Roberta Kaplan, founding partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink.

Name: Roberta Kaplan

Category: Law Firm: Lifetime Achievement

Firm/Company: Kaplan Hecker & Fink

Title: Founding Partner

Time in Position: Since 2018

What was your route to the top? 

I began my career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where I learned the nuts and bolts of how to litigate, becoming a partner there at the ridiculously young age of 32 in 1998. At Paul Weiss, I learned from giants of the bar, including Marty London and now Southern District of New York Chief Judge Colleen McMahon, gaining a wealth of experiences representing a diverse group of commercial clients, while also taking on critical pro bono matters and taking time off to clerk for the legendary New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye. After more than a quarter century at Paul Weiss, I knew it was time to make a change by creating something new that was smaller and more nimble. We founded Kaplan Hecker & Fink in July 2017 with the intention of creating a "new-fashioned/old-fashioned" boutique litigation practice, fusing together high-stakes white-collar, commercial and civil rights litigation with an overriding commitment to using the law to serve the public interest. I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish already in just two years.

What keeps you up at night? 

Our firm was founded at one of the most unsettled moments in our nation's history, and the work we do on behalf of our public interest clients can and is having a profound effect on critical constitutional and legal issues that are very much a part of the national conversation today. Whether we represent survivors of sexual violence or bring lawsuits against white supremacists and neo-Nazis, we are representing more than our individual clients. That's a responsibility that all of us at the firm take seriously, and it definitely keeps me up at night thinking about our next strategic move in each of those cases.

What is the best leadership advice you've given, or received, and why do you think it was effective?

Practicing law will never be a low-stress job. What makes it worthwhile—and what makes a lawyer a successful leader—is feeling and sharing a genuine passion for one's work. A lawyer who is passionate about what they do every day, and who can communicate that effectively, is best equipped to inspire their team to deliver the best possible results for their clients.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession?

I wish I had better understood that sometimes, tough defeats can ultimately be followed by major victories. I worked on marriage equality cases that suffered heartbreaking defeats for many years, none harder than losing a marriage equality case before the New York State Court of Appeals in 2006. I would have never imagined then that I would one day have the honor of representing Edith Windsor in the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and helped pave the way to nationwide marriage equality. Losing the case in New York made me a better lawyer—and it helped prepare me to argue in front of the Supreme Court just seven years later.

What is the most valuable career advice anyone has ever given you?

The best advice I have been given is to always be guided by one thing and one thing only—the best interests of the client. Our job as lawyers is to help our clients navigate their legal challenges to the absolute best of our abilities. It may sound simple, but it's critically important never to lose sight of razor-sharp focus on what is best for the client.