Andrew B. Ryan

Andrew B. Ryan is a Diamond McCarthy partner and commercial trial lawyer who works in the firm’s Dallas office.

Andy handles all types of business litigation, with a special emphasis on partnership and shareholder disputes, and insurance coverage matters. Andy has also represented clients in multimillion dollar breach of contract, real estate, and oil and gas disputes.

In a notable trial victory, Andy and the Diamond McCarthy team won a verdict of a $65 million dividend plus more than $2 million in additional damages for a minority shareholder. As lead attorney in a case filed in a California federal court, he obtained a complete dismissal of an $87 million breach of contract suit filed against his client.

In 2010, Texas Monthly named Andy a "Rising Star" as one of the top young lawyers in Texas. The distinction is reserved for the top 2.5% of Texas lawyers who are under 40 years of age or who have been in practice for less than 10 years.

The Dallas Association of Young Lawyers selected Andy for their 2010 Leadership Class, a program that offers young lawyers the opportunity to make a difference in their communities.

Andy earned his Juris Doctor from Baylor University School of Law where he was awarded the Leon Jaworski Scholarship for Outstanding Advocates.

Andy is licensed to practice in Texas and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Representative Cases

• Part of Diamond McCarthy trial team that won a verdict of a $65 million dividend and over $2 million in additional damages for a minority shareholder after a six-week jury trial. Andy's role at trial included examination of numerous witnesses, as well as the lead role on evidence and jury charge issues. Post-trial, the judge increased the jury's damages award by $20 million, and awarded Andy's client more than $1 million in additional fees and expenses;
• Lead counsel in successful prosecution of subrogation lawsuit on behalf of a London-based insurer against an American co-insurer who refused to defend and indemnify the insured. The defendant settled on the eve of depositions, with Andy's client receiving a payment equal to nearly 90% of its damages;
• Lead trial attorney that obtained a complete dismissal for a Texas-based beverage packaging company in a $87 million breach of contract suit in California federal court;
• Lead associate in successful prosecution of a national real estate developer's breach of contract claim in arbitration, where Diamond McCarthy's client was awarded over $3.5 million in damages. Andy is now lead counsel for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee seeking to collect on the arbitration award from the defendant's general and limited partners;
• Lead associate in multiple representations of bankruptcy trustee in Las Vegas, Nevada, for various fiduciary duty claims (e.g., insurance bad faith and legal malpractice) in several commercial bankruptcies;
• Lead appellate attorney in successful representation of an employee who alleges he was wrongfully terminated for refusing to participate in a corporate fraud. See, e.g., Velazquez v. LandCoast Insulation, Inc., 999 So. 2d 318, (La. Ct. App. 3d Cir. Dec. 10, 2008);
• Lead associate in prosecution of a declaratory judgment action on behalf of a large Texas oil and gas partnership against its contractors, subcontractors and vendors;
• Lead associate in prosecution of a declaratory judgment action concerning the construction and validity of an oil and gas lease in Johnson County, Texas;
• Lead associate in prosecution of a derivative lawsuit on behalf the shareholders of a national Tequila retailer against the company's officers and directors, alleging breach of fiduciary duty and theft of intellectual property;
• Lead associate in defending a national and international e-mail software manufacturer and marketer in a temporary injunction lawsuit alleging theft and misappropriation of trade secrets;
• Lead associate in defending an American mortgage lender in a Texas lawsuit that sought to declare the mortgage lien invalid, including representing the lender on its successful appeal.

• Andrew B. Ryan Receives a Star of Achievement Award
• 2011 Rising Stars Have Been Named
• Diamond McCarthy Achieves Record-Setting Verdict for a Minority Shareholder in Texas
• 2010 Texas Rising Stars Are Named

• Andrew B. Ryan author and contributor, Playing Nice in Discovery: The Road House Rules, RANTINGS OF A PARTNER/PUSHBACK FROM ASSOCIATES (American Bar Association's Business Torts Litigation Committee, forthcoming in 2011)
• Andrew B. Ryan author, Judicial Profile: Judge Elizabeth Frizzell, Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, Vol. 35, No. 12 (December 2010)
• Andrew B. Ryan author, Military Service Profile of Chuck Aris - Army National Guard Colonel, DALLAS BAR ASSOCIATION HEADNOTES , Vol. 34, No. 11 (November 1, 2010)
• Andrew B. Ryan CLE presentation, The Evidence Objections (and Responses) a Trial Lawyer Must Know to Survive at Trial, Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX (March 5, 2010)
• Andrew B. Ryan presenter, You Can't Get There from Here: Why the Supreme Court Must Revisit Mid-Continent Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., North Texas Association of Insurance Counsel (June 26, 2009)
• Ladd Hirsch, Andrew B. Ryan, J. Benjamin King authors, Insurance Litigation: Adding to the Company's Bottom Line, Diamond McCarthy presentation to GC Netweavers (April 16, 2009)
• Andrew B. Ryan co-author, Debating Third-Party Policy Deadlines: Why Texas Should Equitably Toll an Insured's Claim for Breach of the Duty to Defend, BAYLOR L. REV. (Spring 2009)
• Andrew B. Ryan, Skip Scott and Greg Taylor authors, Planning Ahead: Thoughts on Successful Strategies in Co-Insurer Disputes, presented at the Old Library at Lloyd's of London (April 2008)
• Andrew B. Ryan co-author, When the Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary: Is the Express Negligence Rule Under Attack in Texas?, 60 BAYLOR L. REV. 942 (2008)
• Andrew B. Ryan and J. Gregory Taylor co-authors, Pleading to Keep Your Promise: Litigation Tactics Concerning Insurance Coverage for Breaches of Contract, presented to the North Texas Association of Insurance Counsel (February 2007)