Ryan J. Clark is an attorney at Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group, LLC. Ryan provides his clients with highly skilled representation in all aspects of their family and matrimonial legal matters, including divorce, domestic violence, child custody, complex asset division, child support, child welfare (DCP&P), Tevis claims, alimony, appeals, post-judgment motions, and related family issues.
In guiding his clients in their divorce and family matters, Ryan is a compassionate and focused legal advocate, driven by his lifelong passion for helping people through times of great adversity in their lives. As Ryan explains, “Throughout my legal career there always seemed to be a natural overlap with family law issues that affected my clients. As I began to handle more and more family law cases over the years, I found the experience of shepherding people through the rapids of these emotional and hard legal issues to be very rewarding.”
Drawing from his substantial background in multiple areas of the law, Ryan helps his clients identify their legal goals and then works to set a clear path to achieving those goals. Described by one former client as “confident, cordial and will work 120 percent for you,” Ryan fully immerses himself in the facts of each case so that he is able to act strategically and swiftly to safeguard his clients and their children. This involves proactive litigation strategies with a singular focus on obtaining the best possible resolution for every single one of his clients.
Ryan’s past successes in numerous litigations and trials have earned him a reputation as an accomplished litigator. It is this experience and reputation that he utilizes as important leverage in arriving at negotiated resolutions that achieve his client’s legal goals while also mitigating the cost of representation. Ryan will always seek to deescalate litigation where possible. Should litigation become necessary, however, Ryan is prepared to vigorously and fearlessly protect his clients’ rights and best interests. He is adept at identifying and building the strongest possible case, whether that requires working with investigators, expert witnesses, or issuing subpoenas to obtain important evidence.
Ryan’s specialized background in both family and criminal law is an important advantage for any client facing overlapping family and criminal matters, including domestic violence restraining order cases and companion domestic violence criminal charges. When he had his own firm, Ryan litigated for both the plaintiff and the defendant in domestic violence matters and was a sought after criminal defense attorney. Ryan is also uniquely skilled in representing clients filing marital tort claims (Tevis Claims), a specialized area of civil law in which a monetary award may be given to one spouse in compensation for the other spouse’s damaging actions.
Prior to entering private practice Ryan was an Assistant District Attorney for Queens County, New York City. During his tenure, Ryan was chosen to join the Major Crimes Career Criminal Bureau as a riding ADA where he worked hand in hand with the NYPD on hundreds of investigations inclusive of crimes for endangering the welfare of a child, domestic violence, kidnapping, gun possession, drug possession, and felony assault. When Ryan was promoted to a felony trial bureau, he honed his litigation skills, winning convictions in the vast majority of trials he prosecuted. The trend of litigation success followed him into private practice as a criminal defense attorney, education law attorney, and DCP&P Family Court attorney. In his family law practice, Ryan’s substantial litigation experience prosecuting and defending criminal cases has proven invaluable in litigating his clients’ family law cases, especially in cases that involve police actions and allegations of domestic violence.
Ryan received his Juris Doctorate from City University of New York School of Law and is also a graduate of Rutgers University (B.A.). In college, he studied abroad in South Africa where he started a prosecutor’s internship program to help the country’s legal system to prioritize the prosecution of domestic violence crimes and rape. Ryan also proudly served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia.
All of these experiences contribute to Ryan’s deep commitment to pursuing justice for his clients. According to Ryan, “I’ve always found it rewarding to help people. This tendency drew me to becoming a Peace Corps volunteer after college. This progressed to getting my J.D. at CUNY Law School whose motto is “Law in the service of human needs.” I went into public service as a prosecutor. I then took that to serving my clients in private practice. In that context being an attorney has always felt more like a calling than just an occupation.”
Born and raised in Freehold, Ryan is an active member of his local community where he resides with his family.
