Ryland A. Doerr

Ryland joined Calfee in 2022. Prior to joining Calfee, Ryland served as an intern with the Supreme Court of Ohio for the Honorable Justice Sharon Kennedy and with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio for the Honorable Judge John Hoffman. He also gained experience working with the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission and the Entrepreneurial Business Law and Legislation Clinics, where he advised a local nonprofit and an early stage entrepreneur.

Ryland earned his J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he was an online editor of the Ohio State Law Journal, authoring three student commentaries selected for publication and selecting and editing an additional 12 student commentaries for publication in the Sixth Circuit Review. In addition, he gained experience as a research assistant in the Moritz College of Law, where he researched cases, collected data, and reviewed law articles.

Ryland earned his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Leadership Studies, graduating magna cum laude, from Humboldt State University, now known as Cal Poly Humboldt.

Prior to his law career, Ryland was a Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) in the United States Air Force.

Honors & Recognitions

• Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation (2025)
• Ohio Super Lawyers, Ohio Rising Stars, Business Litigation (2025)
• CALI Excellence Awards for Legal Analysis, Writing I & II,  DC Ethics, DC Externship, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Dealmaking, 2020
• 3 Air Force Commendation Medals
• Airman Leadership School Distinguished Graduate and Academic Achiever

Education

J.D., cum laude, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 2022

B.A., magna cum laude, Interdisciplinary Studies: Leadership Studies, Humboldt State University, 2018

Experience

Representative Business, Corporate, and Commercial Litigation Matters

• Calfee is prosecuting fraud, civil conspiracy, fiduciary duty, derivative claim, promissory estoppel and unjust enrichment causes of action against the Defendants on behalf of our client, a multi-state and multinational holding company in a case that involves the interplay, factually and legally, between private company ownership rights, minority interests, private equity, management issues, business judgment decisions, related party transactions, self-dealing, and similar topics.
• Calfee served as lead litigation counsel for one of the nation’s premier retirement systems. The client issued an RFP for the administration of its Medicare and non-Medicare healthcare benefits plans beginning January 1, 2024. After a thorough evaluation of the applicants, the client selected a healthcare services provider as a single provider for both the Medicare and non-Medicare benefits. An unrelated private health insurer challenged the selection process and filed a TRO to prevent the client from executing the contract with the selected provider and from proceeding with the selected provider as a single provider of medical benefits for the over 110,000 retirees. The unrelated private health insurer’s main arguments were that the client did not follow the state’s public procurement statutes and that the client violated the RFP in numerous ways, including, but not limited to, relying on unannounced criteria, communicating directly with applicants outside the RFP process, ignoring certain federal standards pertaining to the administration of Medicare plans, and by rejecting the recommendation of a third-party hired to assist the client with the RFP process. Because of the TRO, and because the client had limited time to complete contract negotiations before the January 1, 2024 go-live date, the case was set on an expedited track. The Court granted our client’s motion for summary judgment. Shortly thereafter, the unrelated private health insurer filed an appeal; however, before their appellate brief was due, the party dismissed the appeal. It was a complete victory for Calfee’s client.
• Calfee is serving as lead counsel in a litigation matter involving the prosecution, on behalf of the client, of fraud, civil conspiracy, fiduciary duty, derivative claim, promissory estoppel, and unjust enrichment against the Defendants.
• Calfee served as foreclosure and collections counsel for a foreign limited liability company client with respect to defaults on a secured promissory note. The client purchased a loan made to several medical practice entities owned by or affiliated with one specific doctor. The note was secured by mortgages on four different commercial properties. Calfee obtained a cognovit judgment against several borrowers and guarantors and is foreclosing on the secured properties.

Representative Environmental Litigation Matters

• Calfee is serving as the lead environmental litigation counsel for a globally recognized designer and manufacturer. This client was sued in federal court over an alleged discharge of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances from its facility. This is a federal class action suit against multiple entities in the carpet industry for alleged PFAS contamination of drinking water, with remedy sought being a proportionate share of replacing a local land application system from process water discharge. (2024)
• Calfee is serving as the lead Environmental Defense Counsel for the subsidiary of a publicly traded, Fortune 500 manufacturing client in a matter involving a demand by the Massachusetts regulatory authority and potentially responsible parties in a CERCLA matter for alleged PFAS contamination of soil at a composting site where the client delivered waste.
• Calfee is serving as the lead Environmental Litigation counsel for a global manufacturing company. This client was sued in federal court over an alleged discharge of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances from its facility. This is a federal class action suit against multiple entities for alleged PFAS contamination of drinking water, with the remedy sought being a proportionate share of replacing a local land application system from process water discharge.