Ryan Pitts
Ryan Pitts represents clients in complex litigation matters, focusing on appellate advocacy. He began his legal career with clerkships at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Ryan draws on these experiences to advocate for his clients using the clear, concise, and well-reasoned arguments that judges find persuasive, whether at critical trial moments or on appeal.
During law school, Ryan earned both a JD and a Master of Laws in International and Comparative law, while also serving as an editor of the Duke Law Journal. From his study of the world’s legal systems, Ryan knows how to approach his clients’ legal problems from different, and often unexplored, angles.
Ryan was selected as a member of the Houston Young Lawyers Association’s Leadership Academy for 2018–2019. He currently serves on the Houston Young Lawyer’s Association’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Federal Bar Association, Houston Bar Association, and Texas Supreme Court Historical Society.
- Won a very significant permissive appeal that vindicated a premises owner’s right to immunity under Texas’s workers’ compensation laws against scores of personal-injury claims arising from an explosion, and which should stand as an important precedent for employers and premise owners across the state of Texas for years to come. (Press Release | Media Coverage by Law360)
- Having obtained over $4 million on summary judgment for a consulting firm that was owed a commission for its role in promoting the sale of its former client, a Haynes Boone team successfully defended that judgment on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (Published Opinion | Media Coverage by Texas Lawbook)
- After being hired post-verdict to handle the appeal of the largest actual damages award for an injured worker in Texas history, we persuaded the trial court to grant a historic $117 million remittitur, reducing the plaintiffs' award from $353 million to $235 million. Then, after the filing of our opening appellate brief, we obtained a mediated settlement for a fraction of the original verdict.
- Convinced the First Court of Appeals in Houston to affirm the trial court's order holding one of the defendants, a company based in India, subject to personal jurisdiction in the Texas courts with respect to claims asserting trade-secret misappropriation, fraudulent transfer, and related theories.
- Persuaded the Austin Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court’s orders dismissing Travis Central Appraisal District’s lawsuit on pleas to the jurisdiction. As a result, TCAD may proceed with its challenge to the Appraisal Review Board’s $20 million reduction to TCAD’s appraisal of a major commercial property in Austin.
- Persuaded the Texas Supreme Court to grant mandamus relief enabling the client to obtain discovery from third-party medical providers regarding amounts and rates paid or incurred by patients who were similarly-situated to plaintiffs. This discovery was sought in connection with client's defense against plaintiffs' multi-million-dollar damage claims for past medical expenses.
- Convinced the Fifth Circuit to affirm the district court's dismissal of a complaint, which made broad allegations regarding acreage and mineral rights, for failure to state a claim.
- Persuaded Fifth Circuit to affirm a take-nothing summary judgment in favor of fracking engine manufacturer in products liability action seeking $15 million in damages arising from fire at a wellsite.
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, Member
- Houston Bar Association, Appellate Practice Section, Council Member, 2023 – present
- Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, Fellow, Class 2020
- Houston Young Lawyers Association, Board of Directors, 2020-2021
- Houston Young Lawyers Association, Leadership Academy, 2018–2019
- Named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in Appellate, Thomson Reuters, 2024
- "Appellate Review of Non-Economic Damages: Thoughts in Response," co-author, Texas Bar Journal, January 2024.
- "The Texas Third Court of Appeals Weighs in on Production Sharing Agreement Wells,” author, Haynes Boone client alert, July 10, 2023.
- Columnist forThe Appellate Lawyer publication of the Houston Bar Association:
- "The Casteel Doctrine, Evidence, and Argument: Horton v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co.," November 2023.
- "The Texas Supreme Court’s “Utilitarian Standpoint” in Contract Construction," June 2023.
- "The Fate of the Texas Law of the Case Doctrine after Mitschke v. Borromeo," February 2023.
- "Issue v. Argument Preservation," October 2022.
- "A Couple Developments in Preserving Evidentiary Errors in Summary Judgment Practice," July 2022.
- "The Timing of Record Supplements on Appeal," April 2022.
- “The Scope of Permissive Interlocutory Appeals in Texas,” January 2022.
- “The Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine’s ‘Inherently Judicial’ Boundary Under Texas Law,” October 2021.
- "The Use of Scattergrams to Challenge Extreme Verdicts: A Case Study," co-author, The Texas Lawbook, September 19, 2023.
- "The Texas Supreme Court’s “Utilitarian Standpoint” in Contract Construction," June 2023.
- "Straehla's Presumed Duties," author, The Houston Lawyer, Volume 58 – Number 6, May/June 2021.
- “Midstream Gas Gathering and Processing Agreements in Bankruptcy – A Hot Topic,” presenter, Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Oil Crash Course, October 14, 2020.
- “Fifth Circuit Update,” co-author, The Appellate Advocate, State Bar of Texas Appellate Section, 2020–present.
Education
J.D., Duke University School of Law, 2017, cum laude; Editorial Board, Duke Law Journal
LL.M., in International and Comparative Law, Duke University School of Law, 2017
B.A., University of Kentucky, 2014, summa cum laude
Clerkships
Law Clerk to the Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, August 2018 - August 2019
Law Clerk to the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, August 2017 - August 2018
Admissions
Texas
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
The Third Court of Appeals issued a ruling on March 17, 2023 in Luminant Energy Co. LLC v. Public Utility Commission of Texas, No. 03-21-00098-CV, that may require the resettlement of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (“ERCOT”) market for the majority of hours during Winter Storm Uri. A motion for rehearing en banc or petition to the Texas Supreme Court is expected, which will preven [...]
Texas Super Lawyers Lists 24 Haynes Boone Attorneys as 2024 Rising Stars
March 22, 2024
Haynes Boone Wins Precedent-Setting Workers' Compensation Appeal for ExxonMobil
February 29, 2024