Meet David Mirchin: The Lawyer Who Came to Israel

David Mirchin is a partner at Meitar, a global law firm in Israel with over 550 legal professionals, where he leads the 45-lawyer Business Technology practice. He is a leading expert in software, licensing and intellectual property transactions, as well as privacy, AI, copyright and open source.

When Mirchin started working at Meitar in 2002, he was lawyer number 32 and there were only three lawyers in his department.

THE Review I recently sat down with him in a cafe in Raanana.

What made you think about aliyah? To make aliyah?

My parents grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, and I grew up across the Passaic River in Fairlawn. My grandmother was so involved in Hadassah that letters addressed to “Hadassah, Paterson, New Jersey” were delivered to her mailbox; and my grandfather collected money for Israel bonds. For my bar mitzvah, my parents gave me a choice: a party or a family trip to Israel. I chose the trip to Israel, and it was my only plane ride until I was 21. Between college and law school, I came here for a few months and fell in love with this country.

DAVID MIRCHIN. (credit: TOMER JACOBSON)

My wife and I met in Jerusalem in the 1980s. She was on her way to Cambridge to attend Harvard Business School, and I had just accepted a job as a lawyer in Israel. To be together, I knew I had to return to Cambridge. So three weeks into our relationship, we decided to get married. For the next 14 years, we lived in Cambridge, raised three children, and pursued our professional careers.

We were thinking of returning to Israel much sooner, but our youngest child, Tali, has low cognitive functions and is moderately deaf. We all signed with her in English. The question was: Would Tali be able to learn Hebrew and learn Hebrew Sign Language?

In 2001, we decided that aliyah was “now or never.” My wife and I quit our jobs and decided to come for a year to see how it would go. We came, we enjoyed it, and we felt we could make a difference.

After a few months, Tali was able to learn Hebrew and Hebrew sign language. Soon, all five of us were able to (poorly) sign in Hebrew. We are grateful for the high-quality special education Tali received at the Niv School in Tel Aviv and the Agam School in Raanana. She currently lives in an Akim group home in Raanana. Maayan and Josh, our oldest children, quickly made good friends at school and during activities like basketball and horseback riding, and we all felt like we were settling in well in our new home.

What advice would you give to a young lawyer in New Jersey today: make aliyah immediately after passing the U.S. bar or gain legal experience in the United States first?

I came here with some legal experience and some savings, and those two things made aliyah easier for us. On the other hand, there are now phenomenal opportunities here for new lawyers who have graduated from top English-speaking universities. The reality is that when families wait too long to make aliyah, they usually don’t come.

There are over 100 million ChatGPT users (including me). Do you recommend any precautions when using this virtual assistant?

Do not enter any passwords, financial information, or any personal, confidential, or sensitive information. Anything you enter can be shared with others. (It has happened!) The data you share with ChatGPT is not private. However, there are paid versions of ChatGPT that offer better security.

What are the legal issues surrounding Firefly, an AI (artificial intelligence) model capable of providing images?

Court cases are underway to determine whether a large language model (LLM) like Firefly is infringing copyright by using other people’s photographs without paying, or whether it is fair use because it is transformative. A decision could be made before the end of the year.

You have taught Internet law at Tel Aviv Law School, Reichman University, and Boston College Law School. What is the current problem?

Is scraping content from websites legal? Personally, I can see both sides of the coin. We often advise our clients on how to assess the real risk of scraping and how to mitigate it.

Looking back to 1979, when you graduated from Yale University with honors and Phi Beta Kappa, it’s interesting to note that your major was Chinese history. Why Chinese history?

I chose my classes at Yale based on the professor: an interesting professor can make any subject interesting. I heard that Professor Jonathan Spence was great. I took his class, was totally impressed by him, and changed my major from economics to Chinese history. I thought about getting a PhD in Chinese studies. But there were no jobs in that field in the 1970s, so I decided to go for something more employable and chose law school.

How has Jewish life at Harvard changed since you received your JD in 1983?

In 1983, it was safe to be Jewish and openly support Israel. Today, that is no longer the case. Jewish students face harassment and the administration’s response is timid and hesitant. I was the head of the Jewish Law Students Association and we proudly erected a sukkah in the middle of campus. Out of 540 students, four of us wore yarmulkes and none of us were afraid. Today, students cover their yarmulkes with baseball caps.

Do you make time for physical activity?

I love cycling and hiking. I just returned from a five-day hike in Ireland and cycling is part of my lifestyle. I often cycle to work in Ramat Gan and highly recommend the Alyn Hospital charity bike ride, now called Wheels of Love, on behalf of children and teens with physical disabilities. This ride is a wonderful opportunity to give back and see some incredible parts of Israel.

With your busy schedule, what else do you manage to do?

I regularly visit my beloved wife, Leslie, who lives in a care facility for people with Alzheimer’s disease. My synagogue, Kinor David, is very important to me and I have been its president. There is also our Unambitious Reading Group, which meets every other month. We meet in person, discuss books; in fact, we mostly drink beer. One of my favorite books is Educated by Tara Westover. But the most important and enjoyable activity is the time I spend with our four grandchildren.

Learn more about David Mirchin

Prior to making aliyah, Mirchin was vice president and general counsel of SilverPlatter Information, based in London and Boston. He also worked as a corporate lawyer in the Boston offices of McDermott Will & Emery and Mintz Levin, and as a foreign corporate lawyer at Konaka Toyama in Tokyo.

He is the author of three books on copyright and licensing issues, and he’s sure his mother is the only one who has read them! ■

David Mirchin From Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Raanana, 2001