Robert Abrams

Robert Abrams’ 28-year career in public life was marked by achievement, independence and integrity. He was elected to three terms in the New York State Assembly, three terms as Borough President of the Bronx and four terms as Attorney General of New York State. He joined Stroock in 1994 following fifteen years of distinguished service as Attorney General of the State of New York. As Attorney General, Mr. Abrams received numerous awards and honors and earned national prominence rarely achieved by a state-level official. He was widely heralded as a champion and protector of consumer rights. He served as president of the National Association of Attorneys General and was selected by his colleagues to receive the coveted WYMAN AWARD as Outstanding Attorney General in the Nation. At its June 2005 meeting, the National Association of Attorneys General presented Bob with The Bellotti Award, given to a former attorney general who "has served NAAG and worked diligently to further its vision and mission and who exhibits outstanding leadership abilites and high moral character." As Attorney General, Mr. Abrams was the head of one of the largest law offices in the nation supervising the work of 1200 employees including 475 attorneys in 14 different locations throughout New York State. Mr. Abrams managed an office which in any given year handled 20,000 litigated cases covering subject areas including, health and hospitals, personal injury, construction and contract disputes, environment, securities, labor-employment, not-for-profit organizations, civil rights, antitrust, real estate and consumer issues. Through vigorous recruitment and merit hiring, Mr. Abrams assembled an outstanding staff that enabled him to launch pioneering efforts in the areas of environment, consumer and civil rights protection, and criminal prosecutions. More than 250 of his legislative proposals were passed and signed into law. At Stroock Mr. Abrams advises a diverse range of clients. They include companies with claims of false advertising and deceptive packaging of products by competitors, telecommunications interests, and companies that are subject to civil and criminal investigations. Mr. Abrams has been of particular value to corporations that have been the subject of an investigation by a state attorney general or by multi-state investigations by numerous state attorneys general. He also has been part of the Stroock team advising the Commissioner of Insurance in Massachusetts on the demutualization of the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. Mr. Abrams has also served as an arbitrator in domestic and international abritrations. In 2006, Governor Elect Eliot Spitzer appointed Mr. Abrams to serve as Co-Chair of his Policy Advisory Committee on Governmental Reform for his Transition and Attorney General Elect Andrew Cuomo appointed him Executive Chair of his Transition Committee.