I hired Ryan a few months back and it didn't take long to realize I wasted $3,500.00. He had big ideas and a strategic plan at the consultation, but it seemed like as soon as he cashed the check he wanted to rollover and take whatever the prosecution would offer him for the quickest resolution. Knowi...ng that I had a pretty good case (probably way better than most), I asked why we weren't going after a better deal or fighting the case all together. He began to tell me all the ways he could prosecute me if he worked for the Solicitors office and all the ways he could convince a jury to find me guilty, instead of acting like my attorney and creating strategies of how he could defend me. He made me feel like his agenda wasn't to defend me, but was to scare me into following him like a blind sheep into a poor agreement, so he could dispose of my case quickly and easily and move on to the next paycheck. Needless to say, I fired him and my new attorney struck up a much better agreement within days (had the charges dismissed and my case disposed of within a couple weeks) than Ryan had even asked for to my knowledge in the 3+ months he represented me.
Ryan was a nice guy in the beginning, but I didn't feel that way about him by the end, and I felt like he's in it for all the wrong reasons (easy/quick money vs. care for his clients). It seemed to me like he wanted quick resolutions to end a case and consider it some type of win instead of fighting to get the best resolution for his client. I even asked for an itemized bill after I fired him, it simply stated " I worked x hours on your case and the charges are x amount of dollars" completely missing the meaning of "itemized." This made me feel like he was hiding his work and made me feel like didn't want me to see the amount of work he did or didn't put into defending me. I asked for a copy of my case file and some of the documents he or his office prepared had someone else's first name with my last name in the case title. My name has never been William, and that should always concern a client if his attorney can't get his clients name correct on documents. I still have a copy of them.
Also, from day one he constantly said things like "don't worry about it, I'll take care of it, you have other things to focus on," which put me completely at ease. Then in the final days before my hearing he dropped on me an offer that was way worse than anything we had really discussed or I had considered and it felt like he was pressuring me to agree to it. Every time I tried to contact Ryan prior to my hearing to discuss strategy I felt like he shut me down and I was bothering him and he just wanted me to be quiet and stay out of it. This was completely different than how my second attorney made me feel who called me every few days to give me updates, tell me what he thought, and asked how I felt or what I thought about where we were. My second attorney made me feel like he cared about me, the outcome, and my life way more than Ryan ever did.
This is my opinion based on my experience with Ryan. I've worked many years in the legal system and I felt like I was getting the services of a court appointed public defender. In my experience, there are attorneys who can get better results and treat their clients with more respect, courtesy, and compassion, making for a much better overall experience.
