David T. Ralston Jr. is a partner and business lawyer in the Washington, D.C., office of Foley & Lardner LLP where his practice focuses on government contracts litigation and counseling; rail and air transportation; and national and homeland security. He was the former chair of Foley’s Government Solutions Practice.

David has handled virtually all aspects of government contracts, including bid and small business size protests, claims, defective pricing, intellectual property, qui tam litigation, and Cost Accounting Standards matters. He has successfully brought and defended more than a hundred bid protests, including representing Jordanian and Lebanese contractors in protests, and obtaining preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, and an award of attorneys’ fees, against the FBI in WHR Group, Inc. v. United States, 115 Fed. CI. 386 (2014). He has defended government contractors, both U.S. and foreign, against fraud and bribery charges, notably including coordinating corporate investigations, voluntary disclosures to the Justice and Defense departments, and represented firms in debarment/suspension proceedings at numerous federal agencies.

David and a Foley team represented International Relief and Development in a successful effort to have a suspension enjoined and declared void ab initio in RD v. United States Agency for International Development, 15-cv, 854-RCL (D.D.C. 2015). He has represented clients in 5th Amendment takings, money-mandating, and illegal exaction claims before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, including a settlement for more than $200 million.

In recent years, besides bid protests, David has been particularly active in matters concerning COVID-19, international and U.S. domestic content laws, such as the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement, Buy America/Buy American laws, the Berry Amendment, the Trade Agreements Act, U.S.-Canadian cross-border tax and trade matters, and international trade negotiations. He has also presented at the EU Parliament on U.S. perspectives concerning how government procurement can be employed to spur innovation.

In rail transportation, David represents a leading Class I railroad on federal regulatory, legislative, and he was an active member of the trial and appellate team that prevailed for the railroad at the U.S. Supreme Court in Wisconsin Cent. Ltd. v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2067 (2018). In aviation, he has 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.

From 1980 to 1984, David served on active duty with the U.S. Army as a prosecutor in Germany and later an appellate attorney, handling over 100 courts-martial, including more than 30 contested cases. From 1984 to 1994, he served as a military judge in the U.S. Army Reserves.

He and his wife Mary have three children and five grandchildren.