Davis was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, class of 1962.
from Harvard College in 1966, and his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Columbia Law School in 1969.
[4] Davis joined Cleary Gottlieb in 1975 and became a partner in 1978, working in litigation and international and domestic dispute resolution.
[6][7][8][9] In addition to his service under Mario Cuomo, Davis was a candidate for New York State Attorney General in 1998.
[10][11] In 2008, he was recommended for appointment as the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals by the state Commission on Judicial Nomination.