Ryan J. Watson

Ryan J. Watson is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and is a member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group.

Mr. Watson has participated in a variety of litigation matters before the Supreme Court of the United States, other appellate courts, and trial courts.  Representative matters include: 

• Successful merits briefing in a landmark Supreme Court case that the New York Times labeled a “doctrinal earthquake” because it overruled two Supreme Court precedents and established the First Amendment right of corporations to spend general treasury funds on speech that is intended to influence elections.
• Successful petition for a writ of certiorari and merits briefing in a 9-0 Supreme Court victory involving the interpretation of the federal “honest services” fraud statute and the rules for preserving a challenge to legally erroneous jury instructions.
• Successful merits briefing in a Supreme Court case that limited the federal government’s authority to take land into trust.
• Successful briefing in a federal appellate case that unanimously established researchers’ standing to seek an injunction of allegedly illegal guidelines for federal research funding.
• Successful briefing that resulted in dismissal with prejudice of legal malpractice claims in a putative class action.

Mr. Watson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Mr. Watson earned his law degree with highest honors in 2007 from The George Washington University Law School, where he was a Notes Editor on The George Washington Law Review.  While in law school, Mr. Watson also co-authored a case note that was published in The George Washington Law Review.  In addition, his team won The George Washington International Law Moot Court Competition, he received the Best Overall Competitor and Best Brief Awards in that competition, and he was a member of the Moot Court Board.  He received the Willard Waddington Gatchell Award for graduating as one of the top three students in his law school class and was a Presidential Merit Scholar.  Mr. Watson graduated first in his class from Messiah College with a degree in Economics.  As an undergraduate, he was an NCAA Scholar-Athlete and he received the Outstanding Achievement in Economics Award and the Boyer Scholar Award for exemplary scholarship, leadership, and service.

Mr. Watson is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  He has also served as an adjunct professor in The George Washington University Law School’s Scholarly Writing Program.