Kelley Drye Expands Corporate Practice In Chicago With Addition Of Partner W. Michael Ryan

Formerly a Partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Mr. Ryan has extensive expertise in all areas of corporate work and has counseled numerous companies on their most complex transactional matters, including information technology and business process outsourcings, joint ventures and acquisitions and dispositions. He has advised clients on deals at the forefront of a variety of industries, such as recent matters involving the development of multiple business functions for a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug program, the creation of an innovative new product for evaluating consumer credit risk, and the formation of a joint venture that will own a newly-developed Chicago skyscraper.

Mr. Ryan has counseled clients engaged in a variety of information technology outsourcings, often utilizing global service delivery models, and including transactions involving Aon, Alltel, Dow Chemical, DuPont, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sprint. He has been involved in numerous software development, installation and licensing arrangements, including representing the City of Chicago in its agreements for implementing Oracle’s ERP solution and negotiating the agreements for one of largest SAP implementations ever conducted. He also serves in a general counsel capacity for a number of privately-held technology companies in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Mr. Ryan was selected as one of Illinois’ leading attorneys under the age of 40, an honor granted annually by the publisher of The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Mr. Ryan is a frequent speaker at conferences on outsourcing and technology-related topics, including programs sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute, the Sourcing Interests Group and Insight Information. At Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, he served on that firm’s 2005 Corporate Strategic Planning Committee, the 2003 Firm wide Strategic Planning Committee and the Chicago Recruiting Committee. Mr. Ryan received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Illinois.

“With the addition of Mike and the expansion of our corporate capabilities, our Chicago office can serve our clients in a wider spectrum of transactional matters, especially in technology-related transactions and BPO and IT outsourcing deals,” said Julian Solotorovsky, Kelley Drye’s Chicago office Managing Partner.

The addition of Mr. Ryan reflects a significant expansion of Kelley Drye’s corporate practice, with broad capabilities in the broker-dealer, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and project finance areas. The move will also bolster the continuing growth of the Chicago office, which was established over 20 years ago, and presently staffs approximately 25 lawyers. The firm’s Chicago office has attorneys specializing in commercial litigation, corporate law, products liability, telecommunications and white collar and internal investigations, as well as intellectual property.