Dave Knotts has been a trial attorney for over twenty five years, and has a wide ranging civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice. Dave's practice includes insurance defense, construction defect, personal injury, product liability, professional liability, employment claims, fire losses, property damage and coverage. In addition to handling high exposure litigation, Dave regularly provides his clients with risk assessment, counseling concerning lawsuit prevention, and advice concerning early case resolution . His practice extends throughout Idaho and into neighboring jurisdictions. He has argued appeals before the Idaho Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Dave grew up in North Carolina. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in 1977 with honors and highest distinction, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received the Listenfelt scholarship as the outstanding senior in the History Department. After graduation, Dave worked for several years as a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park. Dave then earned a masters degree at the University of North Carolina prior to entering law school at the University of Oregon. At the University of Oregon, Dave received an Alumni Scholarship for academic excellence and a Booth Fellowship for public service. During law school, Dave was Co-director of the Land, Air and Water Student Environmental Law Group, and he received an environmental law certificate. Dave graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1985 with honors and was awarded Order of the Coif. After law school, Dave served a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Stephen Bistline of the Idaho Supreme Court.
In 1987, following his judicial clerkship, Dave began a varied civil litigation practice primarily focused on personal injuries, construction defect claims, product liability claims, commercial disputes, fire losses, and insurance coverage. In 1998, he was one of the founding partners of the firm now named Carey Perkins LLP. He practices in the Boise office and is a member of the firm's management committee.
Dave has been selected as a Mountain States Super Lawyer, signifying that he ranks among the top five percent of lawyers in Idaho practicing in construction litigation. He also was selected by Martindale-Hubbell and American Lawyer Media as a "Top Rated Lawyer" in Idaho in the areas of construction litigation and transportation law. He has been chosen as a Member of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers. He is rated by his peers as AV (" preeminent ") in Martindale-Hubbell. Dave is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and the author of "Valuing Damages in Personal Injury Actions Awarded for Gratuitously Rendering Nursing and Medical Care," 49 A.L.R.5th 685 (1997).
In his spare time Dave is an avid triathlete. He has been named as either All American or Honorable Mention All American by the United States of America Triathlon Association every year since 2005, and has competed in multiple world championship events.
