In his early years, life was not very kind to Michael J. Ryan. He grew up with a teenage drug addicted mother and did not meet his biological father until age 22.  The victim of a physically abusive drug and alcohol addicted “step” father, he even watched his mother die from her drug use when he was only 13. He spent much of his childhood years in the Longwood projects, attending 11 different schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

Through it all, Michael J. Ryan kept his nose to the grindstone and excelled in school to the point of receiving a scholarship from Cleveland Heights High School.  He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Allegheny College in 1993, while receiving a 3-year renewing scholarship.  He subsequently received his juris doctorate degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1996 and passed the Ohio Bar Examination in November of 1996. In August of 2000, he was licensed to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

While in law school, Judge Ryan was an employee of the City of Cleveland’s Law Department.  He started off as a mediator with the Cleveland prosecutor’s office in the Criminal Division and eventually worked as a law clerk for the Civil Division.  Once he passed the bar, he was hired as an Assistant City Prosecuting attorney and during his two and a half years there, he tried over three hundred combined bench and jury trials.  Judge Ryan also was employed in the Department of Public Safety for the City of Cleveland and was the administrator for the Office of Professional Standards.  He supervised two civilian employees and several sergeants of the Cleveland Police Department in their investigation and preparation of cases alleging police misconduct that went before the Citizens Police Review Board.  He also functioned as the advisor to that board.  His most recent public service position, before being elected Judge, was as a Magistrate with the Cleveland Municipal Court.  He was the youngest person appointed to a full-time Magistrate position in the history of Cleveland Municipal Court. 

Prior to being appointed as a Magistrate for the Cleveland Municipal Court, Judge Ryan was in private practice working as an associate attorney for Forbes, Fields & Associates.  Judge Ryan’s practice focused on the areas of criminal defense, personal injury, corporate, employment and municipal law.

In his spare time, Judge Ryan has volunteered as a Magistrate Judge for the Juvenile Court’s Diversion Program, instructor for New Lawyers regarding criminal practice in the Municipal Court, Mock Trial Judge and Instructor for the Cleveland Municipal Court Mock Trial competition, tutor for the Ohio Proficiency Exam for John Hay, (now East Tech Annex students), tutor for the Ohio assessment for Daniel E. Morgan elementary and facilitator for the Teen Domestic Violence workshops.  A former athlete himself having played football and participated in track and field from junior high school through college, Judge Ryan now assists younger athletes as a volunteer coach for his son’s baseball and basketball teams and volunteer neighborhood basketball coach for kids of all ages.

Judge Ryan is married, has two children and is a member of Pentecostal Church of Christ.  In 2004 he was inducted into the Cleveland Heights High Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. He was a Finalist for both the 2004 Cleveland Browns Community Quarterback Award and the 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award. He is also the recipient of the 2006 Allegheny College Gold Citation for his outstanding professional and volunteer achievements, as well as the 2010 Archbishop James P. Lyke African American Male Image Award. Judge Ryan is also a member of the 2005 Kaleidoscope Magazine 40/40 club, the 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland and serves as a trustee for the Kym Sellers Foundation, which helps educate the public about Multiple Sclerosis. 

Judge Ryan encourages others to follow the latter precept which he actually composed: “The key to success is never to be satisfied with being average.”