Executive Director
American Association of Bank Directors


David Baris, Executive Director of the American Association of Bank Directors, founded the AABD in 1989 to represent the interests of individual bank directors in the midst of the past bank crisis. Today the AABD remains the only national association devoted exclusively to serving the advocacy, information and education needs of individual bank and savings institution directors.

The AABD provides bank directors with the resources to serve their institutions effectively and in a manner that will minimize risk of personal liability, and represents their interests before federal and state legislative bodies, banking supervisory agencies and judicial bodies.

David Baris is a partner in the Washington, DC office of BuckleySandler LLP. Baris represents financial institutions throughout the United States on securities, corporate, transactional, and regulatory matters. Baris has more than 20 years experience advising financial institutions on mergers and acquisitions; tender offers; securities offerings, including trust preferred securities; proxy contests; and other management and policy matters.

Before joining BuckleySandler, David Baris was a partner of Kennedy & Baris, LLP that he founded in 1987. Baris brings to his legal practice experience as both a bank regulator and Congressional staffer, serving as Regional Counsel to the Comptroller of the Currency from 1977 to 1983 and Counsel to the Government Operations Committee, U.S. House of Representatives from 1972 to 1974.

Baris was a director of Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. and United of Omaha Life Insurance Co. from 2000 to 2004, serving on their executive, audit, and investment committees.

David Baris received his bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in 1966, and his J.D. from The University of Connecticut School of Law in 1970. He writes and lectures widely on banking topics.