader, he has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in groundbreaking whistleblower, commodities, antitrust, securities, and corporate governance matters, including on appeal. His work in these areas, which often deals with fraud related to complex financial instruments, continues to set precedents both in terms of the law and size of settlements.
Amongst other recent activities, in 2021, Mr. Kovel obtained the then-largest publicly announced single whistleblower award arising under the Dodd-Frank and IRS whistleblower programs on behalf of a Deutsche Bank whistleblower.  He has also successfully worked on appeals reversing lower court rulings that dismissed a large number of banks in a case alleging manipulation of LIBOR and separately obtained a reversal on appeal in a case alleging manipulation of metal commodities by JP Morgan.  

Mr. Kovel is the head of the litigation section of the New York City Bar Association Committee on Futures and Derivatives Regulation and is a former member of the New York City Bar Association Antitrust Committee. Prior to joining KM, Mr. Kovel practiced at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. He speaks Spanish and at one time played professional soccer in Nicaragua.
 
  • Yale University (B.A.)
  • Columbia University School of Law (J.D.)
  • Columbia University Graduate School of Business (M.B.A.)
  • New York State Bar
  • Connecticut State Bar
  • United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, and D.C. Circuits
  • Chambers Spotlight 2024 award

Experience

Some of Mr. Kovel’s public whistleblower work includes:
  • Represented the whistleblower who received nearly $200 million, the largest CFTC whistleblower award ever and the second largest whistleblower award arising under the Dodd-Frank and IRS whistleblower programs (CFTC WB Award No. 21-WB-07). The information the whistleblower provided catalyzed investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. federal regulator, and a foreign regulator into the manipulation of crucial financial benchmarks used by global banks as the basis for the pricing of fixed income securities and derivative products. The CFTC initially rejected the whistleblower’s award application, but Mr. Kovel’s advocacy resulted in a successful appeal for the client.
  • Obtained an $8.5 million award – the largest-ever settlement in a declined New York State False Claims Act case – for a whistleblower in Anonymous, et ano. v. Moody's Corporation, et al., a groundbreaking case against Moody's and others under the New York State False Claims Act. The litigation brought to light a multi-year, multimillion-dollar tax fraud scheme executed by Moody’s and its consultants wherein the company repeatedly underpaid city and state taxes by maintaining a sham insurance corporation as a subsidiary. Mr. Kovel was successful both before the trial court as well as on appeal before the New York City First Department.
  • Representation of a whistleblower who alleges that waste-to-energy plant operator Covanta violated environmental regulations by creating hazardous ash as a by-product of the burning of garbage from multiple Long Island towns in State of New York v. Covanta Hempstead Company et al. The case has been brought on behalf of New York State, certain local governments on Long Island, and the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Over the course of a decade, these local governments paid $890 million to Covanta to take their communities’ garbage in an environmentally safe way. As alleged, Covanta did not, in fact, abide by the necessary protocols to keep the ash that was dumped in the Brookhaven landfill from being hazardous.
Some of Mr. Kovel’s confidential ongoing and resolved whistleblower work includes:
  • Commodities
  • Securities
  • Procurement fraud
  • Medical Device/Pharmaceutical fraud
Some of Mr. Kovel’s appellate work includes:
 
  • Achieved reversal by the Second Circuit under antitrust pleading standards in Wacker v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on behalf of traders of silver futures, alleged victims of market manipulation. The case preceded a related Department of Justice criminal investigation into J.P. Morgan that resulted in an over-$920 million criminal penalty, the then-largest amount of monetary relief ever imposed by the CFTC.
  • Mr. Kovel was involved in various appeals before the Second Circuit on pleading standards, jurisdiction, class certification, and other matters stemming from the high-profile In re Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, including Gelboim v. Credit Suisse Group AG, alleging the fixing of prices of the LIBOR benchmark interest rate.
  • Obtained an $8.5 million award – the largest-ever settlement in a declined New York State False Claims Act case – for a whistleblower in Anonymous, et ano. v. Moody's Corporation, et al., a groundbreaking case against Moody's and others under the New York State False Claims Act. The litigation brought to light a multi-year, multimillion-dollar tax fraud scheme executed by Moody’s and its consultants wherein the company repeatedly underpaid city and state taxes by maintaining a sham insurance corporation as a subsidiary. Mr. Kovel was successful both before the trial court as well as on appeal before the New York City First Department.
  • Argued an appeal before the Second Circuit on behalf of natural gas futures traders in Anastasio v. Total Gas & Power North America alleging market manipulation.
Some of Mr. Kovel’s commodities work includes:
 
