Brett Robbins, Esq. comes to CLF via the Access to Justice Fellows Program, a collaboration of the Lawyers Clearinghouse and the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission. Brett retired as a partner at Ropes & Gray LLP at the end of 2023 but continues to perform pro bono work through Ropes & Gray. Prior to retirement, Brett was a partner in the Tax Department and focused his practice on structuring and analyzing business transactions and investment arrangements. He has substantial experience with tax-exempt organizations, leveraged buyout and hedge funds, private equity funds of funds, venture capital funds, private investments in corporations and partnerships, foreign investors and investments, natural resources transactions, real estate transactions and new financial instruments. Brett was honored by Chambers USA as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2008-2024) and by Best Lawyers in America (2015-2024). Brett is the Treasurer, and a member of the Board of Trustees, of the American Folk Art Museum in NYC and heads the Finance and Investment Committee of the Board. Brett is also the President, and on the Board of, the American Folk Art Society.
Brett has a B.A. summa cum laude in Mathematics from Wesleyan University where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, an M.A. in Mathematics from Wesleyan University, and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
At Ropes & Gray, Brett worked on a significant number of pro bono projects, some involving the formation of pooled investment vehicles designed to serve charitable purposes (including one such matter for CLF), some involving the support of reproductive rights, and some involving the analysis of the constitutionality of certain voting rights initiatives and certain state law provisions that provide prison terms for failure to pay court costs. Brett enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures, playing chess, bike riding (using an e-bike on hilly terrain), reading, and working to improve his home barista skills.