About Ryan

Ryan J. Byrnes is an associate attorney in the firm’s Tax, Trusts, and Estates and Business, Corporate & Commercial Departments. Ryan focuses his practice on complex estate planning, trust and estate administration, estate litigation, and providing business and transactional counsel to clients.

Prior to joining Wells, Jaworski & Liebman, LLP, Ryan practiced in the Trusts & Estates Department at a Rockland County law firm, and a midsize law firm based in Westchester and New York City. Ryan has conducted various Supreme Court, Superior Court and Surrogate’s Court proceedings throughout New York and New Jersey, representing clients in a wide range of estate related litigation including accounting disputes, claims against fiduciaries, and will contests.  Ryan draws on his experience to counsel clients on a wide array of estate planning and Surrogate’s Court matters to avoid common missteps that may otherwise lead to costly litigation. He has also been instrumental in advising and representing clients on succession planning, sale/purchase of their business, residential and commercial real estate sale/purchase, shareholder agreements, operating agreements, and buy/sell agreements.

Ryan earned his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College where he majored in Sociology with a specialization in Criminal Justice and received a Minor in Arabic language and studies. Ryan went on to pursue his law degree from New England Law | Boston. During law school, Ryan earned recognition on the Public Service Honor Roll for his time volunteering with the New England Innocence Project, which provides pro bono legal representation to individuals who have been wrongfully convicted.

Ryan is admitted to practice law in the State Courts of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He is an active member of the Bergen County Bar Association and Trusts & Estates Section of the New York State Bar Association. In 2020, Ryan was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate.

Ryan lives in River Vale with his wife, Brittany, and their children, Colin and Madison.