David E. Robbins

Mr. Robbins is a partner in the New York City law firm of Kaufmann Gildin & Robbins LLP and specializes in commercial arbitration and mediation. He represents investors, brokers and firms in disputes and brokers and firms before regulatory agencies. He is also an expert witness in malpractice cases arising out of securities arbitrations. He and his firm have been responsible for the return of tens of millions of dollars to investors and have represented many brokers accused of wrongdoing in arbitrations and regulatory matters. Mr. Robbins served as Special Deputy Attorney General of New York State, responsible for the civil and criminal prosecution of securities fraud cases, and was the American Stock Exchange Director of Compliance and Director of its Legal and Regulatory Policy Division, where his was Director of Arbitration and Director of Disciplinary Hearings. He has the highest Peer Review Rating (AV) from Martindale-Hubbell and has again been approved as a “Super Lawyer.” In 2018, Securities Arbitration Commentator wrote: “We’ve heard David E. Robbins called ‘the Dean of Securities Arbitration’ and there is ample reason why.”

Mr. Robbins is the author of Securities Arbitration Procedure Manual (Dec. 2020 Matthew Bender, a division of Lexis Publishing), the primary text in this area of the law for almost 30 years. This two volume hardcover and electronic book presents pragmatic, balanced guides to the practice of securities arbitration and mediation for attorneys representing investors, brokers and firms. He updates the book annually with new cases and revised sections. He regularly lectures at law schools that use the book in their courses. Since 1995, Mr. Robbins has written the annual Practice Commentary to McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York, Article 23-A of the General Business Law - on securities arbitration and mediation for New York attorneys. The latest editions of his book and of his McKinney’s Commentary were published in December 2020. Over 75 of his articles on securities law have been published.

Mr. Robbins served as the Chairperson for more than 20 Practising Law Institute (PLI) continuing education programs on securities arbitration and mediation. He is the recipient of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) lifetime achievement Golden Bow Tie Award and was a member of FINRA Dispute Resolution’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee, where he chaired the Neutral Roster Subcommittee. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association, PIABA, The PIABA Foundation (for investor education), the Compliance and Legal Division of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the Board of Editors of Securities Arbitration Commentator and The PIABA Bar Journal.

Mr. Robbins is co-chair of the New York State Bar Association program on securities arbitration, which will next take place in April 2022. He is also an active member of the Board of Directors of The Friends of Sagamore Hill, the National Historic Site and home of President Theodore Roosevelt.