Mat Tully and Greg Rinckey, the founders of Albany law firm Tully Rinckey, will step aside next year to focus their efforts on growing the firm’s international offices.
Mike Macomber will take over as CEO of Tully Rinckey’s domestic operation, overseeing its 11 locations in the United States. Macomber is a partner at the firm.
Tully and Rinckey will move into a different office and a different branch of the business, alongside chief operating officer Graig Cortelyou, who will focus on marketing and shared services across offices.
“By getting us out of the American day-to-day operations, we truly can focus on the international growth and expansion,” Tully said.
Meanwhile, Tully will work on recruiting attorneys and staff around the world. Rinckey will focus on international business development. To help with recruiting in the U.S., Tully and Rinckey will give up much of their equity in the law firm. They plan to bring in 10 new equity partners this year, and 25 in the next 18 months. In the past, Tully said, it’s been hard to get some quality candidates to join the firm, particularly in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston.
“We’ve had quality candidates come to the table who insisted on equity and we weren’t able to add them to our roster because of that,” Tully said. “We’re hoping to have a nice crop of people, and they’ll be able to push and lead our firm and fill the leadership gap that Greg and I will have created with our departures.”
The changes have been in the planning stages for years.
“As we build up this core base of small and medium businesses that want to grow cross border, we’re able to provide all of their core services,” Tully said. “I’m confident that core group of business will be able to fund us to go into the Middle East and Asia.”
Tully Rinckey has partly been successful because of its price point. The firm’s hourly cost per attorney is about half what its competitors charge, Tully said. Where Tully Rinckey charges $250 to $400 an hour, other American attorneys may charge $400 to $1,500 an hour.
The firm has 159 employees. Of those, about 100 are attorneys, paralegals or other people who can bill to a client’s file.
Tully Rinckey has been one of the fastest-growing companies in the Albany region for several years, according to the Business Review List. The firm brought in revenue of $17.07 million in 2017.
Tully, Rinckey and Cortelyou will be looking for new office space for their move. Tully said they will likely stick with Rosetti Development Cos. as a landlord. They’re looking for 4,000 square feet within a 10- to 15-minute drive of their firm’s office at 441 New Karner Road in Colonie.
“If we’re in the same office space, it’s relatively easy for people to say, ‘Hey, can I bounce an idea off you?'” Tully said. “By being offsite in a different location, it will hopefully prevent us meddling in American business.”
