Ryan R. Charles is a native of Petoskey having graduated from Petoskey High School in 1997 and began his legal career in public service. Ryan graduated cum laude from the University of the South, earning a B.A. in Political Science in 2002. Ryan obtained his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2006, graduating cum laude. After graduating from Pepperdine, Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where he worked on numerous circuit court decisions that now serve as federal appellate case law. Upon completing his one-year clerkship, Ryan served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps (“JAGC”) from 2007 to 2013. Ryan’s JAGC assignments included representing sailors and Marines facing adverse administrative action and prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (court-martial); a deployment to Afghanistan where he advised law of armed conflict detainee review boards; and Staff Judge Advocate (equivalent to general counsel) at Recruit Training Command, the Navy’s only “Boot Camp.” Most recently, Ryan served as Assistant General Counsel for one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate investment services companies from May 2013 through May 2014. As in-house counsel, Ryan focused on employment law matters and also served as the company’s first Compliance Officer as a publicly traded company. In 2014, Ryan made the decision to return to his hometown, joining the ranks of Molosky & Co. in June 2014.