CONCENTRATION
Debra Rectenbaugh Pettit is a shareholder and trial attorney at the Davis Brown Law Firm. She is a past chair of the Litigation Division and is the current chair of the Construction Law Department. Her practice encompasses general civil litigation matters, and her focus is defending insurance claims and preventing and resolving business and construction disputes.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
· BV Distinguished™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The BV certification mark is an excellent rating for a lawyer with more experience.
SUMMARY
Debra is a trial attorney, serving clients in the effective defense and resolution of their legal claims and disputes in state and federal courts, and focusing in the areas of commercial litigation, and construction, insurance, and defamation law. Ms. Pettit handles commercial construction contract development and review, and commercial construction litigation, arbitration, and appeals. The clients she serves include GROWMARK, Black & Veatch Corporation, and McCarthy Building Companies. Ms. Pettit's experience in commercial construction has also included working on complex, multi-million dollar disputes in support of several Iowa businesses, including the IPSCO steel plant and the Quad County Corn Processors ethanol facility.
She has defended personal injury and property damage claims for Allied Insurance /Nationwide Agribusiness, as well as other national insurance companies, for nearly ten years. Her experience in this area of insurance defense has included successfully resolving claims ranging from $5,000 to $1,000,000 and involving a variety of areas, including motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, and defamation.
SEMINARS, LECTURES AND PUBLICATIONS
Tips for Effective Construction Contracting, National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Spring 2011 Forum, April 28, 2011.
OF NOTE
Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Chief Justice Arthur McGiverin of the Iowa Supreme Court from 1994-1995.
COMMUNITY
National Association of Women in Construction, Chapter #80, active member in, and current board member, for group whose goal is to enhance the success of women in the construction industry; Iowa State Bar Association Construction Law Section Council Member 2010-2012; Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, Graduate Class 2005-06 and Project Coordinator for the renovation and landscaping of the Judges' Parking Lot at the Polk County Courthouse; Northwestern University Law School Recruiter; St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Indianola, Iowa, volunteer and religious education teacher; Indianola/Whittier Elementary Parent/Teacher Organization, member.
RESOURCES
THE DAVIS BROWN LAW FIRM CONGRATULATES DEBRA RECTENBAUGH PETTIT FOR 15 YEARS OF SERVICE
04/15/2011
ATTORNEY DEBRA RECTENBAUGH PETTIT GRADUATES FROM THE GREATER DES MOINES LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
06/08/2006
MEMBERSHIPS
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (DRI)
IOWA DEFENSE COUNSEL ASSOCIATION
IOWA ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN ATTORNEYS
IOWA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION
POLK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
POLK COUNTY WOMEN ATTORNEYS