Ryan Turner

Ryan has been instructed in several disputes arising out of large national and international infrastructure projects as well as residential renovation and disrepair claims. Recent experience includes:

• Junior counsel for the appellant in PBS Energo v Bester Generacion [2020] EWCA Civ 404, relating to a disputed termination of a FIDIC contract concerning a biomass energy plant in North Wales.
• Representing several claimants in a £1m dispute with a developer in respect of defective design and workmanship in a residential scheme in South West England.
• Junior counsel in a PFI contract dispute concerning extensive fire safety defects and the interpretation of termination provisions.
• Representing the claimant in an application to strike out a counterclaim on the basis of a failure to establish any reasonable grounds for causation between alleged defective workmanship and the pleaded losses.
• Advising an employer about the terms of the JCT Standard Building Contract and drafting bespoke amendments to achieve client objectives.
• Drafting particulars of claim in a claim concerning a debt arising out of an oral contract for a multi-million pound development in the North West of England.
• Advising as junior counsel in respect of the enforceability and validity of a claim for liquidated damages in respect of delays to the re-development of a football stadium in London.

• Counsel for the Respondent in an ultra-high-value ICC arbitration concerning the termination of a contract for the design and construction of transportation infrastructure in the Middle East.
• Junior counsel for the Claimant in an ICC arbitration with a value in dispute of $4m in respect of a piping works contract in Trinidad and Tobago.
• Junior counsel in an ICC arbitration concerning the design of a metro system in the Middle East, including drafting witness statements, reviewing expert reports and preparing closing submissions.
• Junior counsel for the Claimant in an LCIA arbitration concerning the authority of agents and the validity of contract documents in a $3m dispute concerning an oil drilling project.

Ryan has advised and represented clients in respect of duties owed by professionals in several disputes. Recent examples of work include:

• Representing the claimant on a direct access basis in a dispute concerning failure by an engineer to design adequate drainage systems in a large residential renovation project.
• Drafting pleadings in a claim concerning the failure by conveyancing solicitors to advise on the application of Stamp Duty Land Tax to the transaction and any outstanding restrictions on title.
• Advising a claimant as to prospects of a claim for latent damages arising from defective cladding design.

Ryan has experience in a wide range of commercial disputes, including:

• Representing the respondent in an interim injunction application concerning actions alleged to be in breach of obligations under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
• Instructed as an expert in English law in a commercial dispute before the High Court in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Sole counsel for the defendant in a claim for debts that had been assigned to multiple successors including advising as to the application of the Limitation Act 1980.
• Advising on the effect of the Water Industry Act 1991 on charging rates for caravan sites and remedies for potential overcharging, including advising on the prospect of Group Litigation Orders.
• Representing an applicant for security for costs in the Central London County Court.
• Advising on the application of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 to the limitation clauses included in a contract for the provision of maintenance services.
• Representing an applicant in respect of a disputed application for the substitution of defendants following exchange of pleadings and the costs consequences of this procedure.
• Advising on the remedies available to a claimant in a claim to recover monies had and received by means of deceit.

• Representing an applicant for enforcement of an adjudication award in Central London County Court.
• Advising a main contractor regarding the payment notice regime under the Scheme for Construction Contracts.
• Sole counsel for the respondent to an adjudication in which the referring party relied upon a global claim for delay damages due to the absence of liquidated damages provisions.
• Junior counsel in an adjudication concerning an application for payment and extension of time for delays.
• Sole counsel in a final account adjudication concerning the non-payment of final invoices due to alleged defective workmanship.
• Junior counsel in an adjudication concerning an application for an extension of time in respect of a large commercial development in Cannon Street, London.

PBS Energo v Bester Generacion [2020] EWCA Civ 404

2018: 2nd prize – Hudson Essay Competition, Society of Construction Law ‘Hanging by a Slender Thread: Design Obligations in Construction Contracts Following MT Højgaard v E.ON’

2016: Lloyd Jacob Memorial Award (Middle Temple)

2015 – 2016: Bar Professional Training Course (Outstanding) The University of Law, London Bloomsbury

2015: Luboshez Award, Middle Temple (BPTC scholarship)

2011 – 2014: LLB Law (2:1) King’s College, London

Ryan is a contributor to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Guidance platform ‘isurv’ as the joint author of the section on Corporate Manslaughter.

Ryan also writes frequently for the Lexis®PSL platform, providing Q&A responses and case analysis articles.

Ryan is a member of TECBAR, COMBAR and the Society of Construction Law. He has been a member of the TECBAR Executive Committee since 2019.

Ryan is qualified to accept instructions on a public access basis and is a TECBAR-accredited adjudicator.

Ryan is a keen supporter of Middle Temple, his Inn of Court. Ryan sat as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee in 2016 whilst studying the BPTC and later sat as an elected member of Hall Committee from 2016-2019. Ryan is a member of the Inn’s interview panel for Bar scholarships.

Ryan also volunteers as a workshop leader for the Schools Consent Project, a charity dedicated to educating and empowering young people to understand and engage with the issues surrounding consent and sexual assault.