Zachary M. VanVactor
Zack VanVactor is an attorney in the firm's Louisville and Jeffersonville offices. He is a member of the Business Litigation Service Group.
Breach of Contract Defenses: Kentucky
Practical Law State Q&A, Thomas Reuters, December 2024
Contract Basics for Litigators: Kentucky
Practical Law State Q&A, Thomas Reuters, December 2024
Tortious Interference: Kentucky
Practical Law State Q&A, Thomas Reuters, August 2024
Pleading the Fifth in Federal Civil Litigation in Kentucky: The Key Distinctions that Exist Between the Application of State Versus Federal Substantive Law
Bar Briefs, Louisville Bar Association, May 2024
Diversity Disclosures Under Amended Rule 7.1: What Federal Court Practitioners Need to Know
Bar Briefs, Louisville Bar Association, May 2023
Successfully defeated efforts to certify a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act in litigation in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Secured dismissal of Fair Credit Reporting Act claims against lender in Georgia.
Won complete defense verdict in bench trial in Clark County, Indiana, on claims for breach of service contract.
Successfully obtained summary judgment in Pike County, Kentucky, on breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, and other claims against national lender, and thereafter successfully defended that judgment on appeal before the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Won summary judgment on behalf of regional airline in Boone County, Kentucky.
Louisville Office Recruiting Committee, Member
Kentucky Bar Association, Communications & Publications Committee (2012-present)
Kentucky Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division Executive Committee, At-Large Representative (2019-20)
Louisville Bar Association Leadership Academy Planning Committee (2024)
Louisville Bar Association, Federal Practice Section, Co-Chair (2023)
Louisville Bar Association Leadership Academy (2016)
Leadership Kentucky: ELEVATE Kentucky (2018)
magna cum laude
Certificate in International and Comparative Law
Tulane University Law School
Tulane Maritime Law Journal, Senior Managing Editor
Senior Writing Fellow, International LL.M. Program
Tulane Inn of Court
Admiralty Law Institute Award of Excellence
Robert B. Acomb Award for Most Outstanding Comment
Maritime Law Center Award for Most Outstanding Case Note
A.N. Yiannopoulous Award for Best Substance & Citation Editing
Study Abroad: Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England: Coursework in constitutional law with Justice Stephen G. Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court
Study Abroad: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany: Certificate in Advanced Negotiation and Mediation (40 hours)
B.A., Political Science
University of Kentucky
Vandenbosch Writing Award
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity
Before joining Stites & Harbison, Zack served for two years as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Thomas B. Russell, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky. Prior to his clerkship, Zack served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Jennifer B. Coffman, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern & Western Districts of Kentucky. While attending law school at Tulane University, Zack worked as an admissions counselor for a charter high school in New Orleans, assisting high school seniors with all aspects of the college admissions process.
Best Lawyers in America®, Product Liability Litigation - Defendants and Commercial Litigation (2022-25)
Best Lawyers in America®, Louisville Area Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2024)
Best Lawyers in America®, Ones To Watch, Litigation - Banking & Finance (2021)
Kentucky Super Lawyers®, Rising Star (2017-22)



Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers® Publications
Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 97 of its lawyers are included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence according to the publication. Additionally, 12 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 30 attorneys are recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2024 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 101 of its lawyers are included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2023 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 98 of its lawyers are included in the 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Additionally, 11 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 19 attorneys are recognized in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch,” which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.
Kentucky Super Lawyers Honors 37 Stites & Harbison Attorneys for 2022
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 2022 edition of Kentucky Super Lawyers recently honored 37 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in the Covington, Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville, Ky., offices. The publication named 29 attorneys to the Super Lawyers list and eight attorneys to the Rising Stars list.
Kentucky Super Lawyers Honors 41 Stites & Harbison Attorneys for 2021
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 2021 edition of Kentucky Super Lawyers recently honored 42 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in the Covington, Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville, Ky., offices.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC Lawyers Named to 2021 Best Lawyers® Publications
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 82 lawyers are included in the 2021 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
Stites & Harbison Promotes Six Attorneys
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC announced that six attorneys have been promoted within the law firm effective January 2020.
Kentucky Super Lawyers Honors 45 Stites & Harbison Attorneys for 2020
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 2020 edition of Kentucky Super Lawyers recently honored 42 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in the Covington, Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville, Ky., offices. The publication named 32 attorneys to the Super Lawyers list and 13 attorneys to the Rising Stars list.