Client-focused appellate advocacy.
512.493.9600
rdclinton@dgclaw.com
Curriculum Vitae
Austin, Texas appellate attorney Ryan Clinton is a former Texas Assistant Solicitor General and shareholder at the Texas boutique law firm Davis, Gerald & Cremer.
Ryan has successfully handled a large number of appeals and original appellate proceedings in state and federal courts and has delivered dozens of oral arguments including ten in the Texas Supreme Court. He has established a reputation for handling high-profile and high-impact cases, such as the successful representation of oil-and-gas companies in two 2018 lease-construction cases in the Supreme Court of Texas, an energy company seeking to vacate a $125,000,000.00 arbitration award, an international oil-and-gas producer in a precedent-setting gas-royalties dispute, Texas A&M University in litigation arising from the tragic collapse of the Texas Aggie Bonfire, a Texas Court of Appeals in litigation filed by a then-sitting appellate justice over opinion authorship, and the Texas Attorney General in a suit filed by a Texas school district over the release of public bonds.
Ryan has been recognized as one of the “Top Attorneys” in appellate law by Austin Monthly, one of the “Best Lawyers in America” by Best Lawyers, and as a “Top Ranked Lawyer in America” by American Lawyer. Ryan has eight times been named one of Texas’s best appellate attorneys (from 20014-22) and before that ten times named one of Texas’s best appellate attorneys under 40 by Texas Super Lawyers, a Thompson Reuters service, as published in Texas Monthly magazine. In March 2013, Ryan was recognized as one of Texas’s top 25 "legal leaders" under 40 by Texas Lawyer magazine (back when he met the age requirement). And in 2010, he was named a finalist for Austin Under 40’s young professional of the year award. Ryan has also delivered speeches on a variety of legal topics, including oil-and-gas litigation, governmental entity disputes, the Texas Tort Claims Act, and representing clients before the Texas Supreme Court. His wide appellate experience includes handling oil-and-gas appeals, personal injury appeals, employment appeals, intellectual property appeals, government and constitutional appeals, and breach of contract appeals.
Ryan has successfully represented clients in the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, many Texas intermediate courts, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Ryan received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2000, graduating in the top 10 percent of his class with Order of the Coif honors. He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1997, where he graduated with cum laude honors in both Political Science and Public Policy Studies. Ryan was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and moved to Texas following law school. He's lived in Austin since 2000 and now lives in the Rollingwood neighborhood with his wife Sarah and their children.
Ryan is a shareholder in the Austin office of Davis, Gerald & Cremer, where he works with Shannon Ratliff (formerly of the Ratliff Law Firm), among others. Prior to joining Davis, Gerald & Cremer as a shareholder, Ryan was with the appellate boutique firm Hankinson LLP, where he worked with former Texas Supreme Court Justice Deborah Hankinson and was elected partner. Before that, Ryan served in the appellate division of the Texas Attorney General's office and as an appellate associate at the law firm Vinson & Elkins.
Ryan has also been honored for his charitable endeavors. He is a nationally recognized advocate for companion animals, receiving Maddie’s Fund’s “Maddie’s Hero” award in 2018 and the No Kill Advocacy Center’s Henry Bergh Leadership Award in 2009 for his work to improve animal shelters in Central Texas and across the United States. Ryan helped start the nationally acclaimed no-kill animal shelter Austin Pets Alive and the national no-kill advocacy and education organization American Pets Alive.