Ryan Ethridge is a senior associate in the Litigation & Trial Practice Group in the firm’s Research Triangle Park office, where his business litigation practice focuses on complex commercial and financial services litigation, as well as the defense of class actions and business torts. A former law clerk to The Honorable Albert Diaz, currently on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, he now defends claims arising under various federal statutes, including the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), as well as state unfair or deceptive trade practices acts and common law theories.
Mr. Ethridge received his J.D. with highest honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2008, where he was awarded entry into the Order of the Coif. As a member of the North Carolina Law Review, he served as a comments editor and received the Thornton H. Brooks Award Scholarship for Law Review excellence. Mr. Ethridge received a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003.
Mr. Ethridge is admitted to practice in North Carolina’s state and federal courts, as well as the Fourth Circuit.
- Representing mortgage servicer in putative class action involving allegations of wrongful imposition of lender-placed insurance.
- Obtained settlement in suit filed on behalf of finance company client against equipment supplier alleging fraudulent scheme in breach of vendor agreement.
- Representing bank in putative nationwide class action alleging consumer fraud in connection with bank’s refinance alternative program.
- Representing Fortune 500 bank in mass action alleging conspiracy to defraud group of real estate purchasers within coastal developments.
- Defended construction company in two related actions brought by its first- and second-tier subcontractors seeking funds allegedly due on ongoing construction projects.
- Defended mortgage servicer in consumer lawsuits involving claims under the FDCPA and FCRA and claims alleging improper foreclosure procedures.
- Effectuated commercial foreclosure on behalf of Fortune 500 company.
- Represented payday lender in appeal of North Carolina trial court’s certification of class action and denial of motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and subject matter.
- Obtained summary judgment and denial of class certification on behalf of mortgage servicer in putative class action by mortgage borrowers.
- Defense of banks, mortgage lenders, consumer lenders and other financial services companies in actions involving claims arising under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state unfair or deceptive trade practices acts, predatory lending and usury statutes, and state common law theories.
- Represented a Fortune 500 national bank in an action by hundreds of plaintiffs alleging claims of civil RICO, fraud, conspiracy, negligence and other common law claims.
- Advised a lender during a foreclosure process in connection with a $29 million facility.
- Represented a mortgage lender in a putative class action alleging claims under TILA, RESPA, South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, civil conspiracy, negligent misrepresentation and unconscionability.
- Represented a Fortune 500 national bank before a local agency against a claim of housing discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act.
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April 10, 2012
Publications
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"What Is and What Should Never Be Privileged in North Carolina: The Peer Review Privilege After Armstrong v. Barnes," North Carolina Law Review, Vol. 85, September 2007.
September 2007
- North Carolina Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Supreme Court Historical Society