Ryan Pistorius

Ryan Pistorius is a litigation and disputes lawyer in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office, practising in the Advocacy group. His practice focuses on international law, commercial litigation and arbitration (international and domestic), investor-state dispute settlement, and public law advocacy.

Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Ryan practised with an international arbitration boutique in Paris, where he represented foreign investors and states in investment arbitration disputes, as well as in annulment proceedings before domestic courts. He has experience with all major arbitration rules, including those of the ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, SAC (formerly SCAI), and NAFTA (CUSMA/USMCA/T-MEC)

Ryan holds a J.D. with a specialization in international law from the University of Ottawa. While in law school, he worked as a Research Fellow for the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) Network, which supports intellectual property and innovation policy development in Africa. He also represented uOttawa at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, for which he is now coaching a Nigerian team for their first appearance.

Ryan has written on topics including substantive protection of foreign investments and federal jurisprudence in Canada. He is currently completing an LL.M. in International Dispute Resolution at Queen Mary University of London, where his thesis addresses the use of international arbitration as a foundation for the localized resolution of disputes in space.