Ryan is Counsel in the Paris office. He practises in all areas of international dispute settlement, including international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration and inter-State disputes. His experience extends across cases before a wide range of international tribunals, including as counsel before arbitral tribunals and standing international courts. His arbitration practice has included cases governed by a range of applicable laws spanning international law and both common law and civil law legal systems, and it has covered various industry sectors with particular experience in disputes arising in the energy and financial sectors.

Ryan’s recent experience includes acting as counsel for:

  • Crescent Petroleum in two multibillion-dollar commercial arbitrations arising out of the National Iranian Oil Company’s failure to supply gas under a long-term contract
  • A group of minority shareholders in a multibillion-dollar commercial arbitration arising out of a dispute between shareholders in a Korean life insurance company
  • An international commodities trader in a commercial arbitration involving early determination proceedings
  • A European sovereign defending a confidential investment treaty claim brought by a Russian investor
  • The Sultanate of Oman in ICSID annulment proceedings brought by a Turkish investor
  • The Kingdom of Bahrain in parallel cases against Qatar before the International Court of Justice regarding the jurisdiction of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Council

Before joining Three Crowns, Ryan completed a doctorate in Public International Law at the University of Oxford, where he also taught Public International Law and English Contract Law.  He was formerly a Judge’s Clerk at the New Zealand Court of Appeal and a Teaching Fellow in Law at Victoria University of Wellington.

Ryan was educated in New Zealand at the University of Canterbury, where he received first class honours degrees in both Law and Arts (Ancient History), and then at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and received a Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) and a Doctor of Philosophy.

Ryan is admitted as a Barrister and a Solicitor in New Zealand.