Rob Singer is forming a new military defense practice group. He spoke to the Buffalo Law Journal about it.
After graduating from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 2006, Robert Singer went to boot camp in Jacksonville where he got his start in the JAG Corps.
That spawned a nearly decade-long military career, which included a plethora of legal positions and travels that would take him from Florida to Virginia Beach to Pearl Harbor.
Singer served on active duty as general counsel, naval prosecutor, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and as a military defense attorney.
After returning to Buffalo last year to take a position at Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham, he looked for opportunities to expand its practices. Since he enjoyed working with service members and veterans as a military officer, he has an appreciation for their contributions and wanted to see them afforded the rights they deserve.
Forming a military and veterans law practice at the firm seemed like a natural fit. These days he represents enlisted service members and military officers accused of misconduct or substandard performance as part of court-martials, Article 15/Non-judicial punishment proceedings and before administrative separation boards and boards of inquiry.
“What initially drew me to it was not only did I have the experience for this practice, but it’s also something that is very fulfilling,” Singer said. “Representing anybody is always a fulfilling path, but when you represent somebody who may have gone on seven different deployments overseas over the course of 20 years or who has made enormous sacrifices for this country, they may be in a situation where they may lose their retirement or something they’ve worked so hard to get. Those are cases you really want to get involved in and make a difference.
It’s a specialized area of law so his background in military jobs and serving at an administrative level helped him break into it. By his side at the firm and helping to spearhead the efforts are two former soldiers who are now associates plus managing partner David Pfalzgraf, a Navy veteran.
