ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Judge Chosen for Case Has Background in Securities : Courts: John E. Ryan, a decorated Navy pilot, draws high praise from bankruptcy attorneys.

John E. Ryan, the federal judge selected to preside over the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history, is a 53-year-old former corporate attorney and decorated Navy fighter pilot with a background in securities cases.

Ryan, who sits in the Santa Ana branch of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s hectic Central Division of California, has built a reputation for cost-consciousness and efficiency in eight years on the bench.

“What’s really going to help,” said Orange County bankruptcy attorney Richard Marshack, whose firm is expected to represent several of the public entities with claims on Orange County’s investment pool, “is that Judge Ryan has a securities background, which is very unusual for a bankruptcy judge. He’s also the best manager of a case and of a docket we have here. The public will benefit from his ability to manage this case efficiently.”

Ryan, a native of Boston and the son of a Harvard-educated attorney, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1963. He became a fighter pilot and served two tours in Vietnam, where he flew 250 combat missions and won the Air and Navy Commendation medals.

In 1969, Ryan left the Navy as a lieutenant commander to enroll in Georgetown University’s law school. After graduation in 1972, he joined the prestigious Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr, where he specialized in helping troubled companies salvage their positions through new public offerings.

“That’s how I got a feeling for bankruptcy law,” Ryan told an interviewer in 1991.

In 1976, after moving to California, Ryan got an even closer look at the process while serving as an officer with Oak Industries, a once high-flying satellite television firm that teetered on the edge of bankruptcy after catastrophic losses and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in the early 1980s.

The company survived, but Ryan returned to the practice of law in San Diego in 1983. Three years later, he was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Ronald Reagan.

Ryan gets high marks from many of the lawyers who have appeared before him. In particular, they cite his even temperament and his use of money- and time-saving devices such as telephonic conferences.

“He listens to both sides with courtesy and very rarely loses his temper,” said William Burd, an Orange County bankruptcy attorney. “When I’ve appeared before him and he’s ruled against me, I’ve always understood why. That’s critical for a litigant. He carefully considers the evidence and applies the law. . . . He’s intellectually honest.”

“I think it’s an excellent choice,” said Nanette D. Sanders, a bankruptcy lawyer with the Irvine firm of Snell & Wilmer. “He’s experienced with larger cases, including what we in bankruptcy law call ‘operating cases.’ That is, one that involves the day-to-day workings of some sort of business enterprise. He loves jury trials, which is unusual for a bankruptcy judge. He’s interested in listening and figuring out what the real equities are in a case. Given the nature of the Orange County fund, that’s important. There will be a lot of conflicting claims and you have to be sensitive to them. He will be, but I don’t envy him the job.”

Ryan, who is married with three daughters and lives in San Diego County, was out of the state Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

In the 1991 interview, he said of his workload in the Orange County Bankruptcy Court: “We have a lot of entrepreneurs here who are willing to take risks.”