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Michael & Associates (Dallas): A Chief Felony Prosecutor Who Switched Sides

Ryan Eady spent over a decade on the prosecution side of Texas courtrooms — as a Midland County Assistant DA, then Chief Felony Prosecutor for the 413th District Court in Johnson County — before joining the defense bar. He brings a specific, first-hand knowledge of how Texas prosecutors evaluate, charge, and try cases to his current role as a senior trial attorney at Michael & Associates’ Dallas office. This profile is part of Awesome Attorneys’ coverage of Dallas criminal defense attorney options.

At a Glance

Origin & Background

Ryan Eady began his legal career in 2012 as an Assistant District Attorney in Midland County, prosecuting felony cases and later serving as Lead Domestic Violence Prosecutor. In 2017, he joined the Johnson and Somervell County District Attorney’s Office, where he was appointed Chief Felony Prosecutor for the 413th District Court — leading trial teams, handling complex felony prosecutions and asset forfeiture matters, and representing the State in seven appeals before the Texas Courts of Appeals. He later practiced at Curnutt & Hafer, L.L.P. before joining Michael & Associates’ Dallas-Fort Worth team in 2025. He is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Michael & Associates itself is a multi-city criminal defense firm with offices across Texas (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio) and in Nashville, Tennessee, built around a team model — more than 20 defense attorneys firm-wide with varied backgrounds (former judges, former prosecutors, forensic specialists) rather than a single named-partner practice. This profile evaluates the firm specifically through its Dallas office and Eady’s individual credentials; prospective clients working with a multi-office firm should confirm directly which attorney will handle their case day-to-day, since larger team-based firms can involve case handoffs between attorneys.

Practice Concentration

Eady and the Dallas office handle criminal defense broadly (felonies, assault, theft, domestic violence, drug offenses) and DWI/DUI defense specifically, drawing on Eady’s felony-trial and appellate background. The firm’s marketing emphasizes a “no junior attorneys” positioning — every attorney handling cases has independent trial experience rather than case work being delegated to associates.

Track Record

Eady’s individual figures — 75+ felony jury trials as lead counsel and 7 appellate arguments — come from his prosecutorial career and are independently corroborated by his LinkedIn work history. The firm’s broader marketing cites “200+ years combined experience” and a large support staff, without a published, dated case-results table specific to the Dallas office. Awesome Attorneys could not independently verify firm-wide case outcome statistics and presents them as the firm’s own claims.

Client Voice

Michael & Associates carries a 4-star Trustpilot rating across 39 reviews (firm-wide, spanning its multiple city offices), with positive reviews citing responsive communication and successful outcomes. A third-party review aggregator (Wheree) summarizing client feedback for the firm’s Dallas presence noted consistent praise for attorney expertise and client communication, but also flagged that “some users indicate concerns about case transitions within the firm affecting timelines” and discomfort during initial stages before a client-attorney relationship was established — a pattern this profile is disclosing directly, since it reflects a structural feature of larger, team-based firms (case handoffs between attorneys) rather than an isolated complaint.

Beyond the Courtroom

In his prosecutorial roles, Eady trained law enforcement cadets at the Permian Basin Law Enforcement Academy on domestic violence investigation procedures and worked directly with victim-advocacy organizations including the Midland Rape Crisis Center and Midland County Children’s Advocacy Center — experience that gives him direct familiarity with how domestic violence cases are built from the state’s side.

Recognition

Eady’s Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification in Criminal Law is the substantive, exam-and-peer-vetted credential this profile treats as most significant, and the basis for describing his practice with the term “specialist.” His prosecutorial trial and appellate record (75+ jury trials, 7 appeals) is independently corroborated career history rather than a marketing claim. Awesome Attorneys did not find independent Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, or D Magazine recognition specific to Eady at the time of this research, given his relatively recent (2025) transition to private defense practice after a long prosecutorial career.

Texas Legal Backdrop

A first DWI in Texas is a Class B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 49.04 (up to 180 days in jail, a fine up to $2,000), escalating with priors or aggravating factors. A driver has 15 days from arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation hearing under Texas Transportation Code Chapters 524 and 724 to contest an automatic license suspension. For domestic violence cases — an area of particular depth given Eady’s prosecutorial background — Texas Penal Code § 22.01 governs assault, with family-violence enhancements and protective order mechanisms under Texas Family Code Title 4 creating a parallel civil track alongside any criminal charges.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Ryan Eady’s individual credentials are genuine and well-documented: a real TBLS board certification, a substantial and independently verifiable prosecutorial trial record, and specific appellate experience that many defense attorneys lack. His move from Chief Felony Prosecutor to the defense bar in 2025 is recent, but the underlying 14-year courtroom record predates that transition and is the more meaningful data point.

The honest caveat concerns the firm structure rather than Eady individually: Michael & Associates is a large, multi-city team-based practice, and the case-transition concerns noted in third-party review aggregation are worth a direct question before retaining the firm — specifically, whether Eady personally will handle the case throughout, or whether it may be reassigned within the team. That structural trade-off (broad institutional resources versus single-attorney continuity) is a reasonable one for some clients and not for others, and is worth weighing explicitly rather than assuming.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was compiled from the firm’s website (zealousadvocate.com, including Ryan Eady’s attorney bio page), Ryan Eady’s LinkedIn profile and work history, Justia’s attorney directory listing, Super Lawyers’ Dallas office firm listing, and Wheree’s third-party review aggregation for the firm’s Dallas presence, alongside Trustpilot’s firm-wide review summary. Statutory citations were checked against the Texas Penal Code, Texas Transportation Code, and Texas Family Code. No case results, credentials, or quotes were invented; Eady’s prosecutorial career history is corroborated across his LinkedIn profile and the firm’s own bio page.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Michael & Associates or Ryan Eady prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placements clearly labeled as such, but no payment of any kind determines inclusion in, or the content of, this editorial profile. This article is for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Michael & Associates or Awesome Attorneys.