Ron Daniels
When Ron Daniels, ’12, talks about growing up in Rhine, Georgia, he does so with pride.
“I’m both a first-generation college graduate and a first-generation lawyer,” he says. “I grew up in a small town called Rhine in Dodge County. I often joke that my first experience with lawyering was watching Ghostbusters II as a child and reruns of Matlock with my grandparents.”
For a kid from a town where everybody knows everybody, becoming a lawyer was not something Daniels thought much about. He was not having conversations about LSAT prep or summer clerkships. He was largely unaware of the challenges of navigating his way through the professional world. “Fortunately,” he says, “I had the benefit of a supportive family and professors who were willing to help point me in the right direction.”
Those early influences proved pivotal.
As an undergraduate at Georgia Southwestern State University, Daniels had not yet set his sights on law school. But friends who thought he would be a natural lawyer began to encourage him to consider the path. Taking a legal environment of business course taught by Mercer Law alumnus (now Judge) Bill NeSmith, ’97, solidified the idea. “The following semester, Bill graciously allowed me to intern with his firm in Americus and I was hooked.”
Watching the practice of law up close transformed a distant profession interest into a tangible calling for Daniels. The courtroom was no longer something confined to television. It represented real clients, real consequences, and real meaningful work.
Growing up 90 minutes or so from Macon, Daniels was well aware of Mercer’s reputation. “Mercer was – and is – held in high regard by everyone in my community,” Daniels says. “When I arrived on campus, I was comforted by the small class sizes. I never had a class larger than 30 people prior to law school, so I valued the personal connections I’d have with my fellow students and professors. Once I made it to Mercer Law, an excellent career services office and mentors in the local bar helped me find my way.”
Daniels found a culture that extended beyond academics. “Perhaps the most striking thing was the ‘community’ feel,” he says. “I graduated not with just a career but also feeling honored to be part of a profession.”
That dynamic continues to guide him today.
“We are called as lawyers to serve our communities,” Daniels explains. “It is an integral part of the profession. Mercer does a phenomenal job instilling the significance of giving back and practicing with purpose.”
For Daniels, practicing with purpose meant returning home.
“I always wanted to go back home – the Oconee Judicial Circuit,” he says. “Not enough lawyers are coming back here, and we have too few lawyers as it is.” Recognizing both the need and the opportunity, he chose to open his own firm rather than join an established practice.
In 2023, he expanded his practice by acquiring a retiring attorney’s real estate practice in Cochran and opening a second office. Today, his firm includes Kindall Browning-Rickle, ’15, who also serves as an adjunct professor at Mercer Law, and paralegal, Becky Wyatt.
His commitment to service extends well beyond private practice. For more than a decade, Daniels has represented the Division of Child Support Services in the Oconee Judicial Circuit. That opportunity grew out of a pro bono case he handled for a veteran through Georgia Legal Services. Soon afterward, he was asked to defend habeas corpus petitions on behalf of the Department of Corrections – work that demands both diligence and perspective.
The foundation for that advocacy was laid during his time at Mercer. Daniels immersed himself in campus leadership, serving as president of the Mercer Law Republicans, 2L representative on the Student Bar Association, Honor Court Prosecutor, and a member of both moot court and mock trial teams. “Many of the skills I learned preparing for competitions are skills I still use in advocating on behalf of my clients today,” he says.
He remains especially grateful for the mentorship he received. “One of my greatest experiences was having Professor (now emeritus) Tony Baldwin take the better part of a summer to help me improve my writing.” Baldwin’s investment left a lasting impression – one Daniels seeks to repay.
Having navigated the profession as the first in his family to do so, he understands how meaningful encouragement and guidance can be. He continues to give back to the Law School through alumni events, interviewing Mercer students for clerkships, participating in mock interviews, and serving on the alumni board.
That commitment to connection also inspired another endeavor: a podcast. Daniels credits classmate Bert Hummel, ’12, with originating the idea. “He laid the foundation and I was able to launch ‘The Good Lawyer Podcast.’” Now known as “The Georgia YLD Podcast,” the program is co-hosted by Daniels and Hummel. He also praises Mercer alumna Veronica R. Cox, ’18, for reviving the podcast during her term as Young Lawyers Division president.
Balancing two offices, public service, alumni involvement, and podcasting requires focus, and, Daniels believes, a healthy outlet.
For him, that outlet is barbecue, for which he is famous all over Georgia. What began as a pastime has become something more meaningful — a way to build community and mark life’s milestones. “So it really is a hobby that sometimes gets shared with folks,” he says. He cooks most of the meats for gatherings at Cochran First Methodist Church and rarely turns down an opportunity to fire up a smoker. “I like to have folks over just to cook for them and go to parties just to have a reason to smoke some meat,” he says.
The biggest honor, he adds, came close to home: “My cousin’s daughter wanted ‘Granny’s dressing and Ron’s turkey’ for her wedding reception.”
He and classmate Ryan English, ’12 — now solicitor general of Houston County — once hosted an annual Houston County YLD BBQ that drew lawyers and judges from across the state. The gatherings reflected Daniels’ belief that professional life is strengthened by fellowship.
“BBQ is not a hobby for everyone,” he says. “It is incredibly dirty, involves long hours, risk, and stress — but the rewards are great.”
From watching Matlock in Rhine to leading a two-office firm in the community he calls home, Ron Daniels has remained grounded in the values that shaped him. His journey reflects not only personal achievement, but a sustained commitment to service – proof that being first-generation is less about forging a path alone and more about building one for others to follow.
