When you face criminal charges, you want to know the person standing next to you in court understands both the law and what you are going through. Ryan Katz grew up around criminal defense, watched self-defense law shape his family’s dinner table conversations, and chose to build his career helping people who defended themselves and now need someone to defend them.
Why Ryan Fights For People Who Defended Themselves
In the video, Ryan talks about how Katz & Phillips began focusing more on self-defense cases when he was still in high school. He did not just hear about that shift from a distance. He went to the seminars the partners taught and saw the self-defense community up close. As he puts it, that experience “really drove it home” that this was the work he wanted to do.
One moment that stands out comes when he describes the people we serve. Ryan says he likes helping “people out, who, you know, already went through the worst type of situation you could imagine, where they're being attacked in their home, on the street, whatever it is, and now they're getting punished for protecting themselves.” That simple description says a lot about how he looks at our clients: as people who survived something terrifying and now feel the system turning on them.
He also shares what he has seen across criminal cases: “how poorly some defendants are treated” and how some police investigations fall short. He does not say this for drama. He says it because it motivates how he practices law. He wants to stand between clients and those unfair results.
From Dinner Table Conversations To The Courtroom
Ryan’s connection to criminal defense runs deep. He graduated cum laude from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he earned the top grade in Trial Practice. Long before law school, he listened to his parents, both lawyers, talk through real legal problems at home. He attended defense seminars and learned early how the criminal justice system can affect a person’s entire life.
That background matters when he steps into court. Since becoming an attorney, he has handled dozens of criminal cases in both misdemeanor and felony courtrooms. Those clients did not meet a stranger to this work. They met someone who has spent much of his life learning how charges, investigations, & evidence play out in Florida courtrooms.
Teaching, Firearms Law & Self-Defense
Ryan does more than represent clients after an arrest. He also travels around Florida teaching at U.S. LawShield seminars. In those rooms, he helps people understand how to stay out of the criminal justice system and how to defend themselves lawfully under Florida law. That teaching role lines up with what he shares in the video: he wants people who have been attacked or threatened to know their rights before the worst happens.
His work brings together a lifelong involvement in the criminal defense and firearms communities with his legal training. That combination has led him into criminal defense, Second Amendment, & self-defense law. Ryan chose this path on purpose, and he continues to build on it with focused training.
How Ryan Looks At Evidence & Use Of Force
When Ryan talks about poor investigations in the video, he speaks from training as well as experience. He has studied many of the tools and concepts that show up in serious criminal cases, including:
- Forensic evidence such as gun shot residue, blood spatter evidence, & DNA analysis
- Human performance in high-stress encounters, including how stress affects memory recall
- Use-of-force decisions such as evaluating use of force decision making and assessing imminent threats
- DUI-related evidence including DUI defense, contesting the breath test results, contesting blood test results, & field sobriety testing
This training helps him test the prosecution’s story instead of accepting it at face value. When someone claims a client remembered events “wrong” or should have reacted differently during a split-second encounter, he knows how stress, timing, & perception can change what a person can do. When the state leans on test results, he knows how to question the way those tests were given, handled, or interpreted.
Where Ryan Fits In Our Team Story
Katz & Phillips draws on over five decades of combined criminal defense work. Our founding attorneys, James D. Phillips and David S. Katz, are two of only four attorneys in Florida recognized as Board Certified in DUI Defense. Ryan’s focus complements that foundation. He carries forward the firm’s commitment to careful, case-by-case defense, especially in matters involving self-defense, firearms, & DUI-related issues.
In the video, he says, “It's good to have the opportunity to help out people like that. I like the idea of helping out those people, and that's exactly the type of cases that we get to focus on here.” That line sums up why he fits our culture. He wants to help people who acted to protect themselves or others, and now must answer to the criminal justice system for those actions.
Although he is recently licensed, his training and experience in this area go far beyond what many lawyers see over long careers. He pairs that focus with the resources of a firm that has guided clients through countless investigations, arrests, & court hearings across Florida.
Getting To Know Ryan Before You Call
You do not have to meet Ryan in person to get a sense of who he is. His story in the video, his years spent around criminal defense, and his work in Florida courtrooms all point in the same direction: he takes your situation seriously, and he believes people who defended themselves deserve a strong defense of their own.
If you or someone you love faces criminal charges after a self-defense incident, a DUI stop, or any other arrest, you can reach Katz & Phillips at (321) 425-8961. Ryan is part of a team that will listen to what happened, review the evidence, & help you understand your options.
Start by watching his video, then contact us when you are ready to talk. Once you hear why he chose this work, you will understand the commitment he brings to every case.
