Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Good.
Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My road is a little winding. I had always wanted to be a writer, and figured journalism was the best way to make a living at it.
I graduated from the University of Toledo, Ohio, with a degree in communication with a print journalism concentration. While I was at UT, I would pass by the law school building regularly. I always thought it would be interesting to go back to law school and see what it was like.
By the time I finished my bachelor’s degree, I was in no mood for three more years of school, especially law school. I got a job at The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, Ohio, as a reporter. I spent the next nine years of my career there as a reporter and editor. I was fortunate enough to win awards for my work from the Associated Press Society of Ohio.
And then I met my wife, Christa, and things changed so much for the better! She was my inspiration to go back to law school and chase another dream.
I moved up to Hesperia (where Christa is from) before law school started, and have been here since.
So off I went. I enrolled at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and graduated on time and with honors.
All the while in law school, we got married, we had our daughter, I coached our sons’ grade school basketball teams, and I ran for and won a seat on our local school board.
I worked for a few other attorneys in the area before opening my own practice in 2015.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been bumpy along the way, but well worth the struggle. Moving up to Michigan wasn’t easy, away from where I grew up, but my home is here now. I refer to Hesperia as my adopted hometown. This community has done nothing but make me feel welcome and at home. I’m part of the tribe here!
Changing careers in my early 30s and then going back to school presented its own set of struggles, too. Going back to school at all was going to be difficult, but I underestimated, at least at first, how hard law school was really going to be. I was usually one of the older students in class. I had several late nights studying while everyone else was asleep.
Then opening my own business was just as scary. It’s funny how much we’re <i>not</i> taught in law school about running our own practice. Opening the business also came also because of Christa. I needed a little extra courage, and there she was. Opening Good Law was totally worth it. Now I enjoy practicing law the way I want to do it, and I don’t have to answer to anyone but me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
So I’m a lawyer in a small town. When people ask me what kind of law I practice, I tell them “Hometown Law.” The bulk of my work is court-appointed criminal defense, and private divorce and child custody matters. I also practice in child abuse/neglect cases.
For those who need it, I draft simpler estate planning documents also.
I try to do things different. Clients have my cell phone number. I do my best to be responsive with questions, and empathetic to the client’s situation.
I never use “I’ve been busy” as an excuse to a client.
I also have never tried to put up the “lawyer aura” with a client. I talk my clients like real people. If a client is coming in to see me, and it’s a day I don’t have to appear in court, the client is likely to catch me in jeans and a polo shirt.
In the meantime, I’ve started a free Substack channel, Sarcastic and Catholic. I try to take a look at social issues from Catholic, common sense, and legal points of view. I post mainly when inspiration hits.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
The first person who deserves all the credit for where I am is God. I’m a practicing (albeit very flawed) Catholic. I feel I was led to my first career, and I’ve been called to my career now. I’ve relied on my faith to get me thought the hard times and done my best to be grateful because of my faith in the good times. God wants me here, helping people as best I can. I try to keep that in mind every day.
A close second on that list is my wife, Christa. There have been and continue to be times where I get a loving gentle nudge forward when I needed it. Going back to law school and opening the business happened because she believed in me more than I believed in myself. My wife is a total rock star!
Also, of course, are my parents, Jeff and Judy Good, who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past August! My brothers and I had wonderful examples growing up of how to live our faith, and how to rightly order our priorities. I still, from time to time, ask them for advice on parenthood and business.
There are too many more for me to list, but I can think of one high school teacher I had who had a big impact on me.
Bill Smith was my history teacher at St. Joseph Central Catholic in Fremont, Ohio. For whatever reason I was paying attention one day in World History when we were learning about the Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci and what it meant to be a “Renaissance Man.” Mr. Smith’s point that day was always be a student, always be a learner. Your education never really ends, even when school is finished. He challenged all of us that day to be a Renaissance Man.
That has always stuck with me. To this day, I try my best to be a Renaissance Man.
Contact Info:
- Website: GoodLawPLC.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047333696618
