The common thread connecting all these cases is David’s commitment to the rights and dignity of individuals against the unjust actions of the powerful.
David began practicing in the NEK as a Public Defender in August, 1983. He opened the firm, now known as Sleigh Law, in 1991. Over the last 38 years, he’s tried hundreds of jury cases, civil and criminal, in the Courts of several States and Federal Districts. Those trials include numerous acquittals in cases involving homicide, sexual assault, domestic assault and DWI.
Notably, his DWI advocacy has forced the State to gain accreditation for its Blood/Breath alcohol program, revealed faulty scientific practices of the Lab, and compelled the Lab to change the way it expresses breath alcohol concentration in a way more favorable to the accused.
His successes at the Vermont Supreme Court have included rulings that expanded an accused’s rights against self-incrimination, unlawful search and unreasonable seizure beyond criminal cases to include civil cases.
Recently, he persuaded the Court to recognize a private right of action for patients to sue health providers for breach of confidentiality. Nationally, he and his friend and former college baseball teammate, Peter Coladacci, helped create a right of action for prisoners to sue prison doctors for medical malpractice.
For over 10 years, he and Robert Gensburg, advocated for Guantanamo Bay detainee, Abdul Zahir, finally pressuring the United States to admit that imprisonment of Mr. Zahir was unjustified and predicated upon mistaken identity.