James Gerard Ryan

Mr. Ryan is the head of the Commercial Litigation Department and is the chair of the firm’s Employment Litigation practice.  As head of the Commercial Litigation Department Mr. Ryan has extensive experience in representing clients in financial services, corporate and energy related litigation in the federal and state courts, and in various forms of alternative dispute resolution. 

Mr. Ryan's practice focuses on energy related matters which include a broad range of disputes arising out of the production, transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas, natural gas liquids and electric power.  He also represents numerous financial instutions in matters involving the defense of "lender liability" claims or other allegation of lender misconduct, actions to recover unpaid obligations from principals and guarantors, foreclosure actions, and assertion of claims for fraud on the part of borrowers or their principals. 

As chair of the firm's Employment Litigation practice, Mr. Ryan regularly represents the firm’s clients in cases involving discrimination claims, post employment covenants, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, trade secrets, whistleblowers, proprietary information, unfair business practices, covenants not to compete, hiring, promotion, termination, discipline, reductions in force, and sexual harassment.  His caseload also includes matters involving the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, FERPA, ERISA, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York State Labor Law. Mr. Ryan appears on behalf of the firm’s clients in federal and state courts, before federal, state and local administrative agencies, and in mediation and arbitration proceedings relating to all of the aforementioned areas. He offers advice and training, including seminars and bulletins, on avoiding discrimination, employment, and education claims.  Mr. Ryan also contributes articles to and comments for various publications concerning e-discovery, education, and employment matters. He also co-authors blogs on these issues.

In 2008, Mr. Ryan founded the firm’s E-Discovery Practice Group. The E-Discovery Group provides cost effective, expeditious and practical solutions to even the most challenging issues involving electronically stored information so that a client can focus its resources on its business and operations.  The E-Discovery Group also develops or reviews document retention policies to ensure compliance with the litigation hold process, e-discovery obligations and statutory/regulatory requirements.  As a result of his lectures on e-discovery, in September, 2010, Mr. Ryan was appointed to the New York State Unified Court System E-Discovery Working Group and to its education subcommittee to develop educational materials, including CLE courses and a bench book, on e-discovery for the New York State judiciary and judicial staff. 

Mr. Ryan grew up in Massachusetts, graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 1985 and has been a litigator with the firm since shortly after his graduation from Fordham.  He became a member of the firm in 1995.  Mr. Ryan is a trained mediator for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.