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Ryann A. Glenn

Ryann A. Glenn

Partner
Overview

Ryann co-leads Husch Blackwell’s Animal Health and Production team, supporting clients whose work centers on the livestock and companion animal industries.

Ryann speaks the language of the farming industry, having been surrounded by a farming community her entire life—and understands the vital role it plays across the globe. Her background and her passion for agriculture have long made the field a natural fit for her legal practice.

Ryann has litigated numerous cases in state and federal district courts across the nation. She also regularly helps clients resolve matters through alternative dispute resolution processes, understanding the practical business disruption that litigation can cause to both clients’ businesses and personal lives. Ryann has extensive experience managing complex litigation, including highly nuanced trade secret litigation, breach of contract matters or other commercial disputes that arise for food systems clients, as well as product defect and product recall claims. She is a member of the firm’s initiative focused on the protection of company trade secrets and leads these legal teams in multiple federal districts.

Ryann is also knowledgeable about the eDiscovery process and the firm’s eDiscovery tools. She understands that this can be a complex, expensive part of litigation, and she works to build an eDiscovery team from the outset of a litigation matter with the aim of making the process simpler, more efficient and less expensive for the client.

Alongside her litigation work, Ryann also provides counsel on food regulatory laws, guiding clients through reviews of their food safety plans and navigating recalls. She is particularly experienced with animal health and production matters and works frequently with clients in these industries. Ryann is PCQI certified in animal feed, allowing her to consult with clients regarding food safety plans for animal feed production.

Ryann’s personal familiarity with farming, coupled with her professional experience, allows for a truly thoughtful, business-minded approach to a client’s issues in order to tackle each case from a business perspective with a personalized strategy. Ryann approaches litigation as an exercise in strategic problem-solving, with a goal of resolving matters where possible so that clients can continue to succeed while focusing on their business.

Industry

Services

Recognition

  • Benchmark Litigation, 40 & Under List, 2023 and 2024
  • Great Plains Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2019-2020

Education

  • J.D., Creighton University School of Law
    • cum laude
  • B.A., Augustana College
    • cum laude

Admissions

  • Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa
  • Nebraska
  • U.S. District Court, Nebraska
  • U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Iowa Association for Justice, Board Member 2013-2017
  • Pottawattamie County Bar Association, Vice-President 2013-present
  • Iowa State Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Association
  • Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys
  • Omaha Bar Association
  • Women in Agribusiness, regular presenter and member
  • PCQI Certified for Animal Feed

Languages

  • Spanish, conversational
Featured Experience

An Intellectual Property Defense

Our client Farmobile, an independent farm data company, faced allegations that it misappropriated trade secrets from a competitor. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court sought a judgment declaring the plaintiff to be the owner of certain Farmobile intellectual property.

Persuasive argument by the Husch Blackwell team resulted in a complete victory on summary judgment for Farmobile. In dismissing all claims, the judge wrote that the plaintiff "failed to identify any use or disclosure of the alleged trade secrets" and failed to prove it was entitled to damages or relief.


Additional Experience
  • Obtained motion to dismiss in U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, on behalf of one of the nation's largest ethanol producers, dismissing our client from trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit after presenting unrebutted evidence proving a lack of personal jurisdiction. Court found arguments persuasive, indicating "Plaintiff has done little other than show that some subsidiaries do some business in the state, which courts have repeatedly affirmed is not enough." Dismissal allowed our client to avoid significant additional time, effort and expense associated with a lengthy discovery process.
  • Extensive litigation experience in Iowa civil state courts.
  • Successfully argued before the Iowa Court of Appeals, achieving favorable results for her clients.
  • Represented clients through commercial real estate transactions, estate planning, and corporate formation.
  • Secured a victory for cloud-based IT service provider in its federal lawsuit against a municipal body when a district judge granted a motion for summary judgment in a dispute over permits for cell tower construction.
  • Regularly provides commentary to the ABA Trade Secret Committee.
  • Regularly provides commentary and serves as frequent presenter to animal health and production trade organizations.
  • Successfully defended Guardsman US LLC in the US District Court of Nebraska in a breach of contact civil litigation dispute by achieving outright dismissal through summary judgment proceedings, and summarily affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Case Studies
Farmobile LLC

Farmobile secured a complete defense victory in enterprise-threatening trade secret litigation.

News Releases | August 19, 2020
Husch Blackwell Scores Eighth Circuit Win for Farmobile in Trade Secret Dispute

The earlier court ruling granted summary judgment to Farmobile.

News Releases | December 19, 2019
Husch Blackwell Welcomes 22 New Partners

Nearly 60 percent of the firm's 2020 partnership class is comprised of women.

Outside the Office

Ryann stays busy with her young family.

She and her husband have two small sons, and the family enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling. When they can, Ryann and her family also enjoy cheering on the Creighton Bluejay men's basketball team.

As her extended family continues to reside on their Iowa farm, Ryann enjoys getting away to the countryside, especially during the fall harvest time.

Community Leadership
  • Pottawattamie Conservation Foundation, Board Member and Past President
  • Phoenix House Shelter for Battered Women, Volunteer Legal Instructor 
  • Leadership Council Bluffs 2013 Graduate
  • Rotary Club of Council Bluffs Centennial, 2010-2013