View Mr. Reetz's complete CV

C. Ryan Reetz is a partner in DLA Piper's international arbitration and litigation practice, representing clients as trial counsel in international and domestic commercial and regulatory disputes. His litigation and arbitration practice ranges from investment disputes and sovereign immunity challenges to class actions, unfair trade practice cases, fraud and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act claims and contract disputes. He has also served as an arbitrator in international commercial disputes.

Mr. Reetz frequently writes and lectures on arbitration and litigation topics. His recent publications include "The Limits of the Competence-Competence Doctrine in United States Courts" in Dispute Resolution International (2011), “United States Public Policy and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Under the New York Convention” in Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business: International Dispute Resolution, published by Kluwer in 2010; and “Constructing the Rules of the Game” in Transnational Dispute Management. He also serves as co-editor of the ABA's International Litigation Quarterly.

Mr. Reetz taught transnational civil litigation and arbitration as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law from 2003 to 2010, and he presently serves as a visiting professor at the University of Navarra School of Law in Pamplona, Spain. He is also an instructor for the Florida Regional Program of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has lectured at the Swiss Arbitration Academy and at the law schools of Doshisha University, Marmara University, Istanbul Bilgi University and Istanbul Kültür University.

Mr. Reetz is a member of the American Law Institute and has served on the Civil Procedure Rules and Rules of Judicial Administration Committees of The Florida Bar. He is also active in other professional organizations, among them the International Bar Association, Union Internationale des Avocats, American Bar Association and Dade County Bar Association, where he served as a director until his term ended in 2009. He is a member of ICC Arbitration Commission Task Forces on Amiable Composition and Ex Aequo et Bono Arbitration, and on National Rules of Procedure for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards pursuant to the New York Convention of 1958.

Mr. Reetz has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2011 and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2009, named recommended counsel in Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2007 and listed in The International Who's Who of Commercial Litigation Lawyers 2008. He is also listed as a local litigation star in Benchmark: Litigation. He has been consistently recognized among Florida's Legal Elite by Florida Trend magazine and selected for inclusion in Thomson Reuters' Florida Super Lawyers. Mr. Reetz is also listed in Who's Who Legal: Florida 2008 and was recognized as Best of the Bar by South Florida Business Journal in 2004.

Representative Experience

International Litigation and Arbitration

• Defending South American soccer confederation and ten South American national soccer federations in litigation concerning commercial rights for Copa América soccer tournament
• Representing entrepreneur in federal litigation against Venezuelan government concerning $1 billion asset expropriation
• Representing instrumentalities of the government of El Salvador in Paris-based ICC arbitration against major European energy company concerning ownership and corporate control rights in geothermal energy production company
• Defending English and European insurance companies in federal litigation brought by English, Swedish, and US affiliates of manufacturer involving coverage claims arising out of faulty cruise ship propulsion systems
• Representing Swiss cruise line in an ICDR-administered arbitration involving a British Virgin Islands company with exclusive rights to a Dominican Republic port of call
• Representing US subsidiary of French construction materials manufacturer in federal court litigation with purported joint-venturer concerning potential business opportunity in the Caribbean
• Defending a Peru-based development company in ICC arbitration proceedings brought in Lima by a major multinational engineering and project consulting corporation
• Representing Korean electronics manufacturer’s US sales company in a $10 million ICC dispute brought by its Ecuadorean distributor and subsequent confirmation proceedings in US federal court
• Representing BVI- and Cayman Islands-based investors in state-court dispute with private equity fund and affiliates
• Representing a US-based equipment distributor in an ICC dispute with its Mexican logistics company
• Representing BVI overseas company in federal-court litigation against US flooring company’s creditors
• Representing Ecuadorean airline in litigation involving disputed aircraft leases
• Representing US affiliate of Mexican real-estate development company, and its owners, in Nevada state-court litigation arising out of its acquisition of a Las Vegas resort property
• Representing Argentine and Bahamian joint venturers in an ICDR-administered arbitration over greenfield manufacturing plants in Argentina and Colombia and associated distribution rights in South America
• Defending (after initial default) Bermuda- and Cayman Islands-based companies and individuals in US federal litigation brought by a Belgian investor
• Representing BVI-based technology infrastructure company in multijurisdictional disputes (involving Florida, Delaware, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, and Spain) with former affiliates concerning acquisition of a major Spanish technology infrastructure company
• Representing a Canadian bank and affiliated entities in federal litigation asserting commercial tort claims against the originator of securitized lease assets
• Representing commercial paper funding company and Canadian lender in consolidated federal litigation with automobile fleet lessees
• Representing Canadian bank and commercial paper conduit in federal interpleader case involving proceeds of auctions of pledged automobiles
• Defending Panamanian company and affiliates in state-court litigation brought by Salvadorian company in claims arising from the sale of professional hair-care products business to multinational consumer brands company
• Representing a US-based technology consulting firm in an ICDR-administered dispute with a Jamaican payment technology company
• Defending a video compression equipment manufacturer against a US$20 million federal claim brought by an Argentina-based distributor over loss of contracts throughout the Mercosur region
• Representing defendant zirconium exporter in federal criminal proceedings under the Classified Information Procedures Act regarding alleged export violations involving Chile, Peru and Iraq
• Defending German clothing and textile companies against designer’s federal-court claims for RICO, fraud, and breach of contract
• Representing subsidiaries of Mexico-based food company and bakery in acquisition dispute relating to Florida-based confectionery company
• Defending US-resident Lloyds “name” against efforts to recognize and enforce English judgment against him in Florida federal court
• Defending Panamanian citizen against efforts to recognize and enforce Panamanian judgment against him in Florida state court
• Representing French bank and its US affiliate in federal and state litigation against purchasers of Romanian oil cargos
• Representing various petitioners in proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for discovery in support of various foreign litigation matters
• Consulting with various individuals and business entities in connection with potential claims against foreign governments under bilateral investment and multilateral trade treaties

