Ryan B. Burns

Ryan Burns represents both plaintiffs and defendants, individuals and corporations in business litigation and energy litigation.

He has assisted clients in a broad range of business litigation matters, most often contract disputes, negligence, fraud and fiduciary relations issues. Ryan's energy litigation experience includes representing clients in various disputes arising from midstream operations and agreements.

Ryan has swiftly acquired both state and federal court experience, from case inception through resolution. He has developed litigation strategy, prosecuted and defended temporary restraining orders and injunctions, managed the discovery process, drafted and responded to dispositive motions, represented clients at mediation and negotiated settlement agreements.

A native Houstonian, Ryan maintains a commitment to the Firm's local pro bono initiatives. He has recently assisted individuals in Hurricane Harvey-related fraud matters.

Ryan’s experience includes:

• Represents international general contractor in disputes arising from the development of windfarms in Kansas and West Texas
• Represents homeowners in multi-party construction case under the Texas Residential Construction Liability Act
• Represented general contractor in collecting unpaid change orders associated with owner-directed changes and extra work performed during the construction of a natural gas pipeline and related facilities
• Drafted, argued and prevailed on motion to enforce compliance with federal subpoena for documents and testimony
• Obtained take nothing defense settlement as lead Associate in trade secret and unfair competition litigation related to restaurant and consumer product industry
• Represented midstream company as lead Associate in collecting disputed minimum volume commitment payment of $7 million and in defense of various business tort claims
• Drafted trial briefing in connection with take nothing judgment for Houston property development and management company against its former CEO, who initially sought in excess of $20 million related to his retirement and compensation
• Represented midstream company as lead Associate in litigation arising from Winter Storm Uri
• Assisted in representation of construction subcontractor in filing lien and collecting amounts owed for work related to the development and construction of hotel and private residences in Louisiana
• Drafted and negotiated labor and material subcontract related to multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation of car dealership
• Drafted trial briefing in connection with take nothing judgment for national bank against plaintiffs seeking damages in excess of $9 million
• Drafted summary judgment briefing that facilitated dismissal of breach of contract, fraud and negligence claims against mortgage servicer
• Assisted in representation of a construction company in AAA arbitration relating to a joint venture and fiduciary duty dispute