Ryan G. Pitman
Partner
Ryan G. 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. His practice is particularly focused on the construction industry. 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.
Ryan 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
Ryan’s successes in this area include representing a medical records-management software vendor against a class action alleging overcharges for medical records.
Ryan’s clients in this area range from specialty-trade contractors to multinational construction companies. His successes include:
- 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
- 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.
Ryan 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. His experience also includes patent and trademark portfolio vetting for litigation and strategic purposes. Among his successes are the following cases:
- Defeated 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.
Honors & Awards
Upstate New York Super Lawyers, Rising Stars 2014–20
Buffalo Business First‘s Legal Elite of Western New York, 2020
Admissions
- New York
- U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Education
- University of Pittsburgh, J.D., cum laude, 2009
- University of Pittsburgh, B.S., cum laude, 2006
Training and Certifications
- Department of Labor OSHA-10 Construction Training
Publications & Events
- “Prospects For NY Summary Judgment In TM Confusion Cases,” Law360, (Co-Author), June 17, 2019
- Co-Author, “Nothing to LOL About: E-Discovery of Texts on the Rise,” Corporate Counsel, June 30, 2017
- “Startup Seminar: Intellectual Property and Deal Formation for High Growth Companies,” (Co-Presenter), Buffalo, NY, June 26, 2019
- “Throwing the Challenge Flag: Public Bid Protest Process in New York” (Co-Presenter), GS Employment and Labor Webinar, February 28, 2020
- “Understanding the Minority and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise Certification Process in New York” (Co-Presenter), GS Construction Webinar, May 9, 2019
Recent Insights
Upcoming Webinar: January 26, 2021