Ryan Davis

Ryan Davis serves as a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law while maintaining an active practice as a Supervising Deputy State Public Defender at the Office of the State Public Defender (OSPD). He concurrently teaches at the UC Davis School of Law (King Hall), bridging academic instruction with frontline capital defense work.

His educational background includes:

• J.D. from Berkeley Law (2009)

Specializing in capital punishment and criminal justice systems, Davis brings over a decade of practical experience representing death row inmates in post-conviction proceedings. His expertise spans criminal law, criminal procedure, and habeas corpus litigation, with primary focus on direct appeals before the California Supreme Court. This practitioner-scholar model informs his teaching approach, emphasizing real-world application of legal theory in high-stakes contexts.

As an educator, Davis regularly presents on evolving legal developments at conferences for capital defense attorneys, contributing to professional training while mentoring future lawyers through his dual institutional roles at Berkeley and UC Davis law schools.

Within the Office of the State Public Defender, he provides strategic oversight and supervision for attorneys handling capital habeas petitions, ensuring rigorous defense representation across California's most complex death penalty cases.