Dave Joyce is a former Assistant United States Attorney with extensive experience in courtrooms in Maine and other jurisdictions. As a federal prosecutor for 20 years, Dave led hundreds of grand jury investigations and served as first-chair for more than a dozen trials.

Dave began his government career with the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section in Washington, D.C. While at ECS, Dave investigated and prosecuted offenses committed by corporations and individuals. He served on the prosecution teams investigating the BP Texas City refinery explosion that resulted in 15 casualties and the discharge of heavy fuel oil into San Francisco Bay by the M/V Cosco Busan after the ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dave investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of criminal offenses. Dave handled numerous high-profile cases, including prosecutions of a well-known physician for tax, prescription fraud, and health care fraud offenses; the CEO of a large non-profit agency for extensive embezzlement; members of an illegal sports gambling business; a daycare employee who exploited children; and violent narcotics traffickers. Dave has extensive experience working with victims of criminal offenses. 

Dave most recently served as Senior Litigation Counsel, where he mentored attorneys and provided ethics guidance to the office, and completed a term assignment as Chief Inspector for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. A regular instructor at the Justice Department’s National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, Dave presented on topics including ethics and electronic discovery. 

Contact

Email: djoyce@brannlaw.com

Phone: 207.786.3566

Linkedin:

vCard:

Practice Areas

Education

University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
(DrPH)

University of Miami School of Law (J.D.)
(Order of the Coif, magna cum laude)

University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science
(M.A., in Marine Policy)

Williams College
(B.A., in Psychology)

Bar Admissions
& Membership

Maine

U.S. District Court for the District of Maine

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits

Court of International Trade

Honors & Distinctions

Law Clerk to United States District Judge Gene Carter, District of Maine (2004-2005)

Executive Editor, University of Miami Law Review

Civic & Community Involvement

Board of Directors, Harraseeket Yacht Club (2023 – present); Commodore (2025-2026)

Board of Directors, The Iris Network (2010-2019); Chair (2016-2018)

Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Town of Cumberland, Maine (2008-2014)

Publications

Joyce DB, Swanson JW. A Case Study of Maine’s Risk-Based Firearm Removal Law. Milbank Q. 2025;103(4):0801.

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