Founding Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink, LLP

Robbie Kaplan

Roberta (Robbie) Kaplan, the founding partner of Kaplan Hecker & Fink, LLP, one of a handful of women-led elite litigation boutiques in the country, has been described as a “pressure junkie” and “powerhouse corporate litigator” who “thrives on looking at the big picture.”

In addition to working with clients like Columbia University, Airbnb, Uber, Vice Media, and T-Mobile, Robbie represented Edith Windsor in the landmark case of United States v. Windsor, in which the Supreme Court held that a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, leading to marriage equality nationwide.   Robbie helped to launch the Times Up Legal Defense Fund to provide legal representation to women who have experienced sexual harassment. Robbie currently represents Melanie Kohler, a woman who Hollywood producer, Brett Ratner, sued for defamation.  Along with the new non-profit Integrity First for America, Robbie is also suing two dozen Neo-Nazis and white supremacists who are responsible for coordinating the violence that took place in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017.

Robbie is the author of “Then Comes Marriage:  United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA” (W.W. Norton 2015), chosen by the L.A. Times and Ms. Magazine as one of the top 10 books of 2015.  Although Robbie has received numerous awards, including the New York Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award, the New York State Bar Association Gold Medal, the Financial Times Legal Innovator of the Year and the Columbia Law School Medal of Excellence, she is probably the most proud of receiving an honorary doctorate of law degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary.