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Lawyer Profile

Image of Robert L. Lieff

Robert L. Lieff

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
  • Recognized Since:
    2015
  • Recognized in:
    Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
  • Law School:
    Columbia University School of Law
  • Website:
    http://www.lieffcabraser.com
  • Location:
    275 Battery Street, 29th Floor
    San Francisco, CA 94111

A Legal Visionary and Global Champion of Justice

Robert L. Lieff founded our firm in 1972, after litigating for seven years as a name partner with the late Melvin Belli in San Francisco at the law firm of Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff.

For more than three decades, Robert was the principal architect of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Under his leadership, the firm became, as described by The American Lawyer, "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs firms,” with over 60 lawyers and 200 employees in San Francisco, New York and Nashville.

Robert was a key player in multiple landmark civil cases including the Exxon Valdez oil disaster and Holocaust litigation. In 1996, in the national tobacco industry litigation, Robert spearheaded the first settlement with a tobacco company. The settlement signaled the end of forty years of success by tobacco companies in defeating health-related lawsuits. Two years later, an unprecedented $206 billion settlement was announced between the tobacco industry and the states’ attorneys general.

The cases Robert managed at Lieff Cabraser when he headed the firm’s personal injury practice and mass torts group included the Sulzer hip and knee implant, silicon breast implants, Fen Phen, Vioxx, Celebrex/Bextra and Guidant medical devices litigation.

In the early 2000s, Robert created an international network of lawyers that meets annually at the Global Justice Forum. The first forum occurred in London in 2005. Subsequent forums have taken place in Paris, Rome, and New York. The New York forum is held at Columbia School of Law and is co-presented by The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. More than 300 lawyers from 30 countries on six continents have attended the Global Justice Forum. Robert continues to organize and lead the Global Justice Forum. These international forums are the 21st century version of the creative energy that brought together American tort practitioners in the 20th century under the leadership of the Belli firm.

Philanthropy and Civic Activities

Through a gift of all the attorneys' fees from the firm's Holocaust litigation, Robert endowed the Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein Clinical Professorship of Human Rights Law at his alma mater, Columbia Law School. Robert has endowed a second chair at Columbia Law School as The Robert L. Lieff Professorship of Law; Director of the Center for Chinese Legal Studies. Robert is also a member of the Dean's Council at Columbia Law School. Robert is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bellosguardo Foundation in Santa Barbara, California.

Robert and his wife Susan reside in Montecito, California. They operate Lieff Wines, LLC, producing wine and operating vineyards at Lieff Ranch, their ranch in Santa Barbara County.

Continue Reading
  • Lawyer Bio
  • Client Comments
  • Lawyer Practice Areas
  • Firm Details
  • News & Media

Lawyer Bio

A Legal Visionary and Global Champion of Justice

Robert L. Lieff founded our firm in 1972, after litigating for seven years as a name partner with the late Melvin Belli in San Francisco at the law firm of Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff.

For more than three decades, Robert was the principal architect of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Under his leadership, the firm became, as described by The American Lawyer, "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs firms,” with over 60 lawyers and 200 employees in San Francisco, New York and Nashville.

Robert was a key player in multiple landmark civil cases including the Exxon Valdez oil disaster and Holocaust litigation. In 1996, in the national tobacco industry litigation, Robert spearheaded the first settlement with a tobacco company. The settlement signaled the end of forty years of success by tobacco companies in defeating health-related lawsuits. Two years later, an unprecedented $206 billion settlement was announced between the tobacco industry and the states’ attorneys general.

The cases Robert managed at Lieff Cabraser when he headed the firm’s personal injury practice and mass torts group included the Sulzer hip and knee implant, silicon breast implants, Fen Phen, Vioxx, Celebrex/Bextra and Guidant medical devices litigation.

In the early 2000s, Robert created an international network of lawyers that meets annually at the Global Justice Forum. The first forum occurred in London in 2005. Subsequent forums have taken place in Paris, Rome, and New York. The New York forum is held at Columbia School of Law and is co-presented by The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. More than 300 lawyers from 30 countries on six continents have attended the Global Justice Forum. Robert continues to organize and lead the Global Justice Forum. These international forums are the 21st century version of the creative energy that brought together American tort practitioners in the 20th century under the leadership of the Belli firm.

Philanthropy and Civic Activities

Through a gift of all the attorneys' fees from the firm's Holocaust litigation, Robert endowed the Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein Clinical Professorship of Human Rights Law at his alma mater, Columbia Law School. Robert has endowed a second chair at Columbia Law School as The Robert L. Lieff Professorship of Law; Director of the Center for Chinese Legal Studies. Robert is also a member of the Dean's Council at Columbia Law School. Robert is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bellosguardo Foundation in Santa Barbara, California.

Robert and his wife Susan reside in Montecito, California. They operate Lieff Wines, LLC, producing wine and operating vineyards at Lieff Ranch, their ranch in Santa Barbara County.

Read more on firm website
  • Education
  • Bar & Court Admissions
  • Affiliations
  • Award List

Education:

  • Columbia University, M.B.A., graduated 1962
  • Columbia University School of Law , J.D., graduated 1962
  • University of Bridgeport, B.A., graduated 1958

Bar Admissions:

  • California, The State Bar of California
 

Court Admissions:

  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1969
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1972
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 1969
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1969
  • U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii, 1986
  • U.S. Tax Court, 1974

Affiliations:

  • American Association for Justice - Member
  • American Bar Association - Member
  • Bar Association of San Francisco - Member
  • California Trial Lawyers Association - Member
  • Center for Chinese Legal Studies at Columbia University School of Law - Steering Committee Member
  • Columbia Law School - Dean's Council Member
  • Columbia Law School Center on Corporate Governance - Advisory Board
  • Consumer Attorneys of California - Member
  • Global Justice Forum, Columbia University School of Law - Founder and Co-Presenter
  • Global Justice Network - Founder and Steering Committee Advisor
  • Lawyers Club of San Francisco - Member
  • Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University Law and Business Schools - Executive Advisory Board Member
  • San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association - Member
  • State Bar of California - Committee on Rules of Court and Committee on Multiple Litigation and Class Actions

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in:

  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
 

Awards:

  • AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
  • Selected for inclusion by peers in The Best Lawyers in America in field of "Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Plaintiffs", 2015 - 2021
  • Super Lawyer for Northern California, Super Lawyers, 2005-2009
  • Lawdragon Finalist, Lawdragon, 2005-Present
 

Lawyer Client Comments

Lawyer Practice Areas

Key: Awarded in Best Lawyers Not Currently Awarded for this Area in Best Lawyers

Firm Details

Image for Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP View Firm Profile
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
http://www.lieffcabraser.com
 
Headquarters
275 Battery Street, 29th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 956.1000
4 Office Locations
in 2 Countries

Germany

Germany

Munich, Germany

Nympenburger Strasse 4, 5th Floor

Munich 80355

Germany

49 89 20 80 27 389

Get Directions

United States

United States

New York

New York

New York, NY

250 Hudson Street, Eighth Floor

New York, NY 10013

United States

(212) 355.9500

Get Directions

Tennessee

Tennessee

Nashville, TN

222 Second Avenue South, Suite 1640

Nashville, TN 37201

United States

(615) 313.9000

Get Directions

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