  • Court-appointed co-liaison counsel for all class actions in the multi-district litigation and co-lead counsel for exchange-based class in the high-profile In re Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation and FTC Capital GMBH et al. v. Credit Suisse Group AG et al. alleging the fixing of prices of a benchmark interest rate.  The case resulted in settlements totaling $190.45 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.
  • Representation of exchange-based investors in Shak v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and related cases alleging monopolization and manipulation of the silver futures market in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws. The parties successfully reached a private settlement. Mr. Kovel and the firm obtained a favorable appeal decision at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals under antitrust laws. The case preceded a related Department of Justice criminal investigation into J.P. Morgan that resulted in an over-$920 million criminal penalty, the then-largest amount of monetary relief ever imposed by the CFTC.
  • Interim co-lead counsel of a class led by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General, the New Mexico State Investment Council, the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board in In re Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litigation alleging that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.
  • Selected by the court as co-lead counsel in In re J.P. Morgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation, alleging that defendants manipulated U.S. Treasury futures for more than a decade and that this conduct contributed to the bank’s recent $920 million settlement with the DOJ, CFTC, and SEC. The case resulted in a settlement of $15.7 million.
  • Co-class counsel on behalf of a certified class of class of exchange-based investors in Dennis v. The Andersons, Inc. et al. alleging monopolization and manipulation of Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures contracts in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws.
  • Interim co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors in In re Deutsche Bank Spoofing Litigation alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures and Eurodollar futures and options by a major bank.
  • Court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel in In re Bank of Nova Scotia Spoofing Litigation alleging manipulation of precious metals futures and options by a major bank. The case resulted in a settlement of $6.6 million.
  • Court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel in In re Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation on behalf of a putative class of cattle producers and cattle futures and options traders, alleging that the “Big 4” meatpacking firms conspired to suppress prices for fed cattle and manipulate live cattle futures and options prices. The case has already resulted in a $83.5 million settlement with one of the defendants.
  • Co-lead counsel in In re Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Antitrust and Patent Litigation and Related Actions, an antitrust class action pertaining to Unocal’s alleged manipulation of the standard-setting process for low-emissions reformulated gasoline in California, which plaintiffs claim caused inflated retail prices. The case resulted in a $48 million settlement for indirect purchasers.
  • Co-lead counsel for a class of propane purchasers in In re BP Propane Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation alleging that defendants monopolized, artificially inflated, and/or otherwise improperly manipulated the price of TET propane in the United States, in violation of state and federal antitrust laws. The case resulted in a $15 million settlement.
  • Acted as part of a leadership group which secured a $13 million settlement for a class of potash purchasers in In re Potash Antitrust Litigation, a case alleging certain suppliers of potash, an ingredient in agricultural fertilizers, fixed prices in violation of the Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
  • Representation of the defendant in CFTC v. Shak, a case brought by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act’s newest provisions for violations of an administrative order in the gold futures market. 
  • Class counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors in In re Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation alleging a scheme by major banks to manipulate the global benchmark price of gold, which harmed traders who transacted in gold futures and options on U.S.-based exchanges. The case resulted in settlements totaling $152 million.
  • Acted as an expert for bankrupt debtor, a purchaser of metals, in In re Exide Technologies opining on the dynamics of plaintiffs’ side representation in antitrust and commodities market cases.
Some of Mr. Kovel’s other antitrust work includes:
 
  • Co-lead counsel on behalf of the Wayne County Pension Fund in In re Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings Antitrust Litigation alleging the raising and fixing of prices in the market for ductile iron pipe fittings. The case resulted in a settlement of $4.1 million.
  • Lead counsel to various classes of indirect purchasers in connection with major antitrust proceedings against Microsoft. The litigations resulted in settlement totaling nearly a billion dollars for consumers in the states of New York, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Minnesota (where the litigation proceeded to trial).
  • Representation of the City of New York against GlaxoSmithKline in The City of New York v. GlaxoSmithKline PLC and SmithKline Beecham Corporation to recover overcharges incurred in connection with the City's purchases for Paxil. The case alleged violations of the federal and state antitrust laws and fraudulent and deceptive conduct before the U.S. Patent Trademark Office and the United States Food and Drug Administration. The case resulted in a recovery of over $1 million for the City Medicaid Program.
Some of Mr. Kovel’s corporate governance work includes:
 
  • Lead counsel in In re Pfizer Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, a shareholder derivative action. Mr. Kovel and the firm obtained a $75 million award and groundbreaking changes to the Board of Director’s oversight of regulatory matters.
  • Representation of an ad hoc group of shareholders in In re: Intelsat S.A., et al., the Intelsat bankruptcy proceedings, successfully obtaining warrants for the shareholders in a multi-party trial before the bankruptcy court in Virginia.
In addition to his work listed above, Mr. Kovel has an active pro bono practice. He currently serves as General Counsel to the World Jurist Association in a pro bono capacity, and has represented, amongst others: clients in need of housing referred through the office of pro se litigation in the Southern District of New York; whistleblowers in various governmental settings; clients in foreclosure matters; and a Latino soccer association in its efforts organize and obtain a fair proportion of field time from a municipality. 
 

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