Litigation guidance for complex commercial disputes
Ryan Rainey maintains a broad, multisector litigation practice. His practice encompasses many varieties of business litigation disputes, but he focuses on:
- Complex contractual litigation, especially disputes in the renewable energy and health care sectors
- Administrative enforcement actions and government investigations, including consumer protection and insurance licensure matters
- Limited liability company management and ownership disputes
Before Quarles, Ryan worked as a Washington, D.C.-based journalist covering Congress and the executive branch, with a focus on financial regulation and international trade. He draws on the investigative skills he learned as a reporter to advise his clients on the important, and often difficult, factual issues that arise throughout litigation. He is active in the firm’s pro bono efforts, assisting with litigation issues facing nonprofits and individuals throughout Wisconsin.
Experience in Action
- Represents regulated entities and licensees in civil enforcement proceedings. Ryan advocates for clients facing civil investigations or enforcement proceedings in the insurance, financial advisory and consumer protection sectors.
- Defends companies in wide-ranging sectors in state and federal commercial disputes. Ryan is a forceful advocate for clients facing breach of contract allegations, and he has experience representing companies in the renewable energy, pharmaceutical distribution and commercial real estate sectors.
- Develops strategies to simplify complex, sophisticated concepts for both legal and lay audiences. Ryan believes in unapologetically asking every question necessary to get to the heart of a matter, whether it involves esoteric economic concepts or the complicated inner-workings of an industrial machine.
Successes
- Won a motion to dismiss a claim under Wisconsin’s deceptive trade practices statute.
- Assisted with obtaining summary judgment for a health maintenance organization in a breach of contract dispute with a former in-network provider.
- Secured a contested default judgment on behalf of a real estate investment trust in a major industrial lease dispute.
Professional & Civic Activities
- Election Protection, volunteer (2020)
- Asylum Law Project, volunteer (2019)
- James E. Doyle Inns of Court (2022-present)
News & Insights
Education
- University of Minnesota Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2021)
- Minnesota Journal of International Law, lead articles editor
- Dean’s List
- Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, student director (2019-2021)
- University of Wisconsin - Madison (B.A., 2013)
- Journalism, Latin American Studies
- Iron Shield Society (2012-2013)
- The Badger Herald, editor in chief (2012-2013)
Bar Admissions
- Wisconsin
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
Languages
- Portuguese
- Spanish