Ryan Locke

There are two kinds of immigration lawyers, and Ryan Locke is the other one.

His first successful petition was a letter-writing campaign as a high school freshman, convincing the school newspaper to let him on staff as an underclassman — a maneuver that ended with him as Editor-in-Chief and set the pattern for everything that followed. He studied rhetoric and psychology at the University of Richmond, then went to the University of Georgia School of Law, where he sharpened his advocacy enough to earn induction into the Order of Barristers.

Ryan came to immigration law the long way. He started as a public defender — high stakes, thin resources, and the permanent lesson that the government has to be made to prove it. He briefed and argued nearly two dozen appeals before the Georgia Supreme Court. And as a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer, he turned his clients' lives into narratives that drove significant settlements. Each of those careers is still in there, arguing with the others.

Today, Ryan practices advocacy, teaches it, and judges it — sometimes in the same week. As an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law, he teaches trial presentation and storytelling, the craft of making a case land. And as a Judge on the Fulton County Magistrate Court (one of the few Georgia judgeships that permit concurrent practice), he presides over trials as both judge and fact-finder, watching what makes an argument connect and what falls flat.

At Locke Immigration Law, he puts all of it to work for driven, talented immigrants building their futures in the United States. Whether the case is an EB-1A petition showcasing original contributions, an O-1 for a leader at the top of their field, or a National Interest Waiver demonstrating critical value to the U.S., Ryan approaches it the way he has approached every challenge in his career — by taking complex ideas and making them clear and undeniable.

And when the government delays a case past reason or denies one on grounds that don't hold up, Ryan sues. He has spent nearly his entire career litigating against the government in one form or another. Now, it's mandamus actions for unreasonable delays or APA challenges to arbitrary and capricious denials. The same relentlessness Ryan cultivated as a public defender, aimed at getting his clients' futures back on track.

If you are ready to tell your story, Ryan is ready to help you win.