Class Actions

• Representing defendants in putative class action in federal court involving unfair trade practice and RICO claims involving sales of coin and currency collectibles to consumers
• Defending Cayman Islands-based fund administrator in putative CAFA class action brought by disappointed investors
• Representing defendant bank holding company and affiliates in consolidated class actions under federal securities laws
• Defending a US-based financial institution and its Bahamas affiliates in a putative state-court class action alleging that offshore sales of unit trust interests violated Florida securities laws
• Defending online consumer retailer in state-court class action involving alleged unfair and deceptive trade practices in connection with shipping and handling charges
• Defending indirect owner of brokerage firm in federal class action for alleged violations of Commodity Exchange Act
• Defending electronics retailer and consumer equipment warranty company in state-court putative class action involving alleged unfair and deceptive trade practices in connection with electronics warranties
• Defending US financial institution in state-court class action arising from allegedly fraudulent sales and financing of Florida homesites and houses
• Representing US financial institution in putative federal-court class action alleging violations of RICO and Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act in connection with sales and financing of Florida homesites and houses
• Defending unrelated ground-services companies in Fair Labor Standards Act federal class action concerning workers at Miami International Airport
• Defending consumer-goods manufacturer in putative federal securities class action
• Defending title insurance company in putative federal class action under RESPA and RICO

Regulatory Matters

• Representing major insurance company in regulatory arbitrations and post-award proceedings regarding homeowners insurance ratemaking in Florida
• Representing major insurance company in Florida administrative litigation regarding various property and casualty insurance ratemaking
• Representing major insurance company in Florida administrative litigation and appellate proceedings regarding exclusion of mold-related coverage from homeowners and commercial multi-peril policies
• Representing major insurance company in Florida administrative litigation and related proceedings concerning withdrawal of product lines from the Florida market
• Representing major energy company in Florida administrative litigation matters regarding power-plant siting and emissions controls
• Representing real-estate developers in Florida administrative litigation regarding land use
• Defending a Florida governmental entity against a constitutional and statutory challenge by a disappointed bidder to Minority Business Enterprise contract rules

Additional Experience

• Representing judgment creditors in federal fraudulent conveyance action arising out of $28.5 million federal judgment
• Representing US private equity fund in AAA arbitration of post-acquisition dispute concerning plastics manufacturing company
• Representing US private equity fund in AAA arbitrations of employment disputes relating to plastics manufacturing company
• Representing US private equity fund in AAA arbitration, and related litigation, of post-acquisition disputes concerning aviation parts manufacturer
• Representing US private equity fund in litigation arising from acquisition of furniture manufacturing companies
• Representing owner of educational businesses in federal litigations with disappointed investor
• Defending hip-hop music producers and production companies in litigation with alleged investor
• Representing foreign-exchange technology development company in federal court investment-and-control dispute with financial partner
• Defending foreign-exchange technology company and affiliates in federal litigation with investors
• Representing defendant Nevada county in federal-court dispute with liquidator of bankrupt airline concerning abandoned, lost, or damaged aircraft equipment at county airport
• Representing privately-held airlines and their respective affiliates in various commercial litigation matters
• Representing frozen foods manufacturer in federal-court contract dispute with supplier
• Representing numerous real-estate developers and affiliates in litigation concerning acquisitions, land use, and related issues
• Defending bank in federal litigation over letter of indemnity issued in support of customer