About Us

Our Mission

When we decided to establish our law firm, we set out with three goals:

To collect an exceptional group of lawyers and staff with the credentials, experience, grit, and creativity to respond with ingenuity and flexibility to the legal challenges our clients face both today and into the future;
To fuse together a cutting-edge litigation practice with a pioneering public interest practice for the mutual benefit of both; and
To build a law firm for the future rooted in principles of fairness, integrity, and justice.

In this sense our law firm is both “new-fashioned” and “old-fashioned.” Our mission at Kaplan Hecker is to provide the highest level of client service, advocacy, and advice from a modern and progressive firm with timeless values.

“Beyond her legal skills, Robbie always keeps the focus on the best interests of the clients, painting the picture of the clients as real people and illustrating how their lives are affected by the legal matters at hand. Further, she emphasizes the critical importance of equality in the profession and in the justice system.”

New York State Bar Association President Sharon Stern Gerstman

"Robbie never misses the forest for the trees. She is strategic and practical but keeps her sense of humor at all times. Most important, she’s really taken the time to understand our business and its transformational effect on the world."

Darren Weingard, General Counsel, Luxe

Top-Tier
Credentials

Our team is made up of outstanding litigators, trial lawyers, and staff, including a former Assistant United States Attorney, a former Federal Defender and lawyers who have clerked for judges at all levels in the federal courts. Robbie Kaplan has been recognized as one of the leading litigators in the country. In addition to receiving the Gold Medal Award from the New York State Bar Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Law Journal, Robbie has also been selected by The National Law Journal as one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers” in the United States, as “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer, as “Lawyer of the Year” by Above the Law, and as the “Most Innovative Lawyer of The Year” by The Financial Times.

"It’s a great opportunity to have a commercial litigation boutique firm coming out of New York with the kind of deep experience that Robbie and her team have. Smaller firms can be more nimble and are often more efficient in how they work.”

Laura Buckland, SVP & Chief Litigation Officer, T-Mobile

Innovation and Integrity

In our lawyers, we value inventiveness, imagination, and innovation. We welcome the opportunity to push the law forward in creative ways. We also recognize that a lawyer is only as good as her reputation—not only for mastery of the law, but also for ethical and collegial conduct—so the integrity of our team is paramount.

"Kaplan and three other high-powered lawyers have launched what should soon become one of the nation’s leading litigation boutiques."

Above the Law

Efficiency

We have an unflagging commitment to get our clients’ work done efficiently and at the highest possible level of quality, skill and craftsmanship. Because our team of superstar litigators is collaborative and nimble, our clients are able to enjoy superior representation at below-market rates.

"[Kaplan] is building a new firm in her own formidable image: a traditional litigation boutique that is also a force to be reckoned with in civil rights causes such as the Time’s Up legal and media campaign to address sexual injustice.”

Columbia Law School Magazine

Trial Ready

When clients face significant challenges, they need a legal team that can prepare the case and bring it to trial. Our team brings together experienced trial lawyers, with outstanding backgrounds as prosecutors and defenders.

Public Interest Litigation

At Kaplan Hecker & Fink, we are committed to litigating cases that advance the public interest. As lawyers, we are officers of the court and servants of the people, duty bound to uphold the rule of law and the rights, privileges, and protections that the law promises to everyone. We put public service at the center of our practice-- and our public interest cases are as important to us as every other case.

"If anyone can win the suit [against the organizers of the violence in Charlottesville], it’s Kaplan, an all-star litigator on the left. She’s the attorney who argued the case that toppled the Defense of Marriage Act,
United States v. Windsor.”

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, Fellow, Center for American Progress

Equity and
Inclusion

We are committed to fostering a workplace in which lawyers and staff from all backgrounds are welcomed, supported, and given every opportunity to contribute, develop, lead, and reach their highest potential. Our clients can count on getting the very best representation because we recruit and retain the very best talent, regardless of how they look, love, or pray. For us, diversity is a core value as well as a sound business practice—in an increasingly interconnected global economy, a diverse team not only reflects the diversity of our clients, but also ensures our lawyers have the perspectives and experience required to address the complex and varied challenges our clients face.

We are invested in a model of practice that values collaboration over rigid hierarchy. Our clients are best served by lawyering that benefits from the insights and fresh ideas of every member of every team.