Austin appellate attorney Ryan Clinton is a former State Assistant Solicitor General who provides Hankinson LLP’s clients a strong presence in the Texas capital. Ryan has successfully represented clients in the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, several Texas intermediate courts, and the United States Supreme Court. A talented courtroom advocate, Ryan has successfully delivered almost twenty oral arguments, including four in the Texas Supreme Court alone, and has established a reputation for handling high-profile and high-impact cases. For example, Ryan successfully defended 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, the Texas Attorney General in a suit filed by a Texas school district over the release of public bonds, and a hospital in a Tort Claims Act case involving multiple courts of appeals and thousands of potential plaintiffs.

Ryan’s legal accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. He has eight times been named one of Texas’s best appellate attorneys under 40 by Texas Rising Stars, as chosen by the Texas Super Lawyers/Thomson Reuters legal division and published in Texas Monthly magazine. 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 governmental entity litigation, the Texas Tort Claims Act, and representing clients before the Texas Supreme Court. His wide appellate experience includes handling personal injury appeals, employment appeals, oil and gas appeals, intellectual property appeals, government and constitutional appeals, and breach of contract appeals.

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. Although Ryan was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has lived in Texas for over a decade, he nonetheless asserts that he bleeds Duke Blue, and has been known to sport face paint among the infamous “Cameron Crazies.”

Ryan has also been honored for his charitable endeavors. He is a nationally recognized advocate for companion animals, receiving the Oakland, California-based No Kill Advocacy Center’s Henry Bergh Leadership Award in 2009 for his work to reform animal shelters locally and nationally. He has also written guest commentary published in the Austin American-Statesman, the Durham Herald-Sun, and the Contra Costa Times, and his work to improve the lives of lost and homeless pets has been featured in newspapers and magazines across the country.