About Ryan H. Newman
Legal Assistant: Linda Price | 713-554-6755 | lprice@thompsonhorton.com
Ryan’s mom went back to school to get her law degree when Ryan was a freshman in high school, and she often spent weekends and holidays tagging along to Waco. As a result, Ryan learned the importance of thorough preparation, whether for class or trial, early in life. Ryan’s commitment to her clients and passion for litigation are evident in all aspects of her work.
Ryan is Counsel in the Houston office and currently focuses her practice on Title IX litigation. She has extensive experience litigating complex matters in state and federal courts, with specific focus on preparing corporate representative, management and fact witnesses for deposition and trial.
Prior to joining Thompson & Horton, Ryan was a senior associate with Nistico, Crouch & Kessler, P.C., where her practice was focused on first-party insurance defense and insurance coverage litigation. Ryan received her J.D. from South Texas College of Law where she received legal writing honors, participated as a varsity moot court advocate with one of the nation’s top advocacy programs and completed the Pro Bono Honors Program.
Education
- J.D., South Texas College of Law, 2007
- B.A., Texas A&M University, 2002
Licensing & Court Admissions
- Licensed in the state of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Memberships & Recognitions
- Texas Association of School Boards
- National School Board Association
- State Bar of Texas – School Law Section, Litigation Section
- Houston Bar Association
- Order of the Barristers
- National Champion, Rendigs Product Liability Moot Court Competition, 2006
- South Texas College of Law Houston Alumni Association Board of Directors
- Women in eDiscovery
Selected Client Representations
- Currently defending major university in large-scale, complex Title IX cases alleging sexual assault, including:
- Managing all aspects of e-discovery
- Interviewing and preparing client employees for deposition
- Defending client employees at deposition and taking Plaintiff depositions
- Conducted personnel investigation relating to allegation of theft of funds.
- Member of team responsible for all trial and deposition witness preparation related to company-wide issues throughout the state of Texas for national corporate client.
- Defended a large national insurance company in mass litigation following weather events across the state of Texas. Involved in all aspects of litigation in both state and federal courts.
- Routinely retained to assist insurers with pre‐litigation matters, including coverage analysis, liability evaluation and taking examinations under oath.
- Successfully resolved litigated limited partnership dispute for surviving spouse of general partner, involving allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and duties of loyalty and care.
- Second chair at trial that secured a full defense verdict for insurer in Harris County jury trial based on arson, fraud and misrepresentation defenses asserted in response to allegations of breach of contract, bad faith and malicious prosecution.
Representative Speeches & Presentations
- “Due Process vs. Student Privacy: The Intersection (and/or Collision) of Title IX and FERPA”, December 15, 2020 with Leah Tucker
- “Title IX in Transition: A Legal Update of Title IX Issues”, Region 4 Education Service Center, August 2, 2021 with Elizabeth Humphrey