David is a practicing attorney, admitted in New York and Virginia, and the owner of David T. Ralston, Jr., Esq., PLLC. His current practice focuses on federal government contracts, 5th Amendment Takings and aviation law. He is a retired partner of Foley & Lardner LLP, an international law firm, where he chaired the firm’s Government Solutions Practice and focused on government contracts; air and rail transportation; and national and homeland security.

David has handled virtually all aspects of federal government contracts. Among his notable cases while a partner with Foley were representing Jordanian and Lebanese contractors in bid protests that obtained permanent injunctive relief and an award of attorneys’ fees against the FBI in WHR Group, Inc. v. United States, 115 Fed. CI. 386, and a successful effort to have a contractor’s suspension enjoined and declared void ab initio in IRD v. United States Agency for International Development, 15-cv, 854-RCL (D.D.C.). He represented clients in 5th Amendment takings, money-mandating, and illegal exaction claims before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, including settlements totaling more than $300 million.

In rail transportation, David represented Canadian National Railway on U.S. federal regulatory and legislative matters and was an active member of the legal team that prevailed for CN at the U.S. Supreme Court in Wisconsin Cent. Ltd. v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2067 (2018). In aviation, he advised a number of major U.S. airports on federal regulatory and grant assurance requirements, particularly

in the security arena, and previously served as vice chair of the Federal Bar Association’s transportation committee. David also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates and governs Dulles International and Reagan National Airports, and was elected chair from 1998 to 2000.

David is a Georgetown graduate (Law ’79, cum laude, School of Foreign Service, ‘76), and currently chairs the Board of Trustees of the Gregorian University Foundation, which raises funds for the Jesuit-led Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He served with the U.S. Army as a prosecutor in Europe, and later an appellate attorney and military judge. He and his wife Mary live in Clifton, Virginia and have three children and five grandchildren.