Andrew Ryan
Andrew is a commercial lawyer with strong expertise in construction, insurance and dispute resolution.
Andrew Ryan is a Executive Counsel in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Dispute Resolution and Insurance practice groups.
Andrew has over 20 years’ experience advising clients on a range of contentious and non-contentious matters with a focus on the engineering, construction, mining and government sectors. Andrew also has experience acting for clients in class actions and Royal Commissions.
Prior to working at Herbert Smith Freehills, Andrew spent several years working as General Counsel for a national engineering firm. Andrew is a commercially aware lawyer who provides pragmatic, solution orientated advice to his clients.
Background
Andrew graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Laws and is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the Federal and High Courts of Australia. Andrew is also admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Andrew is a member of the Society of Construction Law (SOCLA), Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA) and past member of the Australian Corporate Counsel (ACC).
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
Litigation and ADR
- a global construction company in a billion dollar international arbitration relating to the design and construction of mine, port and rail facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia
- an international engineering, procurement and construction company in a multimillion dollar dispute arising from the construction of steel tanks for a nickel processing plant in New Caledonia
- a global construction company in a large dispute arising from the construction of a concrete plant in Chile
- various mining and engineering companies in multimillion dollar variation and EOT disputes
- a number of Australian and international financial institutions, including Westpac, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Lloyds Bank Plc. defending a $1 billion plus claim commenced by the Bell Group of companies and their liquidators
Contentious and non-contentious insurance and risk management
- successfully resolving a multimillion dollar professional indemnity insurance claim after a lengthy dispute with a London underwriter
- advising on the restructure of an ASX listed engineering company’s insurance program which resulted in premium savings in the millions of dollars whilst increasing the breadth of cover
- acting for an international bank in a series of high profile insurance backed film finance disputes
- acting for insurers in an AU$100m dispute involving a Western Australian nickel mine
- developing insurance and risk solutions for major projects
- claims management (from notification to claims preparation to resolving indemnity disputes)
- policy review and insurance gap analysis
- advising on contract works, professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ liability, employers’ liability, product liability, product recall, property and business interruption insurance claims
