About Robert
Robert Kost trained first as a philosopher and then as a lawyer. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from Kalamazoo College in 1978 and an M.A. from Bowling Green State University in 1982 before completing his J.D. at the University of New Hampshire School of Law in 1984. Those academic years set a pattern: inquiry, analysis and work at the intersection of law and technology.
He began his legal career in public service and the courts. In 1983 he worked as a judicial law clerk for the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire and in 1984 he served as a legal analyst for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. Those early roles placed him close to the practical questions that emerge when law meets emerging systems.
His private-sector legal work started in the mid-1980s. He served as Assistant General Counsel at Prodigy Services Company (an IBM venture) in 1986, then moved into in-house counsel positions through the 1990s and 2000s. He was General Counsel at US Interactive in 1995 and later shifted into executive leadership at technology and media companies. From 2000 he led Portaga Inc. as CEO. He took on senior roles that blended legal, product and commercial responsibilities, including VP of Marketing and Business Development at Kinor Technologies in 2009 and partnerships at Brand New Media Partners and THEMATIX.
That mix of law and business culminated in his current role. In 2020 he became President and Lead Lawyer at General Counsel Online. The position reflects a steady movement between legal advising and corporate strategy. He has also maintained ties to formal professional networks and holds a certification as a Certified Business Architect from the Business Architecture Guild.
Kost is admitted to practice in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and he is also admitted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Business Architecture Guild. His experience spans in-house counsel duties, regulatory and transactional work for technology firms, and leadership roles that required both legal judgment and business planning.
Colleagues describe him as a lawyer who moves easily between boardroom and legal memo. He has spent four decades shaping how companies handle legal risk while they build products and go to market. He currently practices as President and Lead Lawyer at General Counsel Online, handling legal matters for corporate and technology clients.
