RYAN M. GAYLORD
Ryan M. Gaylord practices both federal appellate litigation and general business law. Ryan has successfully filed dispositive motions and merits briefs in a diverse array of cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, including a complex bankruptcy dispute in which he participated in oral argument and won a unanimous published decision. Ryan also represents indigent federal criminal defendants as a Criminal Justice Act panel attorney for the Fourth Circuit.
In the transactional context, Ryan's practice includes mergers and acquisitions, financing and securities law, entity formation and governance, commercial contracts, and intellectual property issues. He has particular expertise in advising tax-exempt organizations and business entities in the music, esports, and online media production industries.
Ryan was born and raised in North Carolina. He graduated from Duke University and the University of Chicago Law School. Before joining Bell, Davis & Pitt in 2020, Ryan clerked on the Fourth Circuit, where his caseload encompassed jurisdictional issues, contract and insurance disputes, tax litigation, federal habeas petitions, and a wide range of other appeals.
In his free time, Ryan is enthusiastic about music performance, composition, and production — from Romantic Period piano to Arabic and Korean hip-hop — as well as basketball, strategy games, and competitive powerlifting. Ryan is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Winston-Salem Symphony, where he chairs the Inclusion Taskforce and serves on the Music Director Search Committee.
EDUCATION
Duke University (B.A., 2015); Trinity Scholar
The University of Chicago Law School (J.D., 2018); comments editor, Chicago Journal of International Law
BAR & COURT ADMITTANCE
North Carolina, 2018
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2019
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