Practice Areas
- Litigation
- Mediation
- Municipal Defense
- Governmental Compliance Investigations
Practice Locations
- Rochester, NY
Eugene Welch is a Partner in Tully Rinckey PLLC’s Rochester office, where his practice encompasses federal and state litigation and governmental issues. After being specially invited to do so by all of the Federal Judges in the Western District of New York, Gene is a Certified Federal Court Mediator available to mediate your litigation. Gene’s experience as a Federal Prosecutor, trial instructor for Justice Department attorneys and his experience in the New York State Attorney General’s Office give him unique qualifications to assist clients to make sure they are in compliance with both New York State and Federal laws and regulations. His credentials have resulted in his being called upon to assist many clients respond to governmental subpoenas and investigations.
Prior to joining Tully Rinckey, Gene was a partner in the law firm of Harris, Chesworth, Johnstone & Welch, LLP, where he practiced in municipal liability defense, personal injury, civil rights litigation, commercial litigation, insurance defense work and government compliance work, assisting clients being audited or investigated by governmental agencies. He represented clients in both New York State Supreme Court and on appeal to the Appellate Division Fourth Department as well as in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany as well as on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan.
Gene was admitted to practice law in New York State in 1971, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in 1971, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1971, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in 1975, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 2004 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993.
Gene is a native Rochesterian and a graduate of McQuaid Jesuit High School. Gene received his Bachelor’s degree in English from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York in 1967 and his Juris Doctor Law Degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1970. At the Catholic University Law School, Gene was the lead articles and book review editor of the Catholic University Law Review.
Gene began his legal career as a confidential law clerk to the Honorable Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia from 1970 to 1971. Thereafter, Gene became an Assistant U.S. Attorney or Federal Prosecutor in the Northern District of New York at Syracuse from 1971-1975. In that capacity, Gene was the attorney in charge of organized crime prosecutions and Economic Stabilization Act matters. For his work in that office Gene received the Special Achievement Award from the U.S. Attorney General Edward H. Levi, in appreciation for and recognition of sustained superior performance of duty. In 1975 Gene moved to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of New York in Rochester New York where he remained until 1979, doing both criminal investigations and prosecutions, trials and appeals and defending civil claims brought against the United States. For his work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gene received the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s highest honor, the Award of Honor in November 1977. In recognition of his trial skills, Gene was also designated a trial techniques instructor at the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. where he trained new U.S. Attorneys on trial techniques.
In 1979 Gene was appointed Assistant Attorney General in charge of the New York State Attorney General’s Rochester Regional Office where he managed a staff of lawyers, investigators, paralegals, supervising, advising, setting policy of civil and criminal litigation on behalf of the State, its agencies and consumers. Once again, Gene was a Trial Advocacy instructor at the New York State Attorney General’s annual fall training seminars in Albany, New York. Gene remained in the New York State Attorney General’s Office until 1995 when he left to join the law firm of Harris Chesworth O’Brien.
For his work in personal injury defense, Gene has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” by the New York Super Lawyer’s Magazine Upstate Edition for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Gene has also maintained an “AV” rating by Martindale and Hubbell which is the highest rating available to practicing attorneys. That rating is determined as a result of peer evaluation.
Gene is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Monroe County Bar Association. In the Monroe County Bar Association, Gene has served as a Trustee of the Association and was a member of the Founding Board of Governors of the Academy of Law of the Monroe County Bar Association in 1992-1994.
Gene has been a lecturer at Continuing Legal Education Programs for the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal and at the Albany Law School, the National Business Institute instructing on Professional Ethics and the People’s Law School, presented by the Monroe County Bar Association for legal overviews for lay people.
As a leader in the law firm’s community involvement, Gene continues to serve the community in a variety of ways. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Upstate New York Better Business Bureau and an active member of its Ethics and Standards Committee. Gene serves on the Board and was President of the Board of Trustees of the Greece Public library, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Gene has also served on the Board of Directors as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greece Chamber of Commerce. Gene has served on the Canandaigua National Bank Greece Advisory Board from 2005 to 2010.
Gene was a Founding Director of the Board of Directors and eventually Chairman for the Board of Directors of Sojourner House for Women from 1983-1995. Sojourner House is an inner city temporary residence for women in transition who are willing to work with Sojourner House in achieving their independence. Gene has also served as the Director of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester, New York, a non-profit agency counseling debtors on debt management. Gene has also served as a director of the St. John Fisher College Alumni Association.
Articles and Publications
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