Dean Ryburn

Dean Ryburn is the Managing Partner of Dentons' Dubai office and Head of the Middle East Construction and Dispute Resolution practice, specializing in Dispute Resolution. He has more than 20 years of experience advising clients on risk management, dispute avoidance, and resolution across litigation, arbitration, and mediation, with a particular focus on construction and infrastructure disputes.

Dean has been based in the Middle East for over 15 years and brings a commercial understanding from previous roles as senior in‑house counsel for a leading regional power developer and a secondment to a government‑owned company advising on the close‑out and resolution of disputes for a US$4 billion project. He regularly acts for clients in disputes relating to variations, delay and disruption, early termination, and defective works, with particular expertise advising main contractors on complex interconnected disputes with employers and subcontractors. His practice spans major projects across the GCC region, including construction, energy, and infrastructure megaprojects.

Dean holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics, Politics) from Victoria University of Wellington (2005) and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 2006.

He is ranked as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 for both Construction and Arbitration, and as one of the 100 Leading Lawyers in the Middle East by Lawdragon. He has been named in Construction Week's Power 150/100 list of the Middle East's most influential construction leaders (2022, 2023, 2025, 2026) and received the Lexology/Who's Who Legal Client Choice Award for UAE Construction (2024, 2025). He is also ranked in Band 3 in Construction: Dispute Resolution by Chambers & Partners Global (2026).