Mr. Ryan drafted a successful writ application to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which granted summary judgment and "drove a stake through the heart" of a case described by the United States Fifth Circuit as an "immortal vampire." See St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Williamson, 332 F.3d 304, 310 (5th Cir. 2003). The plaintiff, Sonya Williamson, asserted that she was rendered a quadriplegic after being shocked by a hanging lamp in an Alexandria, Louisiana, hotel. Subsequent discovery revealed perhaps the most lengthy and well-documented enterprise of insurance fraud in Louisiana history. See Williamson v. Haynes Best Western, 688 So.2d 1201 (La.App 4th Cir. 1997). The ensuing litigation lasted sixteen years and touched every judicial venue in Louisiana before the Louisiana Supreme Court granted the defendant's writ application.
Williamson v. Haynes Best Western of Alexandria, Inc.