Ryan E Cooke

When first looking for an attorney in Albany within my limited financial means, a colleague and "friend" of Mr. Cooke's told me that I would be better off going with a public defender. This turned out to be true, but I had been advised by friends and family that even potentially sub-par representatio...n would be better than none, so I hired Ryan. Ryan constantly spoke at length about his connections with other lawyers and city officials that turned out to be completely untrue or gross, egregious exaggerations. Apparently he thought I would never fact-check his nonsense, even though it was pretty transparent that he was all bravado. It was next to impossible to keep him on a relevant subject; he would provide unsolicited hypothetical scenarios that were totally unhelpful (e.g. “If your case was being processed in x county” or “Now, if this incident had occurred in [some other city], blablaba”). It was infuriating and seemed like a feeble attempt to appear more knowledgeable than he actually was. If you ask him a straightforward question, he will somehow find a way to answer every question BUT the one you actually asked. Perhaps he's accustomed to dealing with uneducated people who don't recognize a smokescreen. This is where it went from simply annoying to a clear indication of disorganization and professional neglect. Just one example: he straight up lied several times about having “extensive” experience with a woman in charge of an influential institution in Troy, even providing gratuitous details about their professional and personal relationship. I found this to be a very concerning lie when I spoke with her and she stated that she had only worked with him ONE other time and it was abundantly clear that she barely knew him. Why lie about something like that? He led me to believe that certain outcomes for my case were entirely possible - even probable - and then would completely flip and act like he had never said those things. In short, he delivered on literally nothing he set out to do in my case. There is a big difference between being cautiously optimistic and setting unrealistic expectations for your client. If it had just been a few times that his words weren’t truthful, I would have chalked it up to his attempt to inspire hope in me; it was, however, purely irresponsible and misleading. I don’t think he was attempting to be deliberately unethical or malicious, but in terms of hiring effective legal counsel, this man was anything but.

Ryan is not that great as a family lawyer. His lack experience shows. He is great about taking your calls, Just do not expect any time action to be taken. In family court enviroment he will show up and go through the motions. Just do ask him to file one to further your case. He instruct his clients... to do his duties for him. These others reviews are wildly miss leading.

Ryan is very accessible. He will take the time during consultation. He will return your calls. In my case, he claimed he could get results that he did not deliver. I meet with Ryan. I brought relevant documents and informed him honestly of the details of my Family Court case. I was told he woul...d take clearly defined actions to support my case. In short, it did not happen. If fact, I arrived at court to have the Judge reject my request for Temporary Relief do to my petition for of lacking supporting documents. I proceed only to find that when I need to file further petition, I was told to take care of my self. I was also informed any evidence need to support my case, I would have to get any evidence my self. Ryan was in over his head here. I am not suggesting he unethical. He lacks experience. And he sets his price only to realize that the case require too much effort. In this instance Ryan was clearly informed that it would be complex , difficult and go to trail. He wanted to show up and hope the respondent did something foolish on Facebook. Or maybe exchange proposal letters with the respondent's lawyer. You get what you pay for. Do not waste your money here. It will end cost you much more.