Crossing over with the set's insurance expertise, 7 King’s Bench Walk is ‘highly regarded and respected for its experience and strength in the civil fraud sector’. In one high-profile case, Richard Waller KC and Michael Ryan successfully represented the claimant in Malhotra Leisure v Aviva Insurance, a claim for indemnity against the insurer for declining to pay for losses under the COVID-19 business interruption policy following water damage to the hotel - defeating the insurer's allegation that the flood was deliberately caused. Andrew Pearson is ‘a fearless and skilled advocate, practical in devising strategy and tenacious in court, especially when running difficult arguments, and has very good judgement’. In a boost to the senior end of chambers, the ‘very sharp and tactically astute’ Jason Robinson KC was appointed silk in March 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Position
Michael Ryan’s practice encompasses cross-border disputes, banking and finance, energy disputes, company litigation, insurance and professional liability.
Many of Michael’s cases include allegations of dishonesty and he has extensive experience of commercial fraud. He is familiar with the demands of hard-fought commercial cases and has substantial advocacy experience, having conducted trials, appeals and applications in his own right. He has appeared in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Michael has experience of interim applications, including worldwide freezing injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal Applications, Bankers Trust Orders and jurisdictional applications.
Cases include: Aercap Ireland v AIG Europe [2023] EWHC 96, US$4.5bn insurance dispute; UBS Switzerland v Kumar [2023] EWHC 2041, freezing orders in banking/fraud dispute; Deposit Guarantee Fund v Bank Frick [2022] EWHC 2221, banking fraud dispute; Natwest Markets Plc v Bilta [2021] EWCA Civ 680, carbon credit trading fraud; VTB Commodities v JSC Antipinksy [2021] EWHC 1758 (Comm), Russian banking fraud dispute; PDVSA Servicios S.A. v Petrosaudi Oil Services Limited [2020] EWHC 2819 (Ch), 1MDB fraud and offshore oil drilling; Apache North Sea Ltd v INEOS FPS Ltd [2020] EWHC 2081 (Comm), North Sea oil dispute; Group Seven Ltd v Notable Services LLP [2020] Ch 129, appeal on dishonest assistance.
Career
Called 2011 (Middle Temple, scholar and exhibitioner; ver Heyden de Lancey Prize; Certificate of Honour). BA (Oxon) Jurisprudence (First Class). BCL (Distinction). BPTC (Outstanding).
Memberships
COMBAR; Chancery Bar Association.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Greg Leyden is fantastic - personable, commercial and manages his stable of barristers extremely well.'
- 'Greg Leyden is a real joy to work with.'
- 'Greg Leyden stands out as exceptional - fantastic level of service.'
- 'Joe Clayton is a fantastic clerk. Very commercial.'
- '7KBW are a first rate set. Quality across the board from top to bottom with great silks and bright, hard working juniors.'
- 'A well regarded set.'
- 'A go-to set.'