Mr. Ryan enrolled as appellate counsel after the Cadillac Cafe was held liable for a bar fight in which one patron smashed a beer bottle on the face of another. The evidence showed that following a verbal altercation, Benjamin Meadors was approached and confronted by Paul Broussard in the parking lot of the Cadillac Cafe in Baton Rouge, LA. Meadors had exited the bar with a beer bottle, in violation of Baton Rouge’s “open container” ordinance, and he reacted to Broussard’s approach by striking him in the face with the beer bottle. Meadors fled the scene but was chased down and caught by the Cadillac Cafe's bouncers. The case was tried to Judge Wilson Fields, who found Cadillac Cafe 60% at fault, Meadors 30% at fault, and Broussard 10% at fault. Mr. Ryan enrolled as appellate counsel and successfully argued that the Cadillac Cafe had not breached any legal duty to Broussard. Broussard's claims against Cadillac Cafe were dismissed.
Broussard v. Gallo, 2012-CA-239 (La.App. 1 Cir. 11/2/2012).