I was born and raised in Robinson Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Montour High School in 1980. I spent my freshman year of college at NC State, then transferred to Penn State, where I graduated in 1984 with an Aerospace Engineering degree. (I am a long-time Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and Nittany Lions fan.)

 

I moved to the Washington, DC area in August 1980 to work at the Naval Ordnance Station (now known as the Naval Support Facility, Indian Head). As a project engineer, I was involved with Defense Department oversight of the design, testing and production of CAD’s (cartridge actuated explosive devices) for Navy weapons systems, including the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, the Sea Water Activated Parachute Release System, and the MK50 Torpedo. (I was quite proud, and relieved, when in 1991, I sat in an Irish Pub in Pittsburgh and watched on cable news the Tomahawk cruise missiles and fighter plane invasion of Iraq at the start of Operation Desert Storm, and later learned that the success rate of the Tomahawk Cruise Missile was near 100%.)

 

In 1988, after many hours of watching and reading about the inner workings of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court, I developed an interest in the law. In August 1988, I moved back to Pittsburgh to attend the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. I graduated with my Juris Doctorate degree in 1991 and took a job with Bonya Gazza & DeGory, a small firm (5 - 7 lawyers) in Indiana, Pennsylvania. I practiced there as an associate and then a partner for the next 30 years. We were a general practice / corporate law firm, with an emphasis in energy law (coal, oil and gas) and related real estate and business matters. (Because we were in a mid-sized town, we in effect did just about everything civil related that involved businesses and individuals.) When I started working with Bonya Gazza & DeGory, I was the youngest attorney by 10 years, and I could not have asked for a better group of attorneys from whom to learn and be mentored. We all worked together as a team for the good of our clients and the firm, became like family, and had a perfect work-life balance.

 

In 1993, I married Helen McEachen, a Navy “brat” who had settled with her family  in Annapolis, Maryland.  Helen moved to Indiana, PA where we raised our three wonderful children - Mary is a University of Pittsburgh graduate, and is a nurse based out of Jacksonville, Florida; Dave II, is a Georgia Tech graduate and works in tech in northern California; and Grace is a graduate of University of South Carolina (Bachelor’s Degree) and University of Georgia (Master’s Degree), and is an accountant in the Atlanta area.

 

In 2020, as empty-nesters, Helen and I moved to the Lake Oconee, Georgia area and have been here since. I worked with the Jay Dell law firm until July, 2024, when I began my own practice.