Ryan P. Forrest focuses his practice on high-risk litigation in federal and state courts. He has a wide range of experience litigating matters involving class actions, technology, financial services, administrative law, and international law.
Prior to joining Littler, Ryan clerked for U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. While there, he handled civil and criminal cases at the trial level, and worked on appellate matters when Judge Chappell sat by designation on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Before that, he was an attorney at a litigation boutique, where he handled numerous federal class action matters involving global technology companies. He also advised clients on issues involving trademark law and international trade with Cuba, and he worked with members of Congress to form a pediatric cancer research reform bill.
During law school, Ryan was an articles and comments editor for the Inter-American Law Review.
Selected Matters
Ryan has litigated numerous cases where he obtained favorable results for clients, including:
- Securing a complete defense verdict for a multistate services company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in a case involving several separate Florida Civil Rights Act claims.
- Defeating a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of a major financial institution in a case involving a complex issue of third-party standing to enforce the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Defeating a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of a major financial institution in a case involving alleged violations of the Florida Whistleblower Act and Florida’s Civil Remedies for Criminal Practices Act.
- Securing summary judgment for a major air carrier in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in a heavily-litigated failure to accommodate case under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Securing a complete defense ruling for a multistate technology installation company in an arbitration involving Fair Labor Standards Act claims for allegedly unpaid overtime wages.
- Securing summary judgment for a national landscaping company in an arbitration involving claims for defamation and retaliation under the Florida Whistleblower Act.
- Securing summary judgment for a regional product company in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in a case featuring claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Florida Minimum Wage Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Florida Whistleblower Act.