Robert Bishop Fiske Jr. (born December 28, 1930) is an American trial attorney and a partner with the law firm of

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Be ...

in New York City. He was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1976 to 1980 after earlier having served as an assistant in the office from 1957 to 1961.

Special prosecutor

Attorney General

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...

appointed Fiske as the special prosecutor to investigate the

Whitewater controversy The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their as ...

and the death of White House Counsel

Vince Foster Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration. Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Lit ...

in January 1994.Whitewater tmeline
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', official website. (1998) Retrieved December 13, 2010 At the time of his appointment, Fiske was universally praised by Republicans. Fiske conducted investigations, and released an interim report on June 30 that in summary concluded that President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and White House officials had not interfered with the

Resolution Trust Corporation The Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was a U.S. government-owned asset management company run by Lewis William Seidman and charged with liquidating assets, primarily real estate-related assets such as mortgage loans, that had been assets ...

, which was investigating the failed

Madison Guaranty Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association was a savings and loan association based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company operated from 1979 until 1989 when it was shut down by federal regulators as a result of bank failure, leading to a loss o ...

Savings & Loan, a partner of the Whitewater Development Corporation. Fiske's report also concluded that Vince Foster died by suicide. On the same day that Fiske released this report, President Clinton signed the Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1994, effectively abolishing the position of Special Prosecutor and replacing it with the position of Independent Counsel. Under the new law, the Special Division had sole authority to select Independent Counsels. Janet Reno formally requested that Robert Fiske be chosen, and allowed to continue his investigation.David Johnston
"Reno Wants to Reappoint Fiske Under a New Law"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', official website. (July 2, 1994) Retrieved December 13, 2010 On August 5, the Special Division, headed by Judge David Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, decided to replace Fiske with former Washington D.C. Circuit judge

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, know ...

Private practice

Fiske is a senior law partner at Davis Polk, where he has represented many high-profile clients. He defended the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in an antitrust suit brought by the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

.Biography of Robert B. Fiske Jr.
Who's Who Legal, official website. Retrieved December 13, 2010 He represented

Clark Clifford Clark McAdams Clifford (December 25, 1906October 10, 1998) was an American lawyer who served as an important political adviser to Democratic presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. His official gove ...

and Robert A. Altman, who were top executives of First American bank until they stepped down facing investigations by regulators and prosecutors regarding their roles in the BCCI scandal."Kirsten Gillibrand Research Report"
(PDF) Politico.com, official website. (December 2005) Page 15. Retrieved December 13, 2010 He headed the legal team defending Exxon in New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

investigations of the oil spill that dumped 567,000 gallons of oil into Arthur Kill, New Jersey. The deal reached with the state of New Jersey allowed Exxon to plead guilty to a one-count federal misdemeanor and pay a fine over $10 million. Additionally, New York and New Jersey state prosecutors were prevented from seeking indictments and no action was to be taken against the four Exxon officers under investigation. He defended A. Alfred Taubman of

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, who was charged with conspiring to violate antitrust laws by engaging in

price-fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

with rival Christie's. He also defended Sanjay Kumar of Computer Associates International, Inc. who was charged with

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...

and

obstruction of justice Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...

Education and honors

Fiske is a past president of the

American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially trial ...

and the Federal Bar Council.List of Board members
Federal Bar Council, official website. Retrieved December 13, 2010 He is a recipient of the Association Medal from the

New York City Bar Association The New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a ...

. An alumnus of the

Pomfret School Pomfret School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding and day school in Pomfret, Connecticut, United States, serving 350 students in grades 9 through 12 and post-graduates. Located in the Pomfret Street Historic District, ...

he has a BA from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(1952), and a JD from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(1955), where he was associate editor of the law review.

Personal life

Fiske is the uncle of Gap brand CEO Neil Fiske.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiske, Robert 1930 births Living people Yale University alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni Politicians from New York City New York (state) lawyers United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York Whitewater controversy Pomfret School alumni Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers Special prosecutors