In 1921, a young solicitor named Malachy Ryan saw an opportunity to settle down in a bustling town...

 

...and purchased the law practice conducted at the time by a retiring Michael Francis Bourke. Mal, whose skills and dedication soon became renowned throughout the High Country, was without peer in the region and continued as a sole practitioner for nearly twenty years. In 1939, when he saw another opportunity to expand he bought out the practice of the retiring Eric Tulloh.

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It was not until the late 1940’s that Melbourne law firm Lander & Rogers – in attempt to expand out into emerging regional markets – opened branch offices in Alexandra and Mansfield. They chose William Henderson Glen (‘Bill’) – the best young lawyer they had – to go up to the High Country and to go into direct competition with Malachy Ryan’s bustling practice. They had no doubt that Bill would make a name for himself in the town and be very successful. They were right. Unfortunately for the Melbourne firm, a chance encounter of Bill and Malachy brought about the idea of a merger of their two practices. The rest, as they say, is history. Mal Ryan & Glen was born.