Tully Rinckey, PLLC is launching a new statewide practice in professional responsibility and legal ethics.

The firm, based in Albany, has an office in Syracuse. Mark Ochs, former chief attorney for the Committee on Professional Standards of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division Third Judicial Department, heads the new practice.

As chief attorney, Ochs was responsible for investigating complaints against attorneys around the state and prosecuting them when necessary. His office also worked to educate lawyers on ethics and professional standards.

Ochs has 30 years of experience practicing attorney discipline in New York, according Tully Rinckey.

“Some of these issues, they’re serious. They can result in you being disbarred,” Tully Rinckey Managing Partner Greg Rinckey says. “I think it’s an area there’s a need for in the legal profession.”

Many lawyers with experience in the field work for the state as Ochs did. Most of them just retire at the end of their careers there and don’t move to private practice, Rinckey says.

The lawyers that do specialize in defending other attorneys generally haven’t been on the other side of the cases, he adds.

At Tully Rinckey, Ochs will represent attorneys in grievance committee and court disciplinary proceedings. He’ll also represent suspended and disbarred attorneys and law school graduates facing bar admission barriers.

He says he’ll perform much of the same outreach he did while chief attorney. He expects to work with firms and solo practitioners to help them stay ahead of the curve when it comes to professional rules and ethics.

Many areas of law practice have detailed requirements, Ochs notes. A solo attorney taking a case in a certain area of law for the first time might not know about all of them and could unintentionally run afoul of state regulations.

Ultimately a case like that might not result in disciplinary action, but could wind up in a lawyer’s permanent record. Any case involving potential discipline against an attorney is also likely to cost money and time, Ochs adds.

Most of the lawyers involved in disciplinary proceedings represented themselves before the committee, Ochs says.

“A lot of them early on think they can handle this themselves,” he says. “And a lot of times they can. But attorneys can be their own worst enemy.

“When you get into the stage where there’s a disciplinary proceeding, the attorney’s license, his livelihood is on the line.”

Lawyers involved in disciplinary cases would sometimes wind up having action taken against them simply because they refused to cooperate with the committee, Ochs says. That sort of outcome could be avoided with an outside attorney involved, he says.

There simply aren’t many law firms that handle those types of cases, Ochs adds. A handful of individual attorneys specialize in the field in the New York City area. Upstate, lawyers would often ask friends for referrals to other attorneys who could represent them in disciplinary hearings, he says.

Tully Rinckey has offices in Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. The firm employs 96 people, including eight in Syracuse.

Tully Rinckey specializes in military law, civil litigation, family and matrimonial law, criminal defense, trust and estates, and real estate.

The firm was founded by a U.S. Army veteran, Mathew Tully. Rinckey was previously an attorney with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com