David J. Ellen has specialized in litigation placement since 2000.  Prior to launching Litigation Search in 2010, David worked for one of NYC’s longest-standing legal recruiting companies.


David received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was Lead Articles Editor of The Tax Lawyer, and his B.A., magna cum laude in English, from New York University.  Following law school, he practiced with a leading New York City antitrust class-action firm.  David hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

David J. Ellen, owner and operator of Litigation Search, focuses exclusively on counseling and placing top-caliber litigation associates & sitting law clerks.


He provides candidates with a comprehensive survey of the lateral market – including non-publicized searches – and exceptionally detailed insight into targets.


David assists litigators in meeting all interests and big-ticket objectives, including those relating to:

• work/life balance;
• partnership potential;
• geographic relocation;
• frontline quotient of work;
• office type (elite boutique, satellite, large NYC-based);
• springboard potential (U.S. Attorney’s Office & in-house sector); and
• area of focus (media/soft-IP, white-collar criminal defense, plaintiff class-action, antitrust, cybersecurity, international arbitration, L&E, real estate, products liability, non-financial product).