RESUME OF DAVID CHARLES MASSELLI
David Charles Masselli
David Charles Masselli, P.C.
P.O.Box 7620
(703) 741-0402
(703) 741-0979 (fax)
masselli@mllaw.com
Professional Experience:
David Charles Masselli, P.C.
2000- Present
Litigation:
Trade Secret Litigation. Represented
competitor .
Successfully defeated motions for injunctive relief and preserved rights of
client to long-term military
contract.
Foreign Patent Rights: Represented French corporation which was
threatened with patent infringement suit for importing
products it had sold in
Forum
Shopping Defense. Represented
Creditor’s Rights. Represented former owners of company which went into bankruptcy. Was
able to force sale of business to clients on highly favorable terms.
Masselli & Lane, P.C.,
1987 - 2000
Litigation:
Litigation in state and federal courts focusing on intellectual property, commercial disputes and environmental litigation.
Internet Copyright and Fair Use. Represented InterNet users in cases involving conflicts between copyright protection and free speech. Religious Technology Center v. Lerma, 40 U.S.P.Q.2d 1569 (E.D.Va 1996)
Patent Litigation. Secured reversal of thirteen million dollar judgment against foreign manufacturer for violation of patent and trade rights. TF Purifiner v. Fu Sheng Indus., Inc. , 690 So.2d 617 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
Plant Varieties Protection Act. Represented coalition of environmental and farming organizations on litigation concerning scope of Plant Varieties Protection Act. Asgrow Seed Co. V. Winterboer, 115 S.Ct 788 (1995)
Fair Use. Represented a number of prominent political satirists and performers including Mark Russell and the Capitol Steps before the Supreme Court in Luther R. Campbell aka Luke Skywalker et al. v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 114 S.Ct. 1164 (1994) a case that set the ground rules for claiming that satire and parody were a Afair use@ under the Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
Non-litigation:
Representation of small business, including tax planning. Clients include consulting firms, and health maintenance organizations.
Lead counsel for over 300 investors who were subject to potential tax penalties in excess of $45 million stemming from their investment in failed tax shelter. Negotiated global settlement with IRS in which investors retained tax credits and bulk of depreciation despite the fact that project was never completed or placed in service.
Directed tax and regulatory aspects of complex merger of three international environmental organizations.
Law Office of David Charles Masselli,
1981-1987
Chief Litigator, Environmental law firm which represented major national and regional environmental groups. Key clients included Friends of the Earth, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Powder River Basin Resource Council and National Wildlife Federation. Focus, federal coal leasing, energy siting and synthetic fuels.
Major Accomplishments:
Berklund Preference Right Leasing Case. Lead counsel for coalition of environmental groups which sued the Department of the Interior over the granting of federal coal preference right lease applications to billions of tons of coal without adequate environmental review. Forced settlement under which more than two hundred leases granted before enactment of NEPA and other major federal environmental legislation were reviewed and subjected to mandatory environmental mitigation requirements. As a result of this review, more than a hundred leases, many in environmentally sensitive areas such as Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the Kaiparowits Plateau in Utah and western Montana were canceled; all others were subjected to new and rigorous environmental review before any development was allowed.
Hampshire Siting Litigation. Represented environmental groups and citizens in Wyoming opposed to the proposed Hampshire Synthetic Fuel Plant in Gillette Wyoming. At months long hearing before the Wyoming Industrial Siting Board forced plant to adopt significant environmental mitigation processes over the strenuous opposition of the developer. Plant was eventually abandoned.
Abolition of Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Coordinated lobbying effort of western environmental groups which lead to the abolition of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation which had been authorized to spend over $80 billion on wasteful and environmentally hazardous coal and shale synfuels technologies. Prior to repeal of SFC legislation, led lobbying, public relations and litigation efforts which blocked almost all SFC efforts to fund specific synfuels plants.
Powder River Basin Coal Scandal. Brought to public attention, serious allegations that James Watt sale of billions of tons of federal coal at firesale prices violated federal laws governing leasing of resources. As a result of news coverage generated by our investigations, President Reagan appointed the Linowes Commission which issued a report strongly criticizing the actions of the Department of the Interior, based largely on material presented to them in hearings. This marked the end to Watt's attempts to radically alter the way in which mineral resources were handled.
Friends of the Earth
1978 - 1980
Energy Policy Director for national environmental group. Directed lobbying efforts on broad range of energy matters from the Washington Office.
Major Accomplishments:
Energy Mobilization Board. Coordinated massive environmental lobbying effort which successfully defeated President Carter's misguided effort to establish an agency which could override environmental laws to build energy projects.
Energy subsidies and pricing. Led several successful lobbying efforts to curb energy subsidies and to establish rational pricing which would provide incentive to environmentally progressive energy use policies.
Clean Air legislation. Led successful lobbying campaign which derailed efforts to allow building of coal-fired power plants in eastern cities such as New York.
Common Cause
1975-1978
Issue Development Staff. Formulated policies for national citizens lobby on energy policy, government ethics and national security.
Major Accomplishments:
Department of Energy Legislation. Developed public interest positions included in legislation establishing federal Department of Energy: conflict of interest, separating energy development responsibilities of DOE from land management responsibilities of the Department of the Interior, establishment of branches of DOE devoted to environmental protection and competition.
Energy Pricing. Helped develop a consensus position among public interest groups in favor of rational energy pricing. Key result of this was enactment of legislation deregulating natural gas which not only encouraged the use of this environmentally benign fuel, but also had the result of lowering prices and increasing availability.
Public Citizen Health Litigation Group
1973-1975
Staff Attorney. Represented Nader organization before the Food and Drug Administration and the newly formed Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC").
Fireworks Regulation. Represented Public Citizen and coalition of public health organizations in lengthy trial type rulemaking which resulted in significant strengthening of safety standards governing fireworks.
Vinyl Chloride. As part of Public Citizen effort in response to scientific finding that this common industrial product was a carcinogen, petitioned for ban on use in consumer products before the CPSC. Also secured significantly increased safety regulation of product use in industrial processes in regulatory proceedings before the Department of Transportation and Coast Guard.
Education:
Dartmouth College, A.B. 1970, Government and Philosophy, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
Yale Law School, J.D. 1973
Publications:
"Obstructionism Reconsidered, or In Defense of Nimby and LuLu," in Dysart and Clawson, ed. Managing Public Lands in the Public Interest, Praeger, 1988.
Bar: