Meet Patrick Ryan
I worked as a lawyer for nearly 25 years before changing my career path. My education, training and professional experience until that time entailed taking care of small business owners, mostly in the recreational vehicle industry. The thing about these types of small business owners is that they tend to be creative non-conforming risk takers. Unsurprisingly, as a class they were pretty good at getting into legal entanglements. My job was to help them navigate those entanglements. This work exposed me to many areas of the law, including contracts, property, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, tax laws for the business side and on the personal side, divorce, child support and child custody, criminal cases, bankruptcy, estate planning and even adoption.
Over the last 40 years I have also participated in a number of small business ventures as an owner and corporate officer. Some 20 year ago I retired from the practice of law to work full time in numerous business development projects including manufacturing business start ups, estate and tax planning, real estate development, and multi-state planning and risk management.
When my wife began building her counseling practice, she regularly encountered clients whose mental health needs were intertwined with a variety of intimidating and overwhelming legal challenges. These issues often generated additional emotional and psychological injuries, hindering if not outright derailing psychological healing. She enlisted my assistance to help these clients develop effective practical solutions to their specific legal challenges so they could optimize their therapy. I found that common to all of these cases was:
As a part of her therapeutic interventions, my wife now offers my services to clients who need direction and coaching on legal matters that distract from their therapy. While I do not provide legal services (nor charge lawyer fees) I do analyze client’s legal issues and educate the client. With my help, clients will understand their options and feel more confident making decisions. I coach clients on communicating effectively, organizing their paperwork, and making preparations. This practical addition to mental health offerings helps empower individuals through education, objective analysis , and informed decision-making.
A legal event is looming on your horizon or that storm has already arrived. You are pretty sure you need a lawyer.
The wisest course is to answer these questions before you pay the retainer. Do this:
If your prospective lawyer seems hesitant or isn’t at all on board, find someone else.
This makes perfect sense, but is very hard to do without help. That is what I do for my clients. I don’t do their legal work, I educate them about the legal process and how to make good decisions with understanding and confidence. I help my clients be prepared to make informed decisions rather than be a victim of their legal circumstances.
Have some questions?
