David Coombs

David Coombs joined the University at Buffalo faculty in August 2023 as a Lecturer in Law.  He teaches Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Military Justice, and National Security Law.  Prior to joining the UB faculty, Coombs was the Chief Justice Weisberger Visiting Professor of Law at Roger Williams University (RWU) School of Law.  Coombs taught Evidence, Criminal Procedure, and Trial Advocacy.  He also coached the RWU Trial Team and served as the faculty advisor to the Military Law Society.  While at RWU, he was voted Adjunct Professor of the Year by the graduating class in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021.

Coombs has often appeared in the news, both nationally and worldwide, as the lead defense counsel in the highly publicized case of United States v. Manning, the soldier who provided classified information to Wikileaks.  Coombs continued to represent PFC Manning until her release from military prison in 2017, after President Obama commuted her sentence (that commutation order now hangs in Coombs' office).

Coombs served for more than 13 years on active duty in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, prosecuting and defending over 150 cases.  As a defense counsel, he achieved numerous acquittals and tried several high-profile cases for the Army.  From 2003 until 2005, he served as the Army’s first senior capital defense counsel and tried the death penalty case of United States v. SGT Hasan K. Akbar. 

In 2006, Coombs became a professor at the U.S. Army JAG Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia.  There he taught Evidence, Capital Litigation, High Profile Cases, Trial Advocacy, Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law.  While on faculty, Professor Coombs was selected to deploy to Iraq in support of the Law and Order Task Force in Baghdad as a judicial advisor in 2008.  In that position, he mentored and assisted 16 Iraqi prosecutors and 27 investigative judges to help build essential Iraqi capacity for independent, evidence-based and transparent adjudication of cases.  Following his return to the U.S., Professor Coombs transitioned from the active-duty military to the reserves, serving for eight years as a reserve judge advocate.  He retired in 2018 as a Lieutenant Colonel after more than 21 years of military service. 

Coombs also established a successful military criminal defense practice, representing hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers around the world.  During this time, he was featured in numerous media outlets based on his legal representation.  He has spoken on national security law, classified information, military courts-martial, freedom of the press, and gender dysphoria rights at universities and on national and international radio and television programs.

Coombs received his B.A. from the University of Idaho, his J.D. from the University of Idaho School of Law, and his LL.M. from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School.