As we approach our 20 year anniversary, Patrick Connelly, editor at the Buffalo Law Journal spent some time getting to know Rupp Baase, hearing our story, and discovering what makes this firm so special.
Like any good story we started at the beginning.
The foundation of what is now Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC in Buffalo can be traced to a brazen decision made two decades ago by three colleagues.
The foundation of what is now Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC in Buffalo can be traced to a brazen decision made two decades ago by three colleagues.
“We just thought that there was a good opportunity for us to make a move from a larger firm and open a smaller – very small at the time – boutique litigation firm,” recalled founder R. Anthony Rupp III.
He started the firm in 2000 with Jeffrey Baase and David Pfalzgraf.
The trio said they left Hodgson Russ LLP at the time to try their hand in a market where they saw a window.
“It didn’t seem to me that the market saturation was anything that was going to prevent us from making that move,” Rupp said. “We had some clients that we thought were inclined to follow us if we left and they (did).
“That was a little bit of a gamble but we thought that we could hit the ground running and go on from there.”
Flash forward and the firm finds itself a fixture in the Western New York legal scene and beyond.