David S. Robinson

The global commercial marketplace is rapidly becoming both more complex and interwoven.  Few attorneys understand the opportunities and dynamics of global trade better than David Robinson. He has assisted clients in cross-border transactions around the world. He has been to over 50 countries. He has run two US subsidiaries of foreign companies. David knows when “yes” means yes and when it means no, and he knows the importance of cultural understanding in international commerce. He helps global businesses integrate corporate compliance and operational programs into subsidiary operations, facilitate the transfer of personnel among operations, comply with export control and boycott regulations, and negotiate commercial and joint venture relationships. Whether your business is a seasoned competitor on the global stage or just ‘testing the waters’ of foreign opportunities, David can help level your ‘playing field.’

Community & Professional

• Honorary Consul for Japan in North Carolina
• Member, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition NC Advisory Committee
• Chairman, NC Consular Corps
• Member, District Export Council
• Former Chancellor, Consular Corps College
• NC Bar Association, Former Board of Governors Member
• NC Bar Foundation, Former Director
• Former Law Faculty, Campbell University School of Law
• Former Campbell University Innovation Institute, Board of Advisors
• Past Chair of the International Law and Practice Section of the NC Bar Association (David served two terms in this position)
• Former Chair, NC Bar Association Future of Law Committee
• Board of Advisors of the NC Japan Center

• Former United States Member Representative, World Federation of Consuls

• Former Chairman, American Rural Health Institute

• Former Deputy Director of the NC Japan Center
• Former Director of the NC China Center steering committee
• Former Member, Wake Tech Business and Industry Services Advisory Committee
• Wake Tech Community College, Former Trustee
• North Carolina Export Outreach Program: Former Lecturer and Program Planner
• Former President/Director of the Nippon Club
• Fellow of the Institute of Political Leadership
• Fellow of the BCBSNC Healthy Community Institute
• Former American Red Cross “Outstanding Volunteer” and Disaster Team Member
• Rotary International - Paul Harris Fellow
• Past Chair, Wake County Board of Elections
• Past Director, Charlotte International Arbitration Society
• Former Chairman, Educational Growth Across Oceans/Animazement
• Director, Investor Services Company of America
• Founding Member and Director, Japan-America Society of North Carolina
• Chairman, Conservatives for Criminal Justice Reform
• Former Member, Coalition for Global Competitiveness
• Member, Wake County Economic Development Foreign Direct Investment Committee
• Counsel, One World Health
• Counsel, Veterans Life Center

Outside Maynard Nexsen

David is an active athlete. He is a competitive swimmer and has completed dozens of triathlons and road races including several marathons, a Half Ironman, and a Full Ironman Triathlon. He has competed as a member of Team USA at four World Triathlon Championships; most recently in Spain in 2019. 

He is a member of an award-winning race car team.

He has voted in 29 straight elections and when he was Chairman of the Wake County Board of Elections, he oversaw the largest county voting operation in North Carolina.

As a former Trustee of Wake Tech he helped oversee the largest community college in NC and one of the fastest growing community colleges in the Nation.

He and his wife, Sue, have been married for 30+ years and they live in Raleigh.

The International Team at the firm has just about seen it all: from structuring complex foreign investments in the Carolinas to airlifting cattle to Turkey, from exporting just the right kind of wood to Japan for temple construction to distribution sales of hot tubs in the Middle East, from facilitating the transfer of US workers abroad to importing the best talent from overseas into the US, and from the sale of sophisticated export-controlled technologies to chicken legs, the firm's lawyers have been involved.  When you start selling to overseas markets, David will let you know which US laws will follow you around the globe, and which new laws you’ll likely encounter.  With law firm relationships in 75 of the major commercial centers of the world, we can also help clients obtain precise and timely answers to their foreign law questions. 

Recognition

• Julian Nexsen Pro Bono Award, 2021
• Recognized in Business North Carolina's Legal Elite of 2021
• Dortch Award, the highest award given to an international attorney in North Carolina.

David regularly presents on cross-border legal issues.  He has written and taught an MBA-level International Business Ethics course.  He has lectured on a variety of cross-cultural topics to first graders through seasoned lawyers.  David has taught "Business Organizations" and "Global Corporate Compliance" at Campbell University Law School. He was the international CLE planner for the NC Bar Association’s Annual Meetings of the Business and International Law Sections of the Bar in 2014, and he has chaired the International Law Section twice. He is also a recipient of the highest award accorded to an international lawyer by the NC Bar Association.  As Chairman of the Wake County Board of Elections he was frequently interviewed on elections law issues.

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