Hamilton, Jeffrey A.

A former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (2000-2001), Ed Ryan has significant jury and non-jury trial experience in both state and federal courts in a diverse array of matters including criminal, civil personal injury, civil rights litigation, and divorce and estate matters. He has also served by court appointment as a discovery master and guardian ad litem, monitoring litigation for the court and reviewing accounts in estate matters.

In private practice since 1977, Mr. Ryan worked as an assistant district attorney in Worcester County for two years after graduating magna cum laude from Suffolk University Law School. He received his undergraduate degree from Wheeling Jesuit College in 1972.

As a practicing attorney, Mr. Ryan has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, including his successful defense of a homeless person against manslaughter charges stemming from the tragic Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire. Mr. Ryan's handling of that case was cited by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly when it named him one of the Lawyers of the Year in 2000.

As labor counsel to the cities of Fitchburg and Gardner, Mr. Ryan has negotiated labor contracts on behalf of the municipalities as well as handling a wide variety of labor disputes as an advocate and hearing officer. More recently he has served as counsel to various unions. Mr. Ryan has represented both employees and corporate employers in various private sector labor matters.

In addition to serving as president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the state's largest bar group, Mr. Ryan has served as president of the Worcester County Bar Association, the Northern Worcester County Bar Association and the Bar Advocates of Worcester County, Inc. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

Mr. Ryan is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He is on the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel list of attorneys approved for appointment in murder cases, and is also on the Federal Criminal Justice Act panel of attorneys qualified to accept appointment in federal criminal cases in Massachusetts.

Martindale-Hubbell, the nation's premier attorney directory, has given Mr. Ryan a rating of AV, its highest rating for lawyers.