Tully Rinckey earns prestigious recognition in Ireland

Listen to this article

After one year in the Irish legal market, Tully Rinckey PLLC has received Q9000 certification from the Institute of Legal Research & Standards.

“Over in Ireland it is very prestigious, and it is something that law firms aspire to,” said Greg Rinckey, a founding partner of the Albany-based firm.

“Since we were new to the market, we wanted to demonstrate the firm’s ongoing commitment to minimizing risk and having high-quality legal procedures in place,” he continued. “We identified the Q9000 as the mark of distinction early on, and we strove to get there.”

Tully Rinckey, which has an office at 400 Linden Oaks, in Pittsford, also has locations in Texas, California, Buffalo, New York City, Syracuse, Binghamton, and Washington, D.C.

The firm has embarked on a global growth strategy, with another office planned for London, followed by new offices in Dubai and Asia.

“We’re actively recruiting for the London office right now,” Rinckey said.

The Q9000 certification, which is not available in the United States, is based on an audit and evaluation by the Institute of Legal Research & Standards.

“It’s a pretty lengthy process where they request various documentation with regard to risk and quality-control procedures, then they provide some recommendations and then they come back and they reevaluate again,” Rinckey said.

The process includes evaluations of practice management, systems, system management and financial controls, he said.

The Dublin office now has six solicitors and a total staff of 10, but the firm is actively recruiting two additional solicitors.

Tully Rinckey has taken advantage of a quirk in the Irish legal culture to hire experienced solicitors who are being forced out of jobs with Irish firms.

“A lot of these Irish firms have mandatory retirement clauses — which is kind of unheard of here in the United States — where you push out your most experienced partners,” he said. “These are partners that still have many years left to work. It was an opportunity for us to take advantage of the differences in the legal culture.”

Tully Rinckey also plans to add personnel in the United States, in their Austin and Houston offices, and in New York City.

The practice areas where Rinckey expects the most growth are corporate litigation, immigration, tax law, intellectual property and commercial real estate.

[email protected] (585) 232-2035