David B. Ratterman

David B. Ratterman


Stites & Harbison, PLLC

Recognized since 2003

Louisville, Kentucky

Practice Areas

Construction Law

Litigation - Construction

Navigate to map location for David B. Ratterman Call David B. Ratterman at 502-587-3400
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David Ratterman is a Senior Member of the firm's Construction Service Group, concentrating his practice on the fabricated structural steel industry in the United States and internationally. His immersion in the construction industry began as a water boy on construction sites at age 10 and evolved through a series of engineering and construction positions with the U.S. Navy, government and private industry.

David has been an officer or advisor to 12 industry trade organizations and professional societies involved in the international fabricated structural steel industry. Since 1989, he has served as Secretary and General Counsel of the American Institute of Steel Construction and as counsel to its National Steel Bridge Alliance.

David has been lead trial counsel for numerous structural steel fabricators and other contractors, design professionals, material suppliers and construction owners involved in complex matters in litigation, arbitration and construction mediation. Formally trained as a construction arbitrator and mediator and listed on several national construction neutral panels, he has participated as an ADR neutral or advocate in resolution of construction disputes totaling in excess of a billion dollars.

David was also an advisor to FEMA Task Forces that investigated structural damage caused by the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake and the September 11, 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a Fellow and former Governor of the American College of Construction Lawyers, and in 2014 was presented the college's Past Presidents' Award for exemplary service to the College over a period spanning nearly the entire 25-year history of the College's existence. He was the Founder and first Chair of the Kentucky Bar Association Section on Construction and Public Contract Law. In March 2012, The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) named a college scholarship program after Mr. Ratterman, the "David B. Ratterman Fast Start AISC Scholarship." The scholarship program currently provides financial assistance to 10 college age children of the steel industry's blue- and white-collar families each year. In March 2019, AISC awarded David the Lifetime Achievement Award honoring those who have provided outstanding service to AISC and the structural steel design/construction/academic community. In 2012, he received the 2012 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Kentucky (UK) Alumni Association. He is a past President of the UK Alumni Association. In 2016 he was inducted into the UK College of Engineering Hall of Distinguished Alumni and in 2018 was awarded the Department of Civil Engineering’s Construction Management Founders Society (CMFS) Lifetime Achievement Award.

A prolific author and speaker on a wide variety of construction law topics, David has presented or published in excess of 50 research papers, technical papers and articles. He has participated in or moderated numerous panel discussions on construction law topics at a wide variety of domestic and international academic symposia.

Contact & Links
Location
  • 400 West Market Street, Suite 1800
    Louisville, KY 40202-3352
Languages
  • English
Education
  • University of Louisville, J.D., graduated 1975
  • University of Kentucky, Graduate Studies in Business Administration, graduated 1970
  • University of Louisville, MBA, graduated 1980
  • University of Kentucky, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, graduated 1968
Bar Admissions
  • Kentucky, Kentucky Bar Association
Affiliations
  • American College of Construction Lawyers - Fellow
  • American Bar Association - Member
  • American Bar Foundation - Fellow
  • Kentucky Bar Association - Member
  • Louisville Bar Association - Member
  • Downtown Louisville Rotary Club - Member
  • Society of Construction Law, United Kingdom - Member
  • American Institute of Steel Construction - Member
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for Nebraska
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Stites & Harbison, PLLC
Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky

97 The Best Lawyers in America® awards

29 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America awards

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Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2024 - Construction Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2024 - Litigation - Construction Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2021 - Litigation - Construction Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2020 - Construction Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2019 - Litigation - Construction Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2015 - Construction Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2013 - Litigation - Construction Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2011 - Construction Law
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
  • Construction Law, Louisville (2024)
  • Litigation - Construction, Louisville (2024)
  • Litigation - Construction, Louisville (2021)
  • Construction Law, Louisville (2020)
  • Litigation - Construction, Louisville (2019)
  • Construction Law, Louisville (2015)
  • Litigation - Construction, Louisville (2013)
  • Construction Law, Louisville (2011)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 for work in:
  • Construction Law
  • Litigation - Construction
Awards:
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated
  • ChambersUSA America's Leading Lawyers in Business (2010-present)
  • Kentucky Super Lawyers (2007-present)
  • Kentucky Super Lawyers, Top 50 Attorneys in Kentucky
  • Who's Who in American Law
  • Who's Who Legal, Construction (2015)
  • "Service Above Self" award, The Rotary Club of Louisville (2013)
  • University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Civil Engineering's Construction Management Founders Society (CMFS) Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
  • University of Kentucky (UK) College of Engineering, Hall of Distinguished Alumni (2016)
  • University of Kentucky (UK) Alumni Association, Distinguished Service Award (2012)
  • American College of Construction Attorneys, Past Presidents' Award (2014)
  • Louisville Magazine Top Lawyers (2014, 2016)

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Publications

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