David H. Spratt is a professor at American University, Washington College of Law, where he teaches Contracts, Legal Rhetoric, and Family Law Litigation and Practice. David received a B.A. degree in Government and Psychology from The College of William and Mary and graduated summa cum laude from The American University, Washington College of Law.

Before joining WCL as a full-time faculty member in Fall 2006, David taught Legal Writing and Research at the George Washington University School of Law, Legal Analysis and Writing at Concord School of Law, and Legal Methods at the Washington College of Law. David is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars, and he is an active participant in state, local, and national bar associations and organizations. He is a past chair of the Virginia Bar Association, Domestic Relations Section, and the Northern Virginia Regional Advisory Committee.

In the past, he has moderated and/or presented continuing legal education programs on attorney impairment, vocational rehabilitation experts, defined duration support, imputation of income, amendments to the Virginia child support statute, legal ethics, legal writing, academic support, research and citation, the use of electronic evidence in litigation and family law cases, and child custody evaluations.

In 2001, David was a founding partner of Schwartz & Spratt, PLC, a family law firm in Fairfax, Virginia. Previously, David worked as an associate at the Law Office of Betty A. Thompson, Ltd., and at The Lewis Law Firm, in Washington, D.C. Professor Spratt writes a regular column, “Writer’s Block,” for the Virginia Bar Association News Journal.

In January 2013, David was appointed to the Virginia State Bar Section on Education of Lawyers Task Force on Legal Writing and planned and implemented a Legal Writing Bootcamp for practicing Virginia attorneys, which now continues annually. David served as the Civil Reporter of Decisions for the Virginia Court of Appeals for more than three years, stepping down in October 2021, and he currently serves as the Chair of the Virginia State Bar Section on Education of Lawyers. David is the 2021 recipient of the Washington College of Law Excellence in Teaching Award.