Ryan Spear
- Seattle
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Clients turn to Ryan for litigation experience and strategic counseling on cutting-edge privacy, security, and artificial intelligence issues.
The world's most innovative companies engage Ryan Spear to represent them in complex class-action cases involving biometric privacy, including cases arising under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). He has achieved notable victories and favorable settlements for clients in several significant BIPA matters across the country. Ryan also has extensive experience litigating individual and class-action cases arising under other privacy and data security laws, including the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, and the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
In addition to his litigation practice, Ryan counsels clients on the complex patchwork of federal, state, and local laws governing privacy, security, and artificial intelligence, including Section 5 of the FTC Act; the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA); other consumer privacy laws; and emerging laws and regulations focused on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision making.
Ryan also has more than a decade of experience counseling clients on content moderation issues and has represented some of the world's foremost companies in high-profile cases involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the First Amendment.
Ryan was previously a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel, a bipartisan organization created by Congress to oversee the U.S. Department of the Treasury's response to the 2008 financial crisis. He also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Prior to attending law school, Ryan worked in social services, with a focus on affordable housing and refugee rights.
Areas of focus
Industries
Services
Education & Credentials
Education
- Harvard Law School, J.D., Editor, Harvard Law Review, 2007
- University of Washington, B.A., English, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1997
Bar and Court Admissions
-
Washington
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Related Employment
- Congressional Oversight Panel, Washington, D.C., Legislative Fellow, 2009
- Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, Summer Associate, 2006
- Counterterrorism Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., Clinical Intern, Fall 2005
Clerkships
- Hon. Paul Friedman, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Professional Recognition
Listed in Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers, 2024-2025
Listed as a "Washington Rising Star" by Super Lawyers Magazine, 2017-2018
