About Us

Our Mission

Kaplan Hecker was formed with three goals in mind:

Assemble an exceptional group of lawyers with the talent, experience, and creativity to help our clients face legal and business challenges both today and into the future;
Fuse together a cutting-edge litigation practice with a pioneering public interest practice for the mutual benefit of both; and
Build a law firm for the future rooted in principles of equity, 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

Kaplan Hecker & Fink is “a real star in the legal firmament.”

Laurence Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School

Top-Tier
Credentials

Our team is made up of outstanding and highly experienced litigators, trial lawyers, and staff, including a former Assistant United States Attorney, former Federal Defender and lawyers who have clerked for judges at all levels in the federal courts. Just two years after its founding, Kaplan Hecker has been recognized as one of the 10 “Top Boutique Firms” in the country by Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys. Benchmark Litigation’s 2020 rankings also give the firm its highest rating as a “Highly Recommended Law Firm – New York,” making Kaplan Hecker one of the very few litigation boutiques – and the only firm founded by a woman – to achieve that top designation. Our lawyers have tried and won dozens of cases in state and federal courts across the country.

Robbie Kaplan and Sean Hecker have consistently been recognized as two 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 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, as one of Bloomberg’s "50 People Who Defined Global Business," as one of the “Top 10 Female Litigators” by Benchmark, and as the “Most Innovative Lawyer of The Year” by The Financial Times. Sean Hecker has been recognized as one of the leading white collar lawyers by Chambers and Benchmark Litigation, as a “Client Service All-Star” by BTI Consulting Services, as a member of the Lawdragon 500, and as a “Thought Leader” by the Global Investigations Review. Both Robbie and Sean have also been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as among the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” in the country.

"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

Efficiency

We are committed to delivering results at the highest possible level of quality, skill and efficiency. Our teams are collaborative and nimble, and comprise highly experienced litigators with impeccable academic records and the most prestigious judicial clerkships. As a result, we consistently deliver superior outcomes and value to our clients.

“[Hecker has] encyclopedic knowledge and practical understanding of how legal issues will work in real-world business.”

Chambers USA

Trial Ready

When clients face significant challenges, they need a legal team that can prepare the case and bring it to trial. Our lawyers have significant trial experience, with backgrounds as prosecutors and defenders, and are in court every week achieving success for our clients. In early 2019, Kaplan Hecker secured a “rare” acquittal at trial in a market manipulation case against a former Barclay’s trader.

"Kaplan Hecker & Fink, a firm that’s existed for less than two years, is already punching above its weight.”

Above the Law

Public Interest Litigation

At Kaplan Hecker, we are committed to litigating cases that advance the public interest. We put public service at the center of our practice—and we treat our public interest cases exactly the same as every other case.

The Firm has already taken on some of the most pressing and groundbreaking issues of today— suing the white supremacists who organized the violence in Charlottesville, co-founding the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, challenging the Metropolitan Detention Center’s denial of access to counsel, protecting LGBTQ rights in Mississippi, and suing Donald Trump and others for conspiring to defraud investors.

"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.