In Memoriam: Lawrence S. Robbins

Friedman Kaplan mourns the loss of our partner Larry Robbins, who passed away on November 2, 2024. He was 72.

Larry had a highly distinguished career as a lawyer. He joined Friedman Kaplan in 2022 from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Before that, he was a founding partner of litigation boutique Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner LLP, which for two decades was one of the most highly regarded trial and appellate firms in the country. And prior to that, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, an Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General, and an Associate Independent Counsel. He also was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Mayer Brown LLP. He argued 20 cases before the United States Supreme Court, and over 60 cases before various federal Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Larry also was an author. His debut novel, The President’s Lawyer, was published by Simon & Schuster just last month.

Notwithstanding Larry’s many accomplishments, it is as a colleague and friend that we will miss him the most. Although he was a relatively recent addition to the firm, Larry embodied so much of what we at Friedman Kaplan aspire to be. He was passionate about justice and the practice of law, fiercely loyal and a wise counselor to his clients (many of whom had been his clients for decades), and deeply devoted to passing along his knowledge and experience to his colleagues. One of his first events at the firm was an attorney lunch where he shared with our associates valuable lessons from his decades of brief-writing, a skill of his that was unmatched. He took great joy in talking about the law, and in teaching it to others. And he was great at both.

We extend our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Larry’s family and to all who knew him.