Robert Emerson

Robert C. Emerson

Partner
Robert C. Emerson
New York
+1 212 813 8854

Robert C. Emerson is a partner in Goodwin’s Private Equity and Private Investment Funds practices, where he advises private equity firms and their senior management on a wide variety of legal, compliance, and business issues. Rob also serves as a co-leader of Goodwin’s Secondaries practice, which brings together an international team of lawyers with extensive experience in domestic and global cross-border secondaries transactions.

Rob counsels clients on fund transactional projects, having led numerous secondaries and strategic transactions on both the buy-side and sell-side in connection with portfolio companies, co-investments, and sponsor level transactions. In addition, he has significant experience in managing and negotiating strategic relationships, joint ventures, minority sales, spin-outs, and innovative co-investment regimes.

In addition to fund transactional matters, Rob is well-seasoned in traditional fund formation activities by having led fundraises for both foreign and domestic based products that scale to over $15 billion in size. As part of this role, he actively counsels sponsors in managing their ongoing governance, structuring and economic arrangements as well as guiding their platforms through the ever-evolving regulatory environment applicable to the private equity industry and registered investment advisors.

Professional Activities

Rob devotes significant time to volunteering in the community through the Boy Scouts of America program, including serving on the Board of Directors for Connecticut Yankee Council, the local organization where he previously received his Eagle Scout.

Professional Experience

Prior to joining Goodwin, Rob was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He also practiced previously at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP.

Credentials

Education

JD2008

Fordham University

School of Law

(cum laude, Soden Scholar)

BAEconomics2005

Fordham University

(summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa)

Admissions

Bars

  • New York
  • Connecticut

Recognition & Awards

Rob has been recognized multiple years as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers.

While in law school, he received the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award and was a member of the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law.

Publications

Speaking Engagements

  • Moderator, “Engaged Discussion: Preferred Equity: Evolutions in Secondaries and GP Strategic Situations,” SuperReturn Conference, Berlin, June 2023

Rob is frequently interviewed about the growing fund transactional practice, including: