BIO

Virtus Law Group, LLP founding partner Colby J. Ryan, originally from Las Vegas, NV, moved to San Diego to attend law school shortly after graduating early from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality Management.

 

Mr. Ryan obtained his Juris Doctorate degree from California Western School of Law, during which time he was recognized for his advocacy capabilities that he developed as a member of the CWSL Mock Trial team, receiving the CALI Academic Excellence Award in Evidence Advocacy, the Distinguished Advocate Award, and the Gordon & Holmes Oral Advocacy Scholarship.

 

During his time in law school, Mr. Ryan was a law clerk for three separate semesters for the Office of the Public Defender in San Diego, working in the Central Felony Division, Juvenile Delinquency Division, and Central Misdemeanor Division. While in the Juvenile Delinquency Division, Colby himself was tasked to be lead trial counsel as an intern for a Penal Code section 245(a)(4) prosecution.

 

After graduating law school, Mr. Ryan was hired as a graduate law clerk for the Office of the Public Defender in San Diego, where he continued to work with indigent clients with desperate legal circumstances. Following his clerkship, Colby founded both the Law Offices of Colby J. Ryan, and then shortly thereafter, Jones Ryan Trial Attorneys, where he continued to assist dozens in the San Diego community at both the state and federal level.

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In addition to servicing his retained clients, Mr. Ryan also serves as a Panel Attorney for the Office of Assigned Counsel, a branch of the Office of the Public Defender in San Diego, where he helps represent indigent clients with charges ranging from misdemeanors to Class IV felonies. 

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Colby feels he's at his best in trial, where his recent trials include a 2022 acquittal of a two-count felony complaint and defending a client in a seven-week first degree murder with three special circumstances trial.

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Mr. Ryan is admitted to practice law in the states of California and Nevada, and is also admitted to practice in the Federal District Courts for the Southern and Central District of California.

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As someone always looking to give back to the community he serves, Colby serves as the Secretary of the Justicia Criminal Defense Association, an organization dedicated to helping to assist and inform members of the San Diego community of their legal rights. Additionally, Colby serves as an Assistant Coach for the California Western Mock Trial Program to help develop the next generation of young legal advocates.​

 

In his spare time, when he's not thinking about the law, Colby likes to play golf, meditate, listen to music, and enjoy time with friends and family.

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CONTACT

Email: Colby@VirtusLG.com
Mobile: (619) 521-4513

BIO

Ho’oponopono (pronounced “ho-o-po-no-po-no” in Hawaiian) means to “make things right and just”. In Hawaii, ho’oponopono is a means of conflict resolution; where people come together peacefully and commit to healing through reconciliation and forgiveness.

 

Born and raised on the rural south side of the Big Island of Hawaii, Liann (or Li as her friends call her), was taught to practice ho’oponopono from early on in life. Even if it meant having to hug her hard-headed brother after a fight or having to wrestle her way to the top of the batting order on an all-boy’s baseball team, Liann always has had a strong sense of justice and commitment to doing whatever it takes to make things right.

 

This sense of justice was tested when she was just 9 years old, involving one of the direst situations a close-knit family can imagine: a family member being falsely accused, charged, and taken away based on a very serious crime that they did not commit. Even though it took a year, even though the system was stacked against them, Li’s loved one was cleared of all charges, returning home to their family and avoiding several years of prison in the process. It’s no surprise that exoneration might have sparked the idea for Li to want to pursue an eventual career in law, but it wasn’t the ultimate result that had the most impact on her, rather, it was the attorney who was appointed by the court because Li’s family could not afford to hire anyone. Although he was a stranger to her, having her loved one’s life in his hands, he inspired Li to become a Public Defender so that she could help other families make things right and just, the way he had helped hers.

 

Starting the summer of her first year of law school, Li interned at the Public Defender’s Office and stayed on as an intern, post-bar clerk, and ultimately became a Deputy Public Defender, proudly serving the San Diego community for over 10 years. During that time, she assisted in the litigation of more than 10,000 cases, and personally handled her own felony caseload for the majority of her career that included being lead counsel for more than 2,000 felony cases. Specializing in the art of trial, Li has tried over 50 cases to verdict, covering every imaginable alleged crime including murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, mayhem, domestic violence, sex crimes, weapons charges, drug offenses, and even thefts and DUIs.

 

Whether it was a serious felony that called for life in prison, or a misdemeanor that would not result in more than a fine, Li implemented ho’oponopono into every single case she handled, ensuring that her clients not only received exceptional legal representation, but also justice. Li is known in the legal community for her effective and zealous advocacy, her ability to command respect in any courtroom and negotiation she enters, and to obtain incredible results for her clients by ensuring that the prosecutors, judges and jurors see her clients as she does: human beings with deep and compelling histories deserving of reconciliation and forgiveness, not just another number and charge.

 

When she is not making her opponents work harder, Li loves to travel (far and often), see live music, try new restaurants, and attempt to maintain her composure every time her daughter asks her, with the utmost sincerity, whether she has shaved her beard that morning.

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CONTACT

Email: Li@VirtusLG.com
Mobile: (619) 356-0370

BIO

Prior to being a founding partner of Virtus Law Group, LLP, Vincent Paul Sorrentino obtained his Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering from UCLA, where he played club baseball, leading the nation in regular season stolen bases and placing top 10 in multiple other stats. After trying his hand at some low-level pro baseball, he started his professional career as an engineer in San Diego, California. 

 

Vinny found he wanted to be able to help people more than he could as an engineer, so with the top scholarship--The Justice Anthony Kennedy Scholarship--at California Western School of Law, Vinny went on to graduate a semester early as Magna Cum Laude in the top 4% of his class. While attending law school, Vincent received the highest grade in the class in approximately 30% of his classes, wrote for his school’s Law Review Journal, and competed in trial competitions. He is currently in the process of having an article he authored published by a law review journal.

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Vinny has worked for a Federal Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and for attorneys in various practices ranging from Patent Prosecution to Personal Injury Litigation. The bulk of Vinny's early legal career was spent at a large firm in San Diego doing Labor & Employment defense litigation.

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Vinny is a licensed attorney in California, Arizona, and Nebraska, as well as with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. 

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CONTACT

Email: Vinny@VirtusLG.com
Mobile: (619) 356-0603