David K. Colapinto

David K. Colapinto (born Springfield, Massachusetts, December 4, 1958) is one of the top American attorneys representing whistleblowers. He received his law degree from Antioch School of Law after graduating from Boston University with a B.A. in history. While at B.U., he was a reporter for the "b.u. exposure", a student newspaper dedicated to exposing the financial and ethical irregularities of B.U. President John Silber. In a 1980 60 Minutes (1968) interview with Mike Wallace, Silber denounced "b.u. exposure" staffers as "short-pants communists". Colapinto was successful in the first case in which a "hostile work environment" was found to exist for a nuclear industry whistleblower; he also helped obtain whistleblower protection for FBI employees. As a co-counsel to Frederic Whitehurst, he helped force the FBI Laboratory to obtain accreditation. Colapinto also served as lead counsel in the law firm's successful defense of Linda Tripp in her Privacy Act lawsuit against the Departments of Justice and Defense.