About Us

Our Mission

When we decided to establish a new law firm, we set out with three goals in mind:

To 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;
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 equity, integrity, and justice.

In this sense our law firm is both “new-fashioned” and “old-fashioned.” Our mission at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP 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 Past 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 five former federal prosecutors, two former public defenders, and lawyers who have clerked for judges at all levels in state and federal court. Kaplan Hecker was recognized as the 2022, 2021, and 2020 Boutique Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys. In the fall of 2019, Benchmark Litigation also recognized Kaplan Hecker as one of the 10 “Top Boutique Firms” in the country, just two years after the firm’s founding. The publication also gave 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 women – to achieve that top designation. Kaplan Hecker has also been recognized by Chambers and The Legal 500 as having one of the country’s top white-collar defense practices, and our commercial litigation practice has been similarly ranked by Chambers. In its profile, Chambers noted that the firm is “recognized for its excellence across an array of litigation-related matters” and is “respected by the market for its ‘deep bench of heavy hitters with different backgrounds who are leaders in this area, and are smart, collaborative people.” Our lawyers have tried and won dozens of cases in state and federal courts across the country.

One anonymous peer noted that Kaplan Hecker’s lawyers “are unwaveringly committed to staring down injustice without blinking, and their work proves that. They are ambitious, feisty and fearless, especially tailor-made for these tumultuous times.” Another noted that “they are all pretty young, and are already superstars, so really, if they keep that model and all wind up staying together, the sky is the limit.”

Kaplan Hecker lawyers have consistently been recognized as among the leading litigators in the country and founding partner Roberta "Robbie" Kaplan was named the 2020 "Attorney of the Year" by the New York Law Journal. Our lawyers win numerous awards from legal media and professional organizations, play significant leadership roles in public service, and are widely published on their individual areas of expertise.

"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 and clerkship credentials. Clients receive the personalized attention of our partners while benefiting from the efficiencies of a small, uniquely talented team of lawyers. 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

Our lawyers have extensive trial experience, with five former federal prosecutors and two former public defenders among our ranks, and we are in court every week achieving success for our clients. Our litigators have tried numerous civil and criminal cases to verdict in both federal and state court, and our clients benefit from that deep courtroom experience and wide range of subject matter expertise. When clients face significant challenges, they need a legal team that can prepare the case and bring it to trial. Our trial teams provide our clients with a combination of perspectives from diverse backgrounds and opposite sides of the courtroom, enabling the kind of strategic flexibility that delivers results.

In a high-stakes lawsuit against twenty-four neo-Nazi and white supremacist leaders accused of orchestrating racial and religious violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Kaplan Hecker obtained a historic trial verdict ensuring that the white nationalists would be held accountable for their actions.

Recognized by Global Investigations Review as the “Most Important Court Case of the Year” and by Benchmark Litigation as an "Impact Case of the Year," Kaplan Hecker secured a “rare” acquittal at trial in a market manipulation case against a former Barclays trader in 2019.

"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 each public interest case 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 on behalf of the Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., 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 and 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 multiple perspectives and experience necessary to address our clients’ challenges.

Kaplan Hecker has been consistently recognized for its commitment to equity and inclusion, with one anonymous peer noting to Benchmark Litigation that “[Kaplan Hecker’s] commitment to diversity and fair play is beyond question. Other firms talk the talk about diversity and equality but this firm walks it, talks it, and lives it.” The firm is committed to instituting policies that open doors of opportunity to all staff members, and Above the Law has celebrated our unique program offering parental leave during federal clerkships as “groundbreaking” and “revolutionary.” Kaplan Hecker lawyers also speak frequently on topics related to the creation of safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace environments.