Matthew M. Ryan
Associate
Duane Morris LLP
30 South 17th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
USA
Phone: +1 215 979 1110
Fax: +1 215 689 4946
Email:
MMRyan@duanemorris.com
Matthew M. Ryan advocates for both plaintiffs and defendants, corporate entities and individual clients alike, in commercial litigation matters, with emphasis on contracts, commercial fraud, and business tort cases. Mr. Ryan has also represented corporate entities and individual clients in class action securities fraud lawsuits, construction disputes, and products liability cases. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael M. Baylson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as multiple federal courts. In 2009, he was one of only 30 attorneys across Pennsylvania named a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" by the publisher of The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly.
Mr. Ryan is actively involved in handing pro bono matters. He has represented indigent tenants in disputes with their landlords in connection with the Community Legal Services of Philadelphia’s Landlord-Tenant Municipal Court Program. He has represented state and federal prisoners in federal civil rights actions through the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Prisoner Civil Rights Panel. Mr. Ryan also serves on the firm's Recruitment and Retention Committee.
Mr. Ryan has been involved in politics, government, and public service. He serves on the Delaware County Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission. Mr. Ryan has been involved in numerous political campaigns on the federal, state, and local levels. He has also provided legal advice on a pro bono basis to the Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based good-government watchdog organization. Mr. Ryan has been appointed to the Philadelphia Bar Association's Investigative Division of the Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, in connection with which he has researched and made recommendations on candidates for judicial office in Philadelphia. He also volunteers for the Philadelphia Reads "Power Partners" program, which pairs Philadelphia professionals with children from public school classrooms for weekly reading sessions. Mr. Ryan serves on the Editorial Board of The Young Lawyer, a monthly supplement to The Legal Intelligencer.
Mr. Ryan is a 2003 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was on the Moot Court Board and served as executive editor of production and associate editor of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law. He is a 2000 graduate of Villanova University.
Representative Matters
- Represented Pennsylvania judges before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, securing a ruling that invalidated as unconstitutional legislation that had repealed a prior increase in judicial salaries.
- Served as associate trial counsel representing shareholder of closely held corporation against former officer, director, and minority shareholder of the corporation. Obtained damages award of $4.99 million on the basis of findings of breach of fiduciary duty and breach of shareholders' agreement.
- Represented public company against plaintiffs alleging breach of a warrant to purchase stock valued at many millions of dollars. Obtained summary judgment in client's favor, which was affirmed on appeal.
- Represented global medical device manufacturer in more than 40 consolidated matters in West Virginia. Claims made by the plaintiffs ranged from improper off-label use of biologics products, illegal kick-backs, fraud and general medical device product liability.
- Represented patent owner and licensee in misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement case to enforce patent for wireless soil-monitoring technology that detects and measures the level of salinity and moisture in ground surfaces such as golf course greens.
- Defend two former officers of former public company in four related cases involving claims of various acts of fraud, including a securities fraud class action, and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in connection with the collapse and ultimate bankruptcy and delisting of the company.
- Counseled independent and non-profit research and educational institute on possible registration and reporting obligations under the Pennsylvania Lobbying Disclosure Law.
- Represented state and federal prisoners in civil rights actions (through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Prisoner Civil Rights Panel).
Professional Activities
- Philadelphia Bar Association
- Investigative Division of the Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention
- Appellate Courts Committee
-- Third Circuit Judicial Conference Committee
- Federal Courts Committee
- Young Lawyers Division
-- Former Member, Executive Committee - Delaware County Bar Association
- Judicial Selection Committee
- Secretary, former Treasurer, Guy G. deFuria American Inn of Court - Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Former Associate, University of Pennsylvania Law School American Inn of Court
Admissions
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 2003
Executive Editor, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law - Villanova University, B.A.H., B.A., cum laude, 2000
Experience
- Duane Morris LLP
- Associate, 2004-present - Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Michael M. Baylson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2003-2004
Civic and Charitable Activities
- Member, Delaware County Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission
- Editorial Board Member, The Young Lawyer (monthly supplement to The Legal Intelligencer)
- Member, The Pennsylvania Society
- Member, Swarthmore Lions Club
- Board Member, Swarthmore Recreation Association
- Chair, Delaware County Young Republicans
Honors and Awards
- Named to 2009 Lawyers on the Fast Track by the Legal Intelligencer
Selected Publications
- Co-author, "Help Your Attorney Help You," Bloomberg Businessweek, July 21, 2010
