He has worked in licensing and legal services since 1985. David previously worked as a litigation executive in legal firms and then as a local authority licensing manager.
As a local authority licensing manager, David was authorised to appear in the magistrates’ courts as an advocate and acted as a RIPA authorised person and the council’s RIPA communications data single point of contact, and participated in national policy forums.
As a licensing consultant, David engaged directly with legislative reform processes, including appearing before a live televised parliamentary committee and contributed to consultations by the Law Commission, the Department for Transport and other government departments and agencies.
David’s varied experience means he has an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of practical implementation and licensing laws.
Since 2014 David has been the taxi & PHV licensing consulting editor of Paterson’s Licensing Acts, the leading legal text on licensing. He has also been a contributing author and consulting editorial board member to LexisPSL since 2016, writing many news articles and answering Q&As on a range of licensing subjects.
David was awarded a Certificate of Higher Education in Licensing Law (Cert HE LL) by the University of Warwick in 2008; is a member of the Institute of Licensing (MIoL) and a member of its Taxi Licensing Policy Committee; and a Fellow of the British Institute of Innkeeping (FBII).
During his licensing career, David has been involved in nine High Court cases, including the leading authority on taxi & PHV licensing fees that was determined by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court case that held there was no statutory requirement for private hire operators in England and Wales outside of London to contract with customers.