Amy L. Ruhland
PartnerAmy L. Ruhland is a trial lawyer and trusted advisor who represents clients in high stakes disputes globally. She has held numerous leadership positions at DLA Piper and as a partner at her prior AmLaw 100 firm. Based on her long track record of success and her depth and breadth of experience, clients turn to Amy for advice when facing their toughest legal battles.
Amy has significant trial experience, having tried cases in state and federal courts across the country. She has also handled her clients' most difficult appeals, including appeals to the Texas Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition, Amy has an active arbitration practice, representing clients in a variety of national and international tribunals, including the AAA, JAMS, the ICC, the LCIA, and UNCITRAL.
Amy's litigation practice spans a broad range of subject matters, including financial services, class action defense, mass torts and products liability, bankruptcy, insurance coverage, and trade secrets. She has represented Fortune 500 and international companies in a broad spectrum of sectors, including the pharmaceutical, automotive, medical device, entertainment, technology, financial services, and energy industries.
Among her trial successes, Amy co-chaired a month-long jury trial in New York, in which her team won a full defense verdict in a multi-million-dollar breach of contract lawsuit filed by 31 plaintiffs against one of the world's largest logistics companies. In another case, Amy represented a private equity fund in a two-week bench trial in Delaware Chancery Court, successfully defeating breach of contract and tort claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Based on her successful track record, Amy has been recognized numerous times by the Legal 500 US for her excellence in securities litigation and products liability and mass torts defense.
Amy is a frequent speaker and author on civil litigation topics. Most recently, she authored an updated edition of the Attorney-Client Privilege Answer Book, published by the Practicing Law Institute. She also has been featured on CBS News for her work in voting rights litigation.
In addition to her litigation practice, Amy is active in the legal community. She has served on the Board of the Texas General Counsel Forum since 2021, and she serves as a mentor for future women leaders through the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas. She is also an active member of the Travis County Women Lawyers Association, where she has spoken on topics ranging from federal court practice to best practices for business and professional development.
- J.D., University of Texas School of Law
with honors - B.A., Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
with honors
Awards
- The Legal 500 United States
2018, 2020 - Recommended, Securities Litigation: Defense
Bylines
- Attorney-Client Privilege Answer Book. Practising Law Institute, 2022.
- A Challenge to Women Litigators: Move past Statistics and Into the Courtroom, Law.com an ALM Website (November 22, 2016)
- Additional Civil Appeals: Texas, Practical Law Company's State Q&A (August 12, 2015)
- Initial civil Appeals: Texas, Practical Law Company's State Q&A (August 12, 2015)
- 4 Tips for Avoiding 'Do Not Call' Lawsuits, Corporate Counsel (February 19, 2015)
- Commencing an Action: Texas, Practical Law Company's State Q&A (January 6, 2015)
- Additional Civil Appeals: Texas, Practical Law Company's State Q&A (July 11, 2014)
- Initial Civil Appeals: Texas, Practical Law Company's State Q&A (July 2, 2014)
- Texas Regulation and Legislation to Watch in 2013, Interview with Law360 (January 1, 2013)
- KeyBank Case Could Gut Consumer, Employee Class Claims, Interview with Law360 (December 10, 2012)
- The SPILL Act: How Recent Oil Spill Legislation May Contaminate Future Class Actions, LJN Product Liability Law & Strategy (Jan. 2011)
- Venezuela: Foreign Investors on the Road to Arbitration, PetroleumWorld.com
- Court Is Not the Answer for Securities Arbitration Disputes, Alternatives (CPR Institute), Vol. 25, Issue 8 (September 7, 2007)
Seminars
- A Day in Federal Court: Trial and Post-Trial Practice in Federal Court – The Travis County Women Lawyers Association, Austin, TX (May 5, 2017)
- Regulatory Reform and the Trump Administration: Initiatives and Challenges – a Webinar presented in Washington, D.C. (April 26, 2017)
- Breaking the Courtroom Glass Ceiling: What Women Do That Works – CLE Seminar presented in New York, NY (April 17, 2017)
- Voir Dire and Jury Selection in Drug and Medical Device Cases, DRI Drug & Device Seminar presented in Philadelphia, PA (December 13, 2016)
- How to Take and Defend Expert Depositions – CLE Seminar presented in New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA (December 8 and December 11, 2016)
- Proposition 65 and California's War on Chemicals: Why It Affects Your Clients – CLE Seminar presented in New York, NY (November 20, 2014)
- Deadening the Blow of California Initiatives that Impose Arduous Conditions on Manufacturers: Proposition 65, Labeling, Green Chemistry – American Conference Institute's 5th Annual Forum on Chemical Products Liability and Environmental Litigation, presented in Chicago Illinois (April 29, 2014)
- The Future of Food: Labeling and Litigation – CLE Seminar presented in Philadelphia, PA (April 5, 2013)
- Hot Topics in Energy and How They Affect Your Practice – CLE Seminar presented in Philadelphia, PA (October 12, 2012)
- Product Liability in 2012: Surveying the Emerging Landscape – CLE Seminar presented in Philadelphia, PA (April 18, 2012)
- Consumer Class Actions in the Wake of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes – CLE Seminar presented in Philadelphia, PA (April 18, 2012)