Attorney Ryan C. Locke

Ryan Locke helps people who have been injured because of the negligence of others, usually in car wrecks or because of a hazard on a business’s property. Formerly a public defender, Ryan uses the same passion and relentless advocacy to obtain great results for his clients today. Ryan has recovered millions of dollars from negligent drivers and property owners for his clients.

Described as a legal expert by the New York Times, Ryan is also an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law and a judge on the Magistrate Court of Fulton County.

When not working, Ryan enjoys cooking, traveling, and playing board games with his kids. Ryan's wife is an immigration attorney. They live in Midtown with their three children. If you talk to Ryan in the afternoon, you can often hear these three children in the background of his phone calls.

Education

J.D., University of Georgia School of Law (2010)

The Order of Barristers; Pupil, Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court; Editor, Journal of Intellectual Property Law

B.A., University of Richmond (2007)

The Lexicon Award, a departmental honor

Notable Accomplishments

PROFESSIONAL

I am a part-time magistrate judge in the Magistrate Court of Fulton County, the busiest court in the State of Georgia.

I am an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law for the Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques, seven days of intensive workshops on trial techniques for all second-year students.

I was selected for The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 and Top 40 under 40. Membership is by invitation only. I am also AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell and rated 10/10 by Avvo--the highest ratings for both organizations.

After law school, I worked for the Public Defender for the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, the largest office in Georgia. After leaving the office, The Georgia Public Defender Council appointed me to represent indigent defendants on appeal. I regularly appeared before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court to argue appeals in serious criminal cases.

I am a graduate of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' 13th Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program in Athens, Georgia.

I am widely involved in the legal community, holding membership in the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Georgia Trial Lawyer's Association, and the American Association for Justice.

I make videos and blog about personal injury law to help people injured in car wrecks.

COMMUNITY

I perform a significant amount of pro bono work. I have performed free work for people harassed by junk debt collectors, tenants wrongfully evicted from their homes, the International Community School, Occupy protesters arrested during peaceful protests, and federal prisoners seeking clemency from unreasonable drug sentences with Clemency Project 2014. I work with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta in providing pro bono services to worthwhile individual and corporate clients.

I hold the record for the largest verdict obtained for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

I coached Southwest DeKalb High School's mock trial team for several years.

I was a board member at Oakhurst Presbyterian Church.

I am an Eagle Scout from Troop 993 in Severna Park, Maryland. I was even a camp counselor in the summer and can start a fire with a battery and steel wool (but my morse code and flag semaphore are pretty rusty).

LAW SCHOOL

I graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law, where I competed with our mock trial team and coached a team my third year. I was a pupil in the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Inn of Court.

I also was an editor for the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and published my student note about the constitutionality of laches barring a copyright infringement claim within the statute of limitations in the Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal in 2009. The Supreme Court of the United States agreed with me when they decided this issue in Petrella v. MGM, 134 S. Ct. 1962 (2014).

At graduation, I was one of ten students inducted into The Order of Barristers, a national honor society for oral advocacy. I also was awarded the class award for "Outstanding Achievement in Socratic method--Member of the class whose performance in Socratic dialogue entertained us the most." The first award is more prestigious than the second.

During law school I worked in a variety of clinics and internships, including working in UGA's Special Education Clinic and Family Violence Clinic, and interning with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas and the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project.