Ryan Grant Pitman

Ryan Pitman is a commercial litigator and business counselor. He represents clients in business disputes through litigation, arbitration, and mediation, and he advises clients on contract negotiation and formation and risk management.

Ryan’s practice is particularly focused on the construction industry, with clients ranging from specialty trade contractors to multinational construction companies. Ryan devotes a significant portion of his construction practice to energy infrastructure and renewable energy projects. Some of Ryan’s recent representations in this area include disputes relating to wind turbine construction in Northern Ontario, distributed solar generation projects in Colorado and New Jersey, pipeline projects in the Marcellus Shale region, and oil sands projects in Western Canada.

He also maintains  a substantial portion of his practice representing clients in trademark disputes across various industries, including food and beverage, apparel, professional services, and specialty manufacturing. Ryan’s experience also includes patent and trademark portfolio vetting for litigation and strategic purposes.

Ryan also has extensive experience managing all phases of e-discovery across a variety of platforms and jurisdictions. Ryan’s team-based approach to the e-discovery process recognizes the importance of coordinating with client personnel, litigation support vendors, and the firm’s own e-discovery support staff to execute efficient, case-specific e-discovery solutions.

Experience Highlights

• Securing a $70 million award in a complex matter relating to a multi-county publicly financed distributed generation solar project after multi-venue litigation and two months of arbitration hearings, which involved issues and allegations relating to delays, design deficiencies, liquidated and consequential damages, and trust fund misappropriation.
• Representing a pipeline contractor in disputes totaling over $100 million involving natural gas pipelines, involving major delay claims, payment breaches, back-charge claims related to earthen slips, and complex and novel issues regarding the scope of applicable lien law.
• Defeating a trademark plaintiff’s claim to exclusive rights in a geographic descriptor, where plaintiff sought to prohibit a restaurateur from using its chosen geographically descriptive trade name.
• Defending a regional craft brewery against claims of trademark infringement by a nationally distributing brewery.
• Negotiating the favorable resolution of more than $6 million in claims by dozens of subcontractors and vendors against a prime contractor where the project owner defaulted on its payment obligations, including resolution of numerous lawsuits and lien claims.
• Representing a medical records management software vendor against a class action alleging overcharges for medical records.