David Clay Washington joined Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai, LLP in July 2019 and became a partner in April 2023. Mr. Washington represents plaintiffs in civil rights proceedings in state court, federal court, and arbitration proceedings. He has extensive experience in all stages of litigation, from pre-litigation negotiations through discovery, trial, and appeal.
Mr. Washington has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict, all of which resulted in liability findings in favor of his clients. Most recently, in March 2025, Mr. Washington obtained a $6 million jury verdict in high-profile police shooting case: Peck v. County of Orange. Mr. Washington has also achieved numerous favorable multimillion-dollar settlements in prison conditions, police misconduct, racial, disability, and employment discrimination cases. Some recent non-confidential examples include a 2025 $2.85 million settlement regarding the nonfatal shooting of an unhoused man in Venice Beach, a 2024 $1.85 million settlement regarding the handcuffing and restraint of a student with disabilities in Moreno Valley, a 2024 stipulated permanent injunction requiring the implementation of a comprehensive system to protect the rights of nearly 5,000 students with disabilities, and a 2024 $1.5 million settlement regarding an injury arising from a foam round fired at a protester. Mr. Washington has also obtained numerous confidential multimillion-dollar settlements in lawsuits against corporations and in employment matters. He has been named to the Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers Rising Stars lists for three consecutive years, in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Mr. Washington is admitted to practice in California and is an inactive member of the Alabama Bar. He has tried cases in both states. He is also admitted to practice in California’s and Alabama’s federal district courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Washington is a member of the National Lawyers’ Guild, the American Association for Justice, and the California Employment Lawyers’ Association.
Prior to joining Hadsell Stormer, Mr. Washington was a Civil Rights Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where he litigated Braggs v. Dunn (now Braggs v. Hamm), a system-wide class action lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections that resulted in numerous federal rulings finding persistent and systemic constitutional violations in Alabama's state prisons. Before his fellowship, Mr. Washington clerked for the Honorable Carmen Consuelo Cerezo of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Before his clerkship, Mr. Washington worked as a fellow at the Federal Defenders of San Diego.
Mr. Washington graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2015, where he was a Toll Public Interest Scholar and a Bernard & Zelda Wolfman Fellow. While in law school, Mr. Washington served as Executive Editor of the Journal of Law and Social Change. Mr. Washington also was on the executive boards of two student-run pro bono projects: Penn Law’s Immigrant Rights Project and Prisoner Education & Advocacy Project. He also founded a student group: Penn Law Defenders of the Accused, Detained, and Incarcerated. During law school, Mr. Washington volunteered at Ezperanza Immigration Legal Services of Philadelphia, the Criminal Record Expungement Project, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Before law school, Mr. Washington served in the United States Peace Corps in Honduras and worked as a youth mental health counselor in the Bay Area. Mr. Washington was born and raised in rural North Florida and received his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2009.
Education
- J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School
- B.A., University of Florida
Admissions
