Managing partner of the firm’s Newark office and Chair of the White Collar Defense and Government Investigations group, Robert is a highly experienced commercial litigator and a widely recognized authority on white collar criminal defense and corporate fraud issues. Drawing on more than 20 years’ of experience in private practice, well over a decade of government service as a federal organized crime prosecutor and as an Assistant Counsel to former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean, Robert is a powerful asset for clients facing high-stakes legal challenges.
Pragmatic and innovative counseling, combined with an ability to achieve favorable outcomes in even the most contentious commercial disputes and white collar criminal matters, has earned Robert the trust of a diverse group of sophisticated corporate, institutional and individual clients. His achievements on their behalf include:
- Successful defense of an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court against efforts by the Governor and Senate to commence impeachment proceedings against him;
- Acting as lead counsel coordinating litigation in the U.S., the U.K., Japan and Spain in the recovery of over $85 million on behalf of one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers;
- Recovering significant damages on behalf of movie director Oliver Stone in connection with a joint venture agreement to invest in media and communications opportunities in Asia;
- Defending the central figure in the federal criminal investigation into fraud and corruption by coalition forces rebuilding Iraq immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein;
- Successful defense of a Fortune 500 food and consumer products company in litigation filed, and ultimately withdrawn, by a well-known activist hedge fund investor in connection with a high-profile proxy fight;
- Representing a prominent New York City real estate development company in connection with the New Jersey federal “Bridgegate” investigation;
- Obtaining a $12.4 million attachment in connection with a London arbitration on behalf of a large Middle Eastern telecommunications carrier;
- Acting as lead counsel in obtaining a unanimous published decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the dismissal of a multi-million dollar lender-placed insurance class action lawsuit against a global insurance broker.
- Serving as the court-appointed attorney/trustee for the law practice of a former federal prosecutor and well-known criminal defense attorney charged with hiring a hitman to murder key witnesses against his clients;
- Conducting an internal investigation into allegations of fraud and collusion involving a UK-based law firm on behalf of a global financial services company; and
- Representing a New Orleans-based minority owned company hired as the prime contractor in the Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts in a $22 million arbitration with the State of New Jersey.
In his white collar defense practice, Robert regularly represents individuals and corporations in federal criminal investigations throughout the country, and has extensive experience conducting internal corporate investigations for entities ranging from middle market businesses to Fortune 100 companies. He has successfully persuaded prosecutors to take no action and close investigations of prominent executives, public officials, Fortune 500 companies and other institutions subject to federal and state governmental and regulatory investigations, as well as those defending against claims related to securities laws, civil RICO conduct, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the federal False Claim Act.
Robert’s well-developed skills and relationships with the media can be leveraged in matters involving high profile clients or those in which publicity is unavoidable. The on-air legal analyst for ABC News during the Martha Stewart trial, Robert appears regularly as a commentator on white collar criminal defense issues on nationally televised news programs including NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, National Public Radio, and The PBS NewsHour. He is also a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated legal radio program “Bloomberg Law.”
Robert is also well known for his writing on legal and public policy issues, and has been published in a variety of news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, ABCNews.com, The Hill, The Huffington Post, The (UK) Guardian, and The Star-Ledger. He is also regularly quoted as an authority on corporate fraud in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Business Week and Forbes.
Prior to joining McCarter, in his role as Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force Division of the United States Attorney’s Office, Robert acted as lead prosecutor in several major prosecutions involving La Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, and various Asian and Russian organized crime groups, and received numerous awards from the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies for his achievements. During his service as the District’s Environmental Crimes Prosecution Coordinator, Robert was responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of various environmental statutes and regulations. He also handled a variety of white collar criminal prosecutions including healthcare fraud, bank fraud, defense procurement fraud and tax violations while assigned to the United States Attorney’s Criminal Division and later to the Fraud and Public Protection Division. Earlier in his career, Robert served as Assistant Counsel to Governor Kean, where he advised the Governor on healthcare issues including hospital reimbursement and welfare reform.
