RJ is a member of the firm and also serves as the firm’s Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining MGC, he was a founding partner and, for nearly 20 years, the managing partner of an AmLaw 200 firm. In his role as Chief Development Officer of MGC, RJ brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help guide the firm’s strategic initiatives and best practices. In his prior role, he was an instrumental leader in the development and implementation of his firm’s strategic vision, as well as its geographic expansion and evolution.
An AV preeminent-rated litigator with more than 30 years of experience, RJ is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut and North Carolina, including the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, is admitted before the United States Supreme Court and is a former registered foreign lawyer in the United Kingdom. His practice primarily involves sophisticated insurance coverage and bad faith matters, reinsurance as well as D&O and E&O litigation. RJ is a highly-credentialed lawyer, having been named to Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Business First’s Legal Elite many times. He was also named annually as one of the most influential business leaders in the western New York region, where he lived and worked prior to joining MGC. RJ is a former national co-chair of the DRI Insurance Company Relations Subcommittee, and has served on the steering committees of both the Insurance Law and LHD sections. He is also a former chair of the National Committee of CLM, and is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, The Professional Liability Underwriting Society and the Professional Liability Defense Federation. RJ has also been inducted into the American College of Coverage Counsel, is a longstanding Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a former lecturer and instructor with the CPCU Society. He was a featured speaker at the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 CPCU Annual Meetings.
RJ is a former champion physique competitor. He can also juggle, walk on his hands, make balloon animals, ride a unicycle and draw, which makes him a hit at birthday parties for his nine kids.
Practice Areas
- Insurance Coverage
- Litigation
- Professional Liability
Education
- State University of New York at Buffalo Law School (JD, cum laude)
- State University of New York at Buffalo School of Management (BS, with distinction)
Professional Memberships
- Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (National Committee, Former Chair)
- Defense Research Institute (Law Practice Management Committee and Co-Chair of Programming, 2013; Construction Law Committee - Construction Insurance Coverage Specialized Litigation Group Chair, 2008–2010; Insurance Company Relations Subcommittee Vice Chair, 2000–2004; Life, Health and Disability Insurance Committee Membership Chair, 2000–2002; Insurance Law Committee: Professional Liability Insurance Specialized Litigation Group)
- American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (Fellow)
- International Association of Defense Counsel
- American Bar Foundation (Fellow)
- Professional Liability Underwriting Society
Awards
- Best Lawyers in America - Insurance Law (2014–2021 and 2023)
- Business First‘s Legal Elite of Western New York - Legal Leader (2013–2020)
- Upstate New York Super Lawyers (2007–2020)
- Business First‘s Power 250 (2016–2019)
- Business First‘s C-Level Executive Award (2017)
- American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell - Top Rated Lawyer in Litigation (2014)
- American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell - Top Rated Lawyer in Insurance Law (2013)
- Super Lawyers - Corporate Counsel Edition
- Business First‘s Legal Elite of Western New York - Insurance
- Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: AV Preeminent
Publications
- Getting to the Finish Line: Overcoming Rebranding Challenges Interviewed in Berbay Marketing and PR’s podcast, Law Firm Marketing Catalyst
- Why This Am Law Firm Kept Partners in the Dark on a Branding Overhaul Highlighted, New York Law Journal (June 20, 2019)
- Law Firm Leaders: Goldberg Segalla’s Richard Cohen Profiled, Law360 (March 27, 2019)
- What Drove Firms with the Most New Lateral Partners in 2018 Quoted, Law360 (February 22, 2019)
- Growing Right: Goldberg Segalla Expands When Opportunity Knocks Profiled, Buffalo Business First (February 19, 2019)
- Communicating Staffing Changes and Finding Talent in Law Firms: Comings and Goings Quoted, National Law Review (February 5, 2019)
- Goldberg Segalla’s Growth Quick Yet Methodical Featured, Buffalo Law Journal (December 27, 2016)
- Litigating and Protecting the Insurance Claim Co-Author, Preparing for and Trying the Civil Lawsuit, 2d Ed., 2016 Rev., New York State Bar Association
- Partnership Is the ‘Holy Grail’ for Law Firm Associates Quoted, Buffalo Law Journal (February 1, 2016)
- Legal Presence Goes Beyond WNY Borders Quoted, Buffalo Law Journal (March 16, 2015)
- The Site of Two Growth-Minded Law Firms Quoted, Buffalo Law Journal (June 3, 2014)
- A Paradigm Shift Quoted, Intelligent Insurer Monte Carlo Edition (September 2013)
- Asset Managers Do Not Owe Fiduciary Duty to Note Holders Co-Author, Chartis Legal Insights (Fall 2012)
- Calculating the Amount of Coverage New Appleman on Insurance 3rd Edition, Chapter 47, LexisNexis (Spring 2011)