John P. Ryan

• Insurance Dispute Law, Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
• Professional Liability Defense
• Medical Malpractice Defense
• Product Liability Defense
• Construction Defect Law & Construction Law
• Environmental Law & Toxic Tort Law
• Employment Law Defense
• General Liability Litigation
• Class Action Defense
• Institutional & Corporate Counseling
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Appellate Practice
• Complex Civil & Business Litigation
• Nursing Home Defense

Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
J.D. – 1974
Honors: Recipient, Frederick McDermott Memorial Scholarship

Boston College
A.B. (Magna Cum Laude) – 1971

AWARDS & HONORS

• 2023 Boston Top Lawyers
• AV Preeminent Rating Martindale-Hubbell for 35 years
• 1992 elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers
• 2005 awarded Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association Defense Lawyer of the Year Award
• 2013 awarded the American Board of Trial Advocacy (ABOTA) James N. Esdaile Memorial
• Award for Civility in the Practice of Litigation
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for more than 25 years
• 2011, 2013, 2014, selected as a Lawyer of the Year, Massachusetts, by Best Lawyers in America

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• American Bar Association
• Life Fellow, American Bar Association Foundation
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Louis D. Brandeis Fellow, Massachusetts Bar Foundation
• Norfolk County Bar Association
• Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association (former Member Board of Directors, former Treasurer)
• Rhode Island Bar Association
• New Hampshire Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Member, Board of Trustees, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (2013-2019)

Participant in continuing legal education courses offered by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (MCLE), the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, the Social Law Library and the Suffolk University Law School Advanced Legal Studies program, including subjects of civil litigation practice, Superior Court practice, evidence, alternative dispute resolution, jury voir dire, bad faith claims, claims pursuant to Chapter 93A/176D and valuation of disputed civil claims.

Trial instructor and mentor at Harvard Law School Winter Trial Advocacy Workshop 2002 ­2004.

Co-Author with William J. Dailey, Jr., Esquire and Harry A. Pierce, Esquire, “Closing Argument-Defendant’s Perspective,” in Massachusetts Courtroom Advocacy, (MCLE, 2005).

Author, 1992, 1993, “Civil Practice and Evidence,” in Recent Developments in Personal Injury Law, (MCLE nos. 92-17.13, 93-17.21).

Co-Author with Myles W. McDonough, Esquire, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, “Civil Practice and Evidence,” in Recent Developments in Personal Injury Law, (MCLE nos. 94­17.14, 95-17.15, 96-17.13, 97-17.14, 98-17.14)

Author, 1991, “Observations on the Use of Demonstrative Evidence,” Premises Liability, (MCLE no. 91-17.06)

Prosecuted appeals in the Appellate Division of the Massachusetts District Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Representative appeals include:

Agis v. Howard Johnson, 371 Mass. 140 (1976) (case of first impression in Massachusetts establishing the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.)

Monadnock Display Fireworks, Inc. v. Andover, 388 Mass. 153 (1983) (case of first impression in Massachusetts imposing the doctrine of implied contractual indemnity upon a town in the setting of a municipal contract where the town had failed to provide adequate police and fire support for a holiday fireworks display ultimately resulting in a young child picking up an undetonated incendiary device which subsequently exploded and traumatically amputated the child’s hand.)

Chas. T. Main, Inc. v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, 406 Mass. 862 (1990) (case of first impression in Massachusetts interpreting the concept of “claims made” coverage in the setting of professional liability insurance coverage and holding that a failure to timely report a claim within the designated time period of a claims made policy was a condition precedent to coverage and voided coverage for the insured, even in the absence of prejudice.)

New England Tea & Coffee v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, 54 Mass. App. Ct. 903 (2002) (successfully obtained affirmance of trial court’s allowance of summary judgment determining that insurer had no duty to either defend or indemnify claim of defamation.)

Doe No. 4 v. Levine, 77 Mass. App. Ct. 117 (2010) (case of first impression in Massachusetts interpreting the definition of when a cause of action “arises” for purposes of asserting the historical defense of absolute charitable immunity despite the fact that the cause of action “accrued” after the abolition of the absolute defense.)

Rhodes v. AIG Domestic Claims, Inc., 461 Mass. 486 (2012) (Retained to argue on behalf of the defendant before the Supreme Judicial Court with regard to the proper measure of punitive damages in the setting of a trial court ruling that the defendant had violated Chapter 93A and 176D.)

Roe No. 1 v. Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 469 Mass. 710 (2014) (Co-counsel with Gail M. Ryan in successful appeal affirming a trial court order dismissing a claim against the defendant for allegedly failing to protect out of state pediatric patients from the alleged abuse by a pediatrician formerly employed by the defendant.)

Needham Finance Committee, 1995-1998
(Chairman, 1997-1998)

Needham Government Review Study Committee, 1999-2001
(Vice-Chairman 1999-2001)

Needham Cable Television, 2004, 2005
Moderator: “Getting to Know Your Finance Committee” (two part local cable television educational program with panel discussion on governmental function of town Finance Committee)

Board of Directors, St. Joseph Parish School Fund, Inc., 2012 to Present
Member