By Riley Yates and Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Business is booming for New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.
An attorney by profession, Coughlin was a low-key state lawmaker with a solo law practice and a handful of municipal clients in the years before he ascended to the third most powerful position in the Statehouse in 2018.
No less meteoric is the rise of the law firm he co-founded as he lined up for that leadership post.
Established with a couple of well-known partners, Rainone Coughlin Minchello has seen explosive growth in the seven years since it opened its doors. Representing local governments across the state, the Woodbridge firm has earned more than $38 million from public contracts since its inception, with annual revenues that now place it among New Jersey’s top law firms with public business, financial disclosures show.
This year, Coughlin, a Middlesex County Democrat, marked a historic milestone when he became the state’s longest-serving Assembly speaker ever, holding huge influence over any legislation the chamber takes up. With the rise of his law firm coinciding with that power, good government groups call Coughlin’s financial ties troubling, saying they raise questions about whether he is profiting from his public role from municipalities seeking a friend in the speaker.
“Elected officials are there to serve the people, and not also to reap the benefits of doing so on the other side of things,” said Heather Ferguson, the director of state operations for Common Cause, a Washington-based public advocacy group. “You don’t need to make money both ways.”
In a prepared statement, the firm touted the experience of its lawyers in representing government entities and noted Coughlin’s work as an attorney predated his political career.
“We are proud of the firm’s 22 attorneys who have established significant expertise in the practice of municipal law,” the firm said. “We are equally proud of the trust placed in the firm by the bipartisan roster of mayors, councilpersons, commissioners, and executive directors that seek our advice.”
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