Elizabeth Ryan joined Coats Rose as a Director in 2012. A former editor of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s magazine, she has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in the area of professional malpractice law, and was most recently featured in their 2012 listing. Additionally, Elizabeth has been named a Louisiana Super Lawyers® in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for her work in class action/mass torts, transportation/maritime and environmental law. She has lectured on numerous occasions regarding environmental, insurance and professional topics, and is an adjunct professor at the Tulane University Law School.
Elizabeth pursued architecture studies at the Tulane School of Architecture (1975-1976). In law school she served on the Moot Court of Tulane University Law School, and as an editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal. Additionally, she clerked for the Honorable George Arceneaux, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (1980-1981).
Elizabeth practices in the area of general civil litigation, with a concentration in admiralty, construction, environmental, insurance defense and coverage, and pharmaceutical and medical device law. For over 30 years, she has litigated matters involving toxic tort, class action, maritime personal injury and property damages, personal property damage arising out of fire, products liability, pharmaceuticals, interstate transportation of hazardous substances and the sale of same by maritime transporters. Elizabeth also serves as a mediator and an umpire in insurance appraisal matters and is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.
Newcomb College of Tulane University (B.A., 1975)
Tulane School of Architecture (1975-1976)
Tulane University Law School (J.D., 1980)
Louisiana, 1980
Texas, 1992
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 1992
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 2008
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana, 1980
U.S. District Court Middle District of Louisiana, 1981
U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana, 1987
American Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association (Member; former Secretary; Long-Range Planning Committee: Member, 1998; Professionalism & Quality of Life Committee: Chair, 1991-1992)
Texas State Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
New Orleans Bar Association
International Association of Defense Counsel (Board of Editors; Member and Vice Chair of Articles of Defense Counsel Journal; Former Chair, Energy, Environmental and Maritime Committee, Former Chair, National Membership Committee; Former Chair, Resource Development Committee)
Mediation Arbitration Professional Systems Inc. (Mediator)
Louisiana Bar Foundation (Louis Moreau-Lislet Fellow; Judicial Liaison Committee, 1999-2001)
Louisiana State Bar Association Journal (Associate Editor, 1997-1999; Editor-in-Chief, 1999-2001)
John R. Brown National Moot Court Competition (Judge, 2000)
LSBA Board of Governors (Governor, 1996-1999, 2001-2004; Secretary, 1999-2001; Liaison to Professionalism and Quality of Life Committee, 1997-2000; Liaison to Public Information Committee, 1999-2002; Liaison to Federal Bench Bar Committee, 1996-1999; Appointee to Civil Justice and Law in Education Diversity Forum, 2003
Ad Hoc Committee To Consider Rule Revisions For Louisiana Bar Admissions (Member)
Development Committee of the Civil Law Enrichment Initiative of Tulane Law School (Member)
Family Services of Greater New Orleans (Chair; former Treasurer and Board Member), A United Way Agency (current Chair elect; Treasurer; Board Member)
New Orleans Museum of Art (current Chair, NOMA Volunteer Committee Elect; Volunteer Committee; former Parliamentarian)
Garden District Association (past President; former two-term Board Member)
New Orleans City Ballet (former Board Member; former Executive Committee Member)
Friends of the Cabildo (former Board Member)
Lighthouse for the Blind (former Chair)
Metropolitan Area Committee (former participant)
Council for International Visitors (former Member)
St. Elizabeth’s Home Advisory Board (former Board Member; Vice President)
St. Alphonsus Parish Council (former Board Member)
New Orleans Spring Fiesta Association (Advisory Board Member/Legal Advisor)
Foreign Relations Association (Former Board Member; Executive Committee Member)
- Jones Act Seaman and the Award for Loss of Society: A Post-Higginbotham Analysis-Ivy v. Security Barge Lines, Inc., Vol. 4 The Maritime Lawyer, No. 1
- Preemption in Products Liability Cases: An Analysis of Federal Product Preemption Under FIFRA and Bates v. Dow Agrosciences (co-authored with William M. Davis), Defense Counsel Journal, Volume 73, No. 2, 2007
- “Masters of the Courtroom,” New Orleans Bar Association, December 2011
- "What to Expect in Arbitration," New Orleans Bar Association, Litigation Lessons for Lawyers, New Orleans, September 2, 2010
- “2008 Maritime Update,” New Orleans Bar Association, December 2008
- “Current Developments in Ethics,” MAPS, November 2006
- Presenter/Facilitator, LSBA/LCE Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Landmark Case, “Brown v. Board: A Lesson on Courage,” University of New Orleans, 2004
- Speaker, Defense Research Institute, Insurance Coverage & Claims Institute Seminar, Chicago, Illinois, May 2002
- “Practical and Ethical Implications of the Mandatory Disclosure Requirements and Proposed Amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26”—IADC Toxic and Hazardous Substance Committee Annual Meeting, Whistler, British Columbia, July 1999
- Speaker, “Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability,” Tulane School of Law, Maritime Law Seminar, September 1998
- Speaker, 2nd Annual Professional Development Seminar, LSBA Professionalism & Quality of Life Mid-Year Meeting, Young Lawyers Division, January 1998
- “Neutering the Pit Bull Opponent—a Non-Surgical Approach,” LSBA Annual Meeting, Professionalism & Quality of Life Committee/Bench & Bar Section, June 1997
- Lecture on Environmental Law/Toxic Torts—Stuart Clan Presentation, March 1996
- Lecture on Judiciary’s Role in Promoting Professionalism, ABA Panel, August 1995 and Louisiana Judicial College Meeting , June 1995
- Lecture on Women in Litigation, Tulane Law School, March 1994
- Lecture on Toxic Tort Law in Louisiana, Environmental Awareness Seminar, Lafayette, LA, May 1993
- Lecture on Air Pollution Control for Government Institutes, Inc., New Orleans, LA, Dec. 1993
- Lecture on Interpretation of Pollution Exclusion Provisions at the Environmental Expo, New Orleans, LA, 1992
- Top 25 Women Attorneys in Louisiana 2012
- Best Lawyers in America® - Professional Malpractice Law
- Louisiana Super Lawyers® 2007, 2008, 2009—Class Action/Mass Torts; Transportation/Maritime; Environmental
- Faculty Member, IADC Trial Academy, Stanford University, 2004
- Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy Faculty, Loyola University Law School, 1999 and 2000
- Adjunct Faculty—Negotiations & Mediation Advocacy Skills, Tulane University School of Law, Spring 2002 – Present
- Young Career Woman Program, Citation of Honor
- APEX Award Winner, Louisiana State Bar Association Journal
- Federal Judicial Clerkship, The Honorable George Arceneaux, Jr., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 1980-1981
- The Maritime Lawyer (Member; Board of Editors)
- Moot Court Board of Editors (Member)
- Tulane Law School (Senior Fellow)
- Jessup International Moot Court Regional Competition (Team Member)
- Alpha Lambda Delta (Member)