Michael Ryland is an Australian lawyer and the principal and founding director of the Centre for Social Finance Law in Sydney. He has more than 35 years of experience in corporate finance, investment funds and commercial law, including about two decades as a partner at Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills, and a period as a full-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission.
Background
Ryland's formal education and early legal qualification were in New South Wales. He studied at the University of New South Wales, which was founded in 1949 as the New South Wales University of Technology and took its present name in 1958. He was admitted to the bar in New South Wales in 1982.
His professional experience later extended beyond Australia. He has worked in Australia, Japan and Indonesia, combining these assignments with a long career in corporate finance, investment funds and commercial law.
Education
Ryland completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. The university was founded in 1949 as the New South Wales University of Technology and took its present name in 1958.
He was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1982, which marked his entry into the legal profession in that state.
Career
Ryland was a partner of Freehill, Hollingdale & Page, a Sydney commercial law firm that had taken that name in 1947 under the direction of partner Brian Page. The firm developed corporate and commercial practice within Australia and internationally. In 1978 it became the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner, and in 2000 its state partnerships were combined into a single national partnership under the name Freehills.
Ryland later worked as a partner at Ashurst, a global law firm headquartered in London, and at Herbert Smith Freehills. That firm was formed in 2012, when Freehills dissolved and combined with the London firm Herbert Smith, and it now has headquarters in London and Sydney.
Ryland served for two years as a full-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission. The commission traces its origins to the Law Reform Commission established in 1975, and the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 later replaced the original legislation. It is the primary law reform agency of the Australian government, and its objectives include removing defects in the law and simplifying it.
Ryland is the principal and founding director of the Centre for Social Finance Law, a legal advice and research centre in Sydney focused on social finance, social enterprise and socially responsible business. The centre advises social entrepreneurs, investors and intermediaries on establishing and financing businesses, investment funds and projects with positive social and environmental impact. His own work has included social investment fund structures, social impact bonds, social and affordable housing, and disability services.
Membership
Ryland is a member of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers, an international network of lawyers working in the field of social impact. His membership connects his social investment practice with a wider community of impact-focused legal practitioners.
