Ryan C. Edwards

Ryan focuses much of his practice on complex litigation, especially mass tort actions and multi-district litigation involving pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Over the last several years, he was part of the national counsel team defending one of the world’s largest orthopedic manufacturers against more than 3,000 individual product liability lawsuits relating to hip implant devices. He has a particular interest in the area where legal and complex medical issues overlap, and has deposed more than 150 orthopedic surgeons in nearly every state in the country.

Additionally, a substantial portion of Ryan’s practice is presently devoted to product liability defense involving industrial machinery. He serves as national outside product liability counsel for a large manufacturer in investigations and litigation over economic losses and injury claims arising from fires, explosions, water damage, equipment failures, and product contamination. Ryan works regularly with mechanical and chemical engineers, certified fire investigators, metallurgists, and other specialized experts in evaluating root cause to provide clients with advice as early as possible so they can make cost-effective legal and business decisions based on solid scientific and engineering analysis. 

Ryan is presently defending clients in mass tort litigations relating to sports concussions and hernia mesh devices. He served as co-lead counsel for several pharmaceutical manufacturers in multi-district litigation in the Eastern District of Kentucky captioned In re Darvocet, Darvon and Propoxyphene Products Liability Litigation, and obtained dismissals of every case against the firm’s clients in the pre-discovery phase of the litigation.

Ryan’s personal injury and product liability practice spans state and federal courts in Ohio, Kentucky, and jurisdictions throughout the United States. He is experienced in all aspects of the litigation process, including pre-suit investigations, bench and jury trials, arbitrations, and mediations. Other representative matters include:

• Defense of retailers and manufacturers in product liability claims.
• Representation of both individuals and retailers in slip and fall and construction site accidents.
• Defense of medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors.
• Representation of both individuals and business entities in automobile, trucking and pedestrian accidents, many of which included death or permanent and catastrophic injuries. 

Ryan is also a trained mediator, having recently completed the intensive Mediating the Litigated Case program at the Straus Institute at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, one of the world’s leading academic and training centers for alternative dispute resolution.