Robert Haig

Bob Haig’s practice focuses on commercial and other types of civil litigation in federal and New York state courts at both the trial and appellate levels.

A veteran litigator and proven advocate, Bob has been described in published articles as “one of the nation’s foremost commercial litigators,” “one of the country’s leading commercial litigators,” “one of New York’s most preeminent commercial litigators,” “a brilliant commercial lawyer,” “a noted litigator and legal scholar,” “a noted expert, author and lecturer in the area of Commercial Litigation,” “a great advocate,” “a knowledgeable and experienced practitioner” and “indefatigable.” Other published articles have described Bob as "a well-respected, nationally known expert on business and commercial litigation,” “a renowned litigator and legal scholar,” “a pre-eminent expert on commercial and business litigation,” “a highly regarded authority on New York Commercial Law,” “the well-known and highly-respected litigator,” “a lawyer’s lawyer,” “one of the true greats of our profession,” and “the incomparable Robert L. Haig.”

An article published in 2012 noted that Bob has “held a variety of positions over the past three decades that have placed him at the center of commercial litigation in New York State.” An article published in 2017 stated that Bob “is a renowned litigator in his own right and he has had extensive experience in federal courts.” Another article published in 2017 stated that “There are few business litigators in New York who have garnered the respect among judges, outside counsel, and inside counsel as Bob Haig.” Furthermore, an editorial in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel described Bob as “a prolific legal scholar and outstanding practitioner.” An article published in 2021 noted Bob’s “prodigious ability to rally busy professionals around a common, civic-minded cause.” Another article published in 2021 stated that Bob’s “contribution to the profession cannot be overstated” and that he “has earned a place in the legal pantheon for his efforts.”

Bob has been at the forefront of the national and international trend toward the creation of business courts. An article in The Business Lawyer in 2020 described Bob as “a driving force behind business-court development in the United States.” An article in the New York Law Journal in 2021 stated that Bob “has been at the forefront of promoting commercial courts for decades and has been an outstanding commercial litigator all his professional life.” Another article published in 2021 stated that “Haig is a nationally recognized expert on business courts” and an article published in 2022 stated that “Robert L. Haig is one of the principal architects of the modern development of business courts in the United States.” An article in the NY Business Law Journal in 2023 describes Bob as “a true giant of the New York bar with positions and honors too numerous to list, who can be said also to be the business lawyer’s best friend, having helped to create business courts in 21 states, including New York, and eight foreign countries.”

Bob was the co-chair of the Commercial Courts Task Force established by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye in 1995 to create and refine the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court (the nation’s first general trial court devoted exclusively to business litigation). He is now the chair of the Commercial Division Advisory Council established by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman in 2013 to advise him on an ongoing basis about all matters involving and surrounding the Commercial Division, as well as to keep him apprised of developments in the business world that may affect the court system.

On November 16, 2008, Bob was inducted as an Honorary Charter Member of the American College of Business Court Judges in recognition of his efforts to develop business courts in New York and many other states and countries. He was also honored in the December 22, 2014 issue of the National Law Journal as a “Top 50 Litigation Trailblazer and Pioneer” for his work on business courts.

Bob has written and lectured extensively on various litigation and dispute resolution topics. He is the editor in chief of the two definitive treatises on business litigation in federal and New York state courts: the sixteen-volume, 19,000-page treatise titled “Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts” and the ten-volume, 13,000-page treatise titled “Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts.” In addition, Bob is the editor in chief of the definitive treatise on relationships between inside and outside counsel for corporate clients: the seven-volume, 12,000-page treatise titled “Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel” (among the authors of this treatise are the Chief Legal Officers of more than 100 major corporations). Bob is also the principal author of the Corporate Counsel’s Guide, published by the New York State Bar Association, as well as of numerous articles and book chapters. He has served as a member of the Board of Advisers to Business Laws, Inc.’s Law Department Management Adviser, as a member of the Board of Editors of Matthew Bender & Co., Inc.’s Federal Litigation Guide Reporter, and as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Today’s General Counsel.

In 1991, Bob became the only New York lawyer to receive the Award For Excellence in Continuing Legal Education from the Association of Continuing Legal Education Administrators. On May 7, 1995, the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section presented Bob with the Section's first annual Robert L. Haig Award for Distinguished Public Service. The Section has named this Award after Bob, and presents it in his name each year.