David Fernandes

David Fernandes joined Baron & Budd’s California office in 2014. He is a shareholder representing clients across the United States in class action litigation involving automobile safety, fraudulent banking practices, and deceptive advertising.

Mr. Fernandes was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He earned his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. During law school, he clerked at the Children’s Law Center of California, which serves as appointed counsel for all abused and neglected children who come under protection of the Los Angeles county juvenile dependency court systems.

Since joining Baron & Budd, Mr. Fernandes has worked on a number of significant class action cases handled by the firm’s Los Angeles office. These cases have yielded more than $16 billion for class members across the country.

Mr. Fernandes worked closely with Baron & Budd shareholder Roland Tellis and co-counsel in various automotive defect class action lawsuits which have secured billions of dollars for consumers across the country, including: (1) the Takata Airbag multidistrict litigation, a multi-state class action involving tens of millions of vehicles equipped with defective airbags; (2) the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions multidistrict litigation, a multi-state class action involving vehicles equipped with software designed to surreptitiously evade emissions regulations; and (3) the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EcoDiesel multidistrict litigation, a multi-state class action involving vehicles equipped with software designed to surreptitiously evade emissions regulations.

Mr. Fernandes was also instrumental in litigating and successfully negotiating, in less than two years, a $423 million non-reversionary common fund settlement on behalf of millions of Wells Fargo customers affected by Wells Fargo’s force-placed automobile collateral protection insurance fraud in In Re Wells Fargo Collateral Protection Insurance Litigation, C.D. Cal. Case No. 8:17-ml-02797-AG-KES. More recently, Mr. Fernandes has been a key contributor to the Plaintiffs’ leadership team In Re: ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Products Liability Litigation, C.D. Cal. Case No. 2:19-ml-02905-JAK-PLA, a multi-state class action involving millions of defective airbag control units.

Despite being well-beyond his law school years and fully involved in a rewarding career with Baron & Budd, Mr. Fernandes finds time to mentor first-year law students at his alma mater. As a preceptor at Pepperdine Law School, Mr. Fernandes works with a group of first-year law students to provide mentorship regarding a variety of student decisions, from résumé preparation to interviewing techniques. By giving his time to these students, Mr. Fernandes uses his experience to prepare future colleagues for successful entry into the legal field. “Providing substantive feedback and support to these promising law students is very rewarding and allows me to give back to the school which shaped my world view about the legal field and what is possible.”

David Fernandes has committed himself to a life of purpose, service, and leadership. His passion for public service and social responsibility drew him to Baron & Budd’s mission, and his desire to make a difference in the lives of people harmed by corporate fraud and wrongdoing continues to motivate him every day.