About David R.
David R. Fox built a career that moves between courtroom argument and careful appellate writing. He began his academic path at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a B.A. in history and philosophy, graduating with Highest Distinction. He then attended The George Washington University Law School, receiving his J.D. in 2012.
Early in his legal career, Fox pursued federal clerkships that shaped his approach to appellate work. He served as a law clerk to Judge David J. Barron on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He later clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017. Those clerkships placed him inside the circuits and the Supreme Court, exposing him to both procedural and substantive questions at high levels of the federal judiciary.
After his clerkships, Fox moved into private practice. He worked as a litigation associate at Goodwin beginning in 2015, where he handled civil litigation matters and developed practical courtroom experience. In 2018 he joined Jones Day as an associate in the Issues & Appeals group. That role has involved drafting appellate briefs and participating in appellate oral arguments, often on behalf of corporate and institutional clients.
Fox is admitted in multiple forums. He holds admission in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts. He is also admitted to practice before several federal appellate courts, including the First, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits, and he is admitted in the U.S. District Courts for the District of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Those admissions reflect a practice that spans both state and federal appeals, and they allow him to move cases through several layers of the federal system.
Colleagues describe his work as precise and grounded in close reading of precedent. He writes briefs that track doctrinal lines and advance arguments crafted for appellate judges. He participates in the preparation of oral argument and in the strategic choices teams must make when weighing issues for certiorari or en banc review.
Outside pleadings and argument, Fox’s background in history and philosophy informs a methodical approach to legal questions. He tends to emphasize structure and precedent in his analyses, placing statutory and constitutional claims into broader doctrinal contexts. He has worked on appeals that raise both procedural and substantive issues in civil litigation.
He practices at Jones Day and continues to handle appellate matters and complex civil cases across state and federal courts. His current practice centers on appellate litigation and complex civil matters.
