David K. Bowsher
Deputy General Counsel
U.S. Department of Commerce

David K. Bowsher serves as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

As Deputy General Counsel, Mr. Bowsher is the principal assistant to the General Counsel and the second-ranking legal officer of the Department of Commerce. His primary responsibility is to assist the General Counsel in overseeing the work of over 400 lawyers in the 14 offices that provide legal advice to all components of the Department.

Prior to the confirmation of the General Counsel, Mr. Bowsher served as Acting General Counsel. Mr. Bowsher previously served as Senior Counsel to the General Counsel, advising on legal and management issues of particular interest and importance to the General Counsel and senior management of the Department.

Before joining the Bush Administration, Mr. Bowsher was an associate in the Corporate and Bankruptcy & Commercial Departments of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, and was elected counsel prior to his departure. While at WilmerHale, he advised clients on mergers and acquisitions (both in and out of bankruptcy) and securities offerings, including initial public offerings, exchange offers and private equity financings. Additionally, he assisted high technology companies in a variety of commercial transactions, including the formation of strategic alliances and in assembling suites of form documents (e.g., license, reseller, OEM, professional services and maintenance agreements) for use by their sales forces.

Mr. Bowsher received his A.B. in English & American literature (with honors) and economics from Brown University in 1995. After teaching English at the Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana, he attended Duke University School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor for the Duke Law Journal, graduating in 1999 with his J.D. (cum laude). He also served as a judicial clerk for Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

A member of the District of Columbia and Georgia bars, Mr. Bowsher grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. He and his wife, Elizabeth A. Holt, currently reside in Washington, D.C.