Capital Region Business Beat: Two veterans find success with Albany law firm
ALBANY — A decade ago, Greg Rinckey was an Officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. (JAG) in the U.S. Army.
As his time in the military came to an end, a new chapter was beginning with his Army buddy, Mathew Tully. Tully was planning on starting his own law firm in the Capital Region.
Rinckey remembers accepting an e-mail invitation from Tully to fly to Albany and see the proposed office space.
“He had metal folding chairs in there,” Rinckey recalled. “He was explaining to me, ‘This is where the secretary’s going to go, this is where our first associate is going to go,’ and I was thinking, ‘This guy is nuts,’ because it was him at that point.”
Ten years after that conversation, Tully Rinckey PLLC has 60 attorney’s in six offices along the East Coast.
“It’s general practice throughout the state of New York but nationally we’re known mostly for Federal Employment, Military Law, and Security Clearance Law,” said Rinckey.
For the last five years, Tully Rinckey PLLC has been named to the Inc. Magazine 5000 list. It’s made of the fastest growing companies in America.
Tully Rinckey has opened offices throughout New York State, Virginia, and steps away from the White House in Washington, D.C.
With all their accomplishments so far, helping their fellow soldiers sticks out.
“Our proudest moment was being able to help Military members and Federal employees that are serving this nation,” Rinckey said. “We’ve been able to reach out to thousands of them.”
Rinckey was honorably discharged in 2004.
Mathew Tully is still on military leave. He was badly injured by a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2012. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
“The military background really trains you, in a way, to think long-term planning, to think for contingencies. The military was really tremendous in both Mat and my background in getting us where we are today,” Rinckey said.
The law firm also made headlines in 2012 for winning a landmark case, SPCA versus Mills. In that case, the State Department of Education refused to respond to an SPCA Freedom of Information Law request for the names and street addresses of all licensed veterinarians and technicians in Schenectady County.
Tully Rinckey donated their profit from that case to the Schenectady County SPCA.
Rinckey said the firm will continue to grow and expand across the country but they will be forever tied to the Capital Region.
“New York will always probably be our home and the headquarters, but I see offshoots of Albany,” said Rinckey.
