David S. Gaines, Jr. is a seasoned trial attorney focusing on complex litigation, especially matters involving corporate and municipal liability. As counsel for some of the largest businesses and municipal entities in central Pennsylvania, David has extensive trial experience on issues ranging from medical malpractice defense, to business criminal defense, to employment discrimination and wage payment claims. David is an active member of the council of the municipal law section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, for which he participates in efforts aimed at educating and training municipal solicitors across Pennsylvania. David is a current “Super Lawyer,” a peer-nomination process aimed at identifying the top 5% of lawyers, and he has won other awards from outlets such as the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. David is a multi-year member of the board of governors of the Centre County Bar Association. 

David arrived at Miller, Kistler & Campbell after completing positions with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Honorable Reggie B. Walton. For the Department of Justice, David concentrated on civil rights litigation involving the United States government. For Judge Walton, David worked on matters pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, especially constitutional claims. In both positions, David was involved in many cases garnering national media attention.

David received multiple recognitions while studying at the American University, Washington College of Law. In particular, David received book awards, which denote the student with the highest grade, in four separate classes, including constitutional law and his third-year legal clinic, for which David successfully represented individuals in civil rights matters before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. David also served as note and comment editor for the Administrative Law Review, the American Bar Association’s legal journal for administrative law topics, and received the Outstanding Executive Board Member award for his participation in his school’s moot court activities.

Prior to attending law school, David obtained a master’s degree in Geography, which focused on urban planning topics. David previously received a bachelor’s degree in the same field. David obtained a perfect 4.0 grade point average in his master’s studies and similarly obtained perfect scores across six of his eight semesters of undergraduate studies, thus graduating with high honors.

David is an active member of the State College community. Among other activities, he serves on the board of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (Arts Fest) and is a past chair of the board of the Centre County United Way. In his spare time, David enjoys spending time with his family and spending time outdoors. David is also an enthusiastic Penn State basketball fan, who feels strongly that Penn State will, some day, hopefully sooner rather than later, become a basketball school.