Ryan A. Mooney
Associate Attorney
Ryan Mooney brings nearly 20 years of courtroom experience to the defense of service members, including more than a decade as a Navy Judge Advocate. He has worked on both sides of the military justice system. As a defense attorney, he was designated a Military Justice Litigation Specialist and was named the 2018 Defense Service Office North Defense Attorney of the Year. As a senior prosecutor and later Assistant Director of the Navy’s Trial Counsel Assistance Program, he trained and advised the prosecutors who bring cases against Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel. Today, Ryan is a member of the firm’s Trial and Litigation Team, where he uses that insight to protect clients facing courts-martial, administrative boards, and other proceedings that threaten their freedom, careers, and reputations.
Ryan was commissioned in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps in 2011 and served on active duty until 2026, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. His assignments took him from San Diego to Oklahoma City, Naples, Italy, and Great Lakes, Illinois. As a defense attorney in Naples, he handled some of the most serious cases in the region, including manslaughter, sexual assault, and child exploitation charges, and briefed and argued more than 50 motions. As Senior Defense Attorney for Defense Service Office North, he led the defense offices at Great Lakes, IL and Groton, CT, supervising twelve attorneys and six paralegals while trying felony-level cases himself. He holds a Top Secret security clearance and has worked on cases involving classified information and national security. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He continues to serve in the Navy Reserve.
Before joining the Navy, Ryan began his career as an Assistant Public Defender in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, carrying a weekly docket of 40 to 60 cases. He later practiced civil litigation as in-house counsel for Progressive Insurance, as a plaintiff’s attorney in Baltimore, and most recently as a Senior Associate with Wilson Elser in Milwaukee. He earned his B.A. in History from the University of South Florida, his J.D. cum laude from Michigan State University College of Law, and an LL.M. from McGill University Faculty of Law, where he was awarded a Principal Graduate Fellowship.
Outside the courtroom, Ryan serves on the board of GiGi’s Playhouse Milwaukee, a Down syndrome achievement center.
Practice Areas
- Military Justice
- Courts-Martial
- Boards of Inquiry and Separation Boards
- Non-Judicial Punishment
- Administrative Investigations
Bar & Court Admissions
- Maryland
- Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
- All Military Courts
Military Experience
- United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Lieutenant Commander
- Designated Military Justice Litigation Specialist
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (4)
- Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
Prior Positions
- Senior Associate, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
- Assistant Director, Trial Counsel Assistance Program, U.S. Navy
- Senior Defense Attorney, Defense Service Office North
- Senior Prosecutor, Region Legal Service Office Midwest
- Defense Attorney, Defense Service Office North, Detachment Naples, Italy
- Staff Judge Advocate, Strategic Communications Wing ONE
- Trial Counsel, Region Legal Service Office Southwest
- Litigation Attorney, Progressive Insurance
- Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender
Education
- McGill University Faculty of Law, LL.M.
- Michigan State University College of Law, J.D., cum laude
- University of South Florida, B.A., History
