Antony L. Ryan is a partner in Cravath’s Litigation Department. He handles a wide variety of litigation matters, focusing on accountants’ liability and securities litigation.

Mr. Ryan regularly represents accounting firms in Federal and state courts around the country. Those cases have included:

• In re AIG 2008 Securities Litigation: He represents PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) in a securities class action in the Southern District of New York relating to disclosures by AIG regarding its credit default swaps and the Federal government bailout of AIG in 2008, as well as other related actions.
• Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of AHERF v. PwC: He represents PwC in the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in an action by the official unsecured creditors’ committee of the bankrupt Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation (“AHERF”), a nonprofit health-care system, seeking to recover from PwC for AHERF’s insolvency.
• Collins & Aikman Corp. v. Stockman: Mr. Ryan also represents PwC in the District of Delaware in an action by a litigation trustee on behalf of the bankrupt Michigan auto-parts manufacturer Collins & Aikman Corp. The District Court dismissed the claims against PwC under Michigan’s “wrongful conduct” rule.
• Varga v. The Bear Stearns Cos.: He represents Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) in a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York brought by the liquidators of two Bear Stearns hedge funds. The District Court dismissed the claims against Deloitte for lack of standing under the Second Circuit’s Wagoner rule.
• In re The Bear Stearns Cos., Inc. Securities Litigation: Mr. Ryan also represents Deloitte in a securities class action in the Southern District of New York arising out of the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan in March 2008.
• In re Banco Santander Securities–Optimal Litigation and In re Thema Fund Securities Litigation: He represents the Irish PricewaterhouseCoopers firm (“PwC Ireland”) in separate securities class actions in the Southern District of Florida and the Southern District of New York involving two investment funds audited by PwC Ireland that lost money in Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. In the Florida action, the District Court granted PwC Ireland’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens.
• In re AIG Securities Litigation: Mr. Ryan represented PwC in a securities class action in the Southern District of New York involving accounting issues that led AIG in 2005 to restate its financial statements. Plaintiffs entered into a class settlement with PwC.
• Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana v. PwC: He also represented PwC in a shareholder derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery, Delaware Supreme Court and New York Court of Appeals relating to AIG’s 2005 restatement. The Court of Chancery dismissed the claims against PwC under New York in pari delicto law, and the New York Court of Appeals issued an opinion answering a certified question of law in favor of PwC. The Delaware Chancery Court’s ruling was affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court.
• Warmack-Muskogee L.P. v. PwC: He represented PwC in a putative nationwide class action in Arkansas state court on behalf of clients of a number of leading accounting and consulting firms regarding travel rebates, and in related False Claims Act litigation in the Central District of California relating to the defendants’ government contracting work.

In addition to these and other litigations, Mr. Ryan has represented audit firms and issuers in Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Department of Justice and other government investigations and enforcement matters into accounting issues.

Mr. Ryan has extensive experience in securities litigation, and has been recognized by The Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in that field. He has also been recognized by that publication for his appellate work. Mr. Ryan also has experience in other areas. Those cases have included:

• In re The Reserve Fund Securities Litigation: He represents a number of corporate investors in the Reserve Primary Fund, a money-market fund that “broke the buck” following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, in issues concerning the SEC’s plan of distribution of the fund’s assets to investors.
• The Cartoon Network LP, LLLP v. CSC Holdings, Inc.: He represented Time Warner Inc. companies in a copyright case in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit concerning a cable operator’s service for copying and transmitting television programming on demand.
• Biogen, Inc. v. Berlex Laboratories, Inc.: He represented Berlex Laboratories in a biotechnology patent infringement action in the District of Massachusetts and the Federal Circuit concerning drugs for multiple sclerosis, and in private arbitration against another pharmaceutical company involving a patent in a related area.
• BAE Systems North America, Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp.: He represented BAE Systems in a purchase price adjustment dispute in the Court of Chancery of Delaware.

Mr. Ryan also maintains an active pro bono practice. In a wrongful conviction case on behalf of a client who spent 14 years in prison for second-degree murder, he helped to win an Article 440 petition (on collateral review) in New York Supreme Court to vacate the conviction, which was affirmed on appeal in the Appellate Division, Second Department. He obtained a writ of mandamus from the Second Circuit in a Section 1983 case on behalf of a prison inmate, in a decision establishing the legal standard for implied waiver of the psychotherapist-patient privilege. In 2007, 2009 and 2010, he received Pro Bono Publico Awards from the Legal Aid Society for his work, together with Legal Aid and the Urban Justice Center, leading a class action against New York State and City agencies seeking pre-release planning and transitional services for parolees with serious mental illness. Mr. Ryan has also published law review articles on civil procedure and patent law.

Mr. Ryan was raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from Yale University in 1992, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1995, where he was Supervising Editor of the Law Review, and oralist on the winning team in the Ames Moot Court Competition. Following graduation, Mr. Ryan served as law clerk to Hon. Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He joined Cravath in 1996 and became a partner in 2003.

Mr. Ryan may be reached by phone at 212-474-1296 or by email at aryan@cravath.com.