David Nowakowski
Partner
(602) 932-8917
david@silencelaw.com

David practices in the following areas:

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• EMPLOYMENT - pursuing and defending all types of employment claims

• EDUCATION - helping faculty and students with a broad range of issues 

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• COMMERCIAL - pursuing and defending a broad range of business disputes

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• APPEALS - pursuing and defending against appeals

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• DEFAMATION - pursuing and defending claims for defamation, intentional interference with contract and business expectancy, and invasion of privacy

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​David Nowakowski represents employees in Arizona state and federal court who are seeking to pursue claims against both public and private employers. He pursues all types of employment claims including the following: whistleblower, discrimination and retaliation under Title VII, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Arizona's wage statutes. He has negotiated severance packages for departing employees and executives, including at Fortune 500 companies. He has also defended employees against non-compete and restrictive covenant enforcement, including on an emergency basis.

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He also works for employers, drafting employment agreements and handbooks, counseling management through terminations and internal complaints, answering demand letters, and defending the litigation that follows. That work is not a detour from the rest of his practice—it is where he learned what a company actually weighs when it decides whether to resolve a case, and what the person who signs the check needs to hear before any check is signed. 

David’s education practice covers faculty and students. He has represented several tenured professors, includning through litigation to contest their dismissal. He also represents students in academic and disciplinary proceedings.

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David also handles general civil litigation, including pursuing and defending claims for breach of contract, defamation, and business disputes. 

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David has worked both sides of these cases. He began in 2013 as a law clerk to Judge Michael Burton, a state court judge in St. Louis, then joined a boutique plaintiff-side employment firm. He moved to Phoenix in 2018 and led the employment practice at Gillespie Shields. From 2021 to 2023, he defended hospital systems and surgeons as a medical malpractice defense attorney at Kent & Wittekind—work that showed him how defense counsel and their insurers evaluate and budget a case. He joined Silence Law Group in August 2023.

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David listens. Clients regularly tell him that the listening is what they remember. Most reach him after months of being talked at by people who had authority over them. The first useful thing he will do is find out what happened and what the client needs. He is patient with that conversation and with the negotiation that follows. He has kept cases moving after the employer looked ready to walk away. From there he builds toward trial—which evidence a jury will need to see, which witnesses have to testify, how damages get proved. Most cases settle, but they settle better when the other side can see the file is ready. He became a lawyer to try cases and will take one the distance, but he keeps his attention on what the client actually nets.

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Best Lawyers named David to Ones to Watch® in America in both 2026 and 2027, most recently for Labor and Employment Law – Employee and Litigation – Labor and Employment. Southwest Super Lawyers named him a Rising Star in 2025 and 2026.

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David received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2013 and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy from Santa Clara University. He is licensed to practice law in Arizona and admitted before the United States District Court for the District of Arizona and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is also admitted in Missouri on inactive status, and is a member of the Arizona Employment Lawyers Association. Outside the office he swims, fishes, travels, and reads and writes for pleasure.

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Representative Matters

• Successfully defended against an employer’s emergency injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant and recovered attorney’s fees as the prevailing party.

• Briefed and successfully defended against summary judgment in an FLSA misclassification claim for unpaid overtime.

• Represented the respondent in a complex commercial contract arbitration.

• Negotiated severance packages for employees of Fortune 500 employers.

• Prevailed on appeal before the Missouri Court of Appeals.

• Defended an employer against complaints before the National Labor Relations Board.

• Defended hospital systems and surgeons in multi-party medical malpractice litigation.