Ryan Landes is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles office. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, and appeals in jurisdictions across the country. Ryan’s practice includes business disputes of all types, and focuses on cases involving trade secret misappropriation, and involving private investment firms.
Ryan was named a Top Trade Secrets Lawyer in California by the Daily Journal in 2023 and 2024. He has litigated trade secret cases involving employee mobility and restrictive covenants, failed partnerships or joint ventures, pending acquisitions, and more. For plaintiffs, he has obtained temporary restraining orders, preliminary and permanent injunctions, terminating sanctions, and substantial awards and settlements. For defendants, he has obtained complete defense verdicts, pretrial dismissals, attorneys’ fees awards, and has negotiated resolutions that prevent lawsuits from ever being filed. Ryan has represented companies and individuals in industries including autonomous driving, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, logistics, artificial intelligence, and genetics, among others.
Ryan also frequently represents private equity and venture capital firms, their portfolio companies, and their founders and partners. In addition to trade secret cases involving these clients, Ryan has litigated numerous cases involving issues specifically impacting private investment firms, including related to the departure of founders or partners, disputes among investment firms, their portfolio companies, and founders, disputes with limited partners, and disputes regarding investments, sales, or other financial transactions.
- Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
- Farmer’s Business Network, Inc.
- Foresite Capital
- MannKind Corporation
- PIMCO
- Primer Technologies, Inc.
- Relay Payments, Inc.
- Rimrock Capital Management
- Rivos, Inc.
- Theravance Biopharma
- Western Asset Management Company
- Representing logistics payment company Relay Payments, Inc. and its co-founders in defending trade secret misappropriation and related claims brought by the co-founders’ prior employer.
- Represented Farmer’s Business Network defending trade secret misappropriation claim brought by international agricultural conglomerate. Obtained full defense victory at summary judgment; also obtained order excluding plaintiff’s technical expert, and excluding plaintiff’s damages evidence.
- Represented Nextdoor, Inc. asserting fraud claims arising from commercial lease transaction; case settled favorably after defendants’ motion to dismiss was denied.
- Represented portfolio company of private equity firm in various pre-litigation disputes regarding asset management, sale, and procurement.
- Represented private equity firm in dispute with its co-founder and majority member; case settled favorably after co-founder’s motion for emergency relief was denied.
- Represented general partner and co-founder of private equity firm negotiating departure from the firm.
- Represented Foresite Capital defending breach of contract claims arising from acquisition of portfolio company; case settled prior to any discovery.
- Represented portfolio company of a private equity firm against minority shareholders alleging fraud in recapitalization transaction.
- Represented Primer Technologies and its founder defending claims for breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation; obtained full defense award following arbitration hearing and recovered attorneys’ fees.
- Represented Farmer’s Business Network asserting breach of non-compete agreement against former employee; obtained preliminary injunction following two-day bench trial.
- Represented Rimrock Capital Management asserting California Blue Sky claims in connection with its purchase of €27 million of Waste Italia securities; settled days before trial.
- Represented Theravance Biopharma against its former senior executive arising from his alleged theft of trade secrets; obtained preliminary and permanent injunctions against former executive.
- Represented WeRide against former senior employees regarding alleged theft of trade secrets; obtained two preliminary injunctions and won terminating sanctions and award of attorneys’ fees.
- Represented PivIT Global and its founders defending against trade secret misappropriation claims; compelled the case to arbitration and settled shortly thereafter.
- Represented ANCILE Solutions in software licensing dispute against enterprise software company SAP; settled on confidential terms.
- Represented PIMCO, Western Asset Management Company, and dozens of other investors asserting securities claims against Brazilian oil company Petrobras relating to the revelation of a bribery and corruption scandal; settled on confidential terms.
- Represented PokerStars defending claims by professional poker player regarding alleged withholding of tournament winnings; obtained full dismissal of claims before discovery.
- Represented MassMutual Life Insurance Company in a series of cases against banks and mortgage companies related to misrepresentations in the sale of approximately $1.5 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities; cases settled on the eve of trial.
- Represented MannKind Corporation in breach of contract and fraud matters related to pharmaceutical licensing; obtained dismissal of two related actions before any discovery; achieved unanimous affirmance on appeal.
- Represented San Diego Gas & Electric and Sempra Energy in defense of over $2 billion in property damage claims; settled claims by over 6,500 plaintiffs; obtained $824 million in settlements from three cross defendants before trial; defeated class certification of two proposed classes; obtained victories on three appeals.
- Represented Olaplex in breach of contract dispute after Quinn Emanuel was retained on the eve of trial.
- Represented Bio-Rad in federal jury trial defending wrongful termination claims.
- Represented Xerox’s largest shareholder in dispute regarding Xerox’s proposed business reorganization and treatment of preferred stock.
- New York University School of Law
(J.D., cum laude, 2007)- New York University Law Review:
- Articles Editor, 2006-2007
- Florence Allen Scholar
- Morton Geller Award
- Orison S. Marden Moot Court Competition:
- Semifinalist
- Semifinalist
- New York University Law Review:
- University of California, Berkeley
(B.A., Economics, 2004)
- The State Bar of California
- United States District Courts:
- Central District of California
- Northern District of California
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NERA Securities & Finance Seminar, July 2018, “Cybersecurity – Trends in Cybersecurity-related Securities Enforcement Actions and Litigation.”
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“Layovers and Cargo Ships: The Prohibition of Internet Gambling and a Proposed System of Regulation,” 82 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 913 (2007).