Dave Quast is a senior vice president in the FTI Strategic Communications practice and is based in Los Angeles. For 20 years, Mr. Quast has counseled clients in the corporate, legal and political arenas. His expertise includes corporate communications; corporate positioning and messaging; issues, crisis and reputation management; litigation support, and media and presentation coaching.
Experience
Mr. Quast has led engagements and provided counsel to clients in a variety of sectors. His industrials clients have included Kaiser Aluminum and Belden, Inc. In the professional services sector, Mr. Quast has represented Mayer Brown; Loeb & Loeb; Grant Thornton; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; Foley & Lardner; Winston & Strawn; Weston Benshoof and Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp. Financial services clients have included Northern Trust; LPL Financial, Far East National Bank and Stonnington Investments, and technology clients have included TBG Digital and Guidance Software. Mr. Quast has also spearheaded engagements for organizations including AARP and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Previously, Mr. Quast worked in New York, managing media relations on state and federal legislative and regulatory issues for Philip Morris where he developed and executed communications strategies to help the company fight significant litigation, regulatory threats, and the prospect of a major Federal tax increase. He served as a company spokesperson and was a frequent guest on talk radio throughout the United States. He also served as national communications manager for Thelen Reid & Priest LLP. Mr. Quast was managing director and executive vice president of RLM Public Relations, managing operations, leading new business development efforts and providing senior counsel to clients.
In Washington, D.C., Mr. Quast was press secretary to Congressman and House Financial Services Committee Chairman James A. Leach, and he was also director of public affairs at the Cato Institute. He also served as chief of staff to a Washington state senator.
Mr. Quast holds a B.A. in politics and government from the University of Puget Sound, an M.A. in British Government from the University of Essex (U.K.) and he attended the Georgetown University Law Center. He is an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Mr. Quast is a father of four, including triplets.