Ryan draws upon a multi-disciplinary skillset to assist corporations, boards of directors, audit committees and senior executives facing cross-border government investigations and other high-profile reputational risks, often involving U.S. and foreign regulators and enforcement authorities, political stakeholders and the media. He also advises clients on strategic opportunities, governance and compliance best practices, acquisition due diligence, and national security reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and before the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS) at the US Department of Commerce.

An experienced trial lawyer, Ryan has successfully tried several cases to verdict, with the unique ability to handle deeply regulatory matters and seamlessly transition to high profile enforcement actions and voluntary self-disclosures involving the DOJ as well as regulators at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).

Ryan has developed a Chambers-ranked sanctions and export control practice and has been named to Global Investigations Review’s elite list of the most respected sanctions lawyers in Washington, D.C. The Legal 500 has recognized Ryan for “excel[ing] at leading and conducting investigatory work as a result of the ‘wealth of experience and insights’ he gained in his former position as a DOJ national security prosecutor.” Ryan has also been recognized in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America Guide.

Ryan assists clients from varied industries, including financial services, private equity, technology, aerospace and defense, telecommunications, energy, mining, construction materials, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.

Ryan maintains an active pro bono practice and has extensive experience representing current and former hostages of foreign governments and transnational criminal organizations, as well as the unlawfully detained, with a focus on advocating for victim families, securing release, and ensuring long term reintegration. 

Prior to private practice, Ryan served for 11 years in the DOJ, where he was a leading prosecutor handling complex cross border investigations and prosecutions affecting the national security and foreign policy of the United States, including espionage, sanctions and embargoes, arms proliferation, trade secret theft, cybercrime, corruption, and money laundering. Ryan also served in the National Security Division, where he most recently served as the principal DOJ attorney overseeing sanctions and export control prosecutions nationally. He also served on the inter-agency staff for CFIUS. Previously, Ryan was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois and a Trial Attorney in DOJ’s Civil Frauds Section, where he litigated matters arising under the Federal False Claims Act. 

Ryan’s most notable investigations and prosecutions have received prominent national and international media coverage. Several were recognized with the DOJ’s highest awards. In 2010, Ryan was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security for his role in the prosecution and disruption of a vast international proliferation network responsible for smuggling electrical components from the U.S., which were ultimately used in improvised explosive devices targeting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2009, Ryan received the Assistant Attorney General Award for Supporting the National Security Mission for his role in the investigation and prosecution of an espionage ring involving corrupt Department of Defense officials. Ryan has received numerous other awards from the DOJ and multiple recognitions from the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

Ryan began his legal career as a federal law clerk in the Central District of Illinois, his home district, prior to being recruited to DOJ through the prestigious Attorney General’s Honors Program.