Liberty Ritchie grew up in Provo, Utah, but moved to Oklahoma when she was 14 and has called Oklahoma home ever since. Less than a year after she moved to the state, Moore, Oklahoma was devastated by an EF5 tornado. Liberty and her family volunteered for cleanup efforts in the storm’s aftermath. It was the first time she witnessed the destruction and very real human cost of a natural disaster. The experience made a lasting impression on her and later sparked her interest in first-party property insurance litigation.

As an adoptee, Liberty was exposed to the legal world at a young age through the adoption process. She saw the power the law had to change lives and decided early on she wanted to learn to use it for good. In pursuit of this goal, she attended the University of Oklahoma, her stepfather’s alma mater. During her time at the University of Oklahoma, she rushed Alpha Chi Omega and participated in numerous fundraisers and events in support of their philanthropy, which focuses on domestic violence awareness and prevention. Her involvement further solidified her desire to learn how to use the law to help people in their most vulnerable moments.

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Liberty attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law. There, she served as an Assistant Managing Editor for the American Indian Law Review, where she researched the effect recent judicial decisions interpreting the Indian Child Welfare Act had on adoptees and their families. During her first year of law school, she worked for a family law firm and volunteered with Oklahoma Legal Aid to connect low-income individuals with free legal services. In May 2021, she joined Merlin’s OKC office as a law clerk, where she was immediately drawn to the firm’s collaborative, client-first approach. She also loves the inclusive, supportive culture of the firm, and that her coworkers championed her and her success the same way they do that of their clients. So, after graduating from law school with honors in the top ten percent of her class and passing the bar, Liberty was thrilled to join Merlin Law Group’s OKC team full-time as an attorney. Her favorite part of the job is interacting with policyholders, but she also enjoys drafting briefs and conducting research to help her team make winning legal arguments. Every day, Merlin Law provides her with the opportunity she had been looking for to use her legal knowledge to advocate for people when they need it most.