About Robert L.
Robert L. Abell built a legal path that begins in the classroom and runs into courtrooms across multiple jurisdictions. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Kentucky before moving on to Tulane University School of Law, where he completed his law degree in the late 1980s. Early academic work included research assistant positions that dealt with intergovernmental relations and doctrinal study, experiences that gave him an early taste of legal scholarship and public law issues.
His first practical legal experiences came during law school. He served as an intern law clerk to a federal district judge and worked in a prosecutor’s office in Orleans Parish. Those positions exposed him to courtroom procedure and case preparation on both civil and criminal fronts. After graduation he joined Greenebaum Doll & McDonald as an associate, where he handled matters typical of a general litigation practice and learned the day-to-day demands of private practice.
In 1989 he moved to New York and worked as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society of New York City. That period sharpened his trial skills. It also deepened his familiarity with criminal defense and client counseling under pressure. By 1991 he returned to private practice as a trial lawyer and established his own practice, Robert Abell Law, where he continued to handle trials and appeals.
Abell’s practice has spanned state and federal work. He has operated in Kentucky and Colorado courts, argued in federal district courts in the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, and appeared before federal appellate panels, including the Fourth and Sixth Circuits and the Federal Circuit. He is also admitted to practice in New York and has appeared in matters related to the United States Supreme Court.
Professional associations have been part of his career too. He has maintained membership in national and state organizations that bring together trial lawyers and criminal defense attorneys, including groups formed to support employment litigation, civil justice, and criminal defense. For a time he was also a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Colleagues and clients have noted his breadth of courtroom experience. He has moved between public service and private practice, and between trial courts and appellate benches. Today he operates Robert Abell Law and continues to represent clients in trial and appellate proceedings across the jurisdictions where he is admitted to practice.
