Experience

James G. Ryan, Esq. is Vice President and General Counsel of Manhattan College. He brings decades of experience representing colleges and universities handling the full array of legal issues that confront institutions, including policy creation and enforcement, labor and employment claims, shared governance, intellectual property rights, internal investigations, student life, athletics, and fundraising. Over the years, he has addressed labor contracts, managed faculty work stoppages, negotiated real estate transactions, and developed policies and procedures for several higher education institutions.

Prior to his current role, Jim was a Senior Partner with the law firm of Cullen and Dykman LLP, where he served as head of its Commercial Litigation department, and the chair of its Employment Litigation practice.  He has extensive experience representing clients in financial services, corporate, energy, and higher education-related matters in federal and state court, before administrative agencies, and in various forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Jim's commercial litigation practice focuses on energy-related matters and multi-party class action matters, which include a broad range of disputes in state and federal courts arising out of the transportation, distribution, and sale of natural gas. He also represents financial institutions in matters involving the defense of "lender liability" claims or other allegations of lender misconduct, check warranty claims, actions to recover unpaid obligations from principals and guarantors, and commercial foreclosure actions. Jim also regularly represented clients in cases involving discrimination claims, post-employment covenants (including covenants not to compete), breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, trade secret misappropriation, whistleblower allegations, theft of proprietary information, unfair business practices, hiring, promotion, termination, discipline, reductions in force, and sexual harassment. 

EXPERIENCE AS A MEDIATOR AND ARBITRATOR

Mr. Ryan has served as a mediator and arbitrator on the ADR Panel of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York since 2001. He has acted as a neutral mediator in dozens of cases and has been appointed as an arbitrator in numerous matters. He has also spoken at the Alternative Resolution Dispute Committee on Mediation Advocacy and at the EDNY Mediation Advocacy Training Program. 

Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Construction Law
Intellectual Property
Personal Injury
Municipal Law
Professional Liability
Tax Certiorari
Employment Law
Corporate and Shareholder Dispute

Licenses

Admitted to the Bar, Maine
Admitted to the Bar, Massachusetts
Admitted to the Bar, New York
U.S. District Court
Southern, Eastern, Western, and Northern Districts of New York, U.S. District Court
Second Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Professional Associations, Appointments, & Awards

Adjunct Professor, Molloy College
Appointed Member, Judiciary Screening Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association
Appointed Member, New York State Unified Court System’s E-Discovery Working Group
Mediator, Mediation Panel of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Member, National Association of College and University Attorneys
Member, New York State Bar Association
Member, Nassau County Bar Association, Judiciary Committee
Member, Federal Bar Council

Education

Fordham University School of Law, J.D.
Fordham University, College of Business Administration, B.S.