David S. Doty

David Singleton Doty (born 1929) is a United States federal judge.

Doty was born in Anoka, Minnesota. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1952 and his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1961. He had served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps in the interim, from 1952 to 1958. Following graduation he practiced privately in St. Paul, Minnesota for a year. He moved to Minneapolis the next year and practiced there from 1962 to 1987, partly with the Popham Haik law firm. He had also served as a state Special Assistant Attorney General from 1968 to 1969 and as President of the Minnesota State Bar Association from 1984 to 1985.

In February 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Doty to an open seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He continues to serve on the court, having assumed senior status in June 1998.

Throughout his career as a judge, Doty has played an important role in labor disputes involving the National Football League (NFL).^[1] Judge Doty is named in the current NFL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) as the ultimate arbiter of grievances or issues between the NFL Players Association and the NFL Management Council. On March 1, 2011, he ruled that the NFL violated the CBA by negotiating a $4 billion payment from their broadcasting partners, in effect purchasing insurance against a potential lockout.^[2]

References

• David S. Doty at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

1. Richard Sandomir, "Court in Minnesota Has Been a Home Field for a League’s Labor Disputes", The New York Times, March 12, 2011.
2. Amy Shipley and Mark Maske, "NFL lockout: Is David S. Doty the most influential man in pro football?", The Washington Post, March 9, 2011.