SPOTLIGHT ROYER COOPER COHEN BRAUNFELD
RCCB: Excellence in Legal Services with a Focus on Israel
This week, we speak with David Gitlin, a Pennsylvania partner at RCCB, with more than 40 years’ experience.
With 70 attorneys offering a wide range of legal services across corporate, M&A, employment, litigation, tax, IP, real estate, and more, the firm has offices in the Greater Philadelphia area, New York, and Nashville.
RCCB’s Israel Practice is distinguished by its deep understanding of Israel’s legal, cultural, and business environments. With fluency in Hebrew and strong ties to Israel, the firm offers tailored legal support to Israeli clients navigating both local and global legal landscapes. We discovered more.
After a challenging 18 months in Israel, which sectors have seen resilience and what transactions are you seeing taking place? Which areas of work regarding Israel would you like to highlight for your firm’s Israel Desk?
Indeed, the past 18 months have been challenging on many levels. However, I have witnessed amazing resiliency among our clients and friends. Most notably, in February of last year, we successfully closed the acquisition of a U.S. company by our client, Kafrit Industries. What makes this particularly remarkable is that Kafrit is based in Kfar Aza—we all understand the implications of that.
On the northern border, we have industrial clients who, despite the ongoing war, continued operating their factories even after their workers were evacuated from their homes. Their perseverance is truly inspiring.
I believe middle-market deals continue to lag, but I hear growing discussions about pent-up demand and a strong sense of optimism regarding a significant recovery once the geopolitical situation stabilizes. We can only hope that happens sooner rather than later—and when it does, we aim to be in the right place at the right time.
I also see a tremendous opportunity to support Israeli firms by partnering with them on cross-border M&A deals. Additionally, we can provide significant value to company GCs by managing the day-to-day legal work of their U.S. operations—efficiently, cost-effectively, and from Israel, in Hebrew and on Israeli time.
What challenges do you anticipate facing the Israeli legal and business sectors, and how do you plan to address them to maintain your competitive edge?
Israeli companies have always been business-savvy and cost-conscious, and I believe that will remain the case—perhaps even more so as many navigate their own recovery.
Our competitive edge has always been our ability to deliver world-class legal services at a reasonable cost. Offering exceptional legal expertise at rates significantly lower than those of our larger competitors is a strong advantage. We take pride in being flexible, entrepreneurial, and highly responsive to our clients’ needs.
As someone leading the firm’s Israel-related work on the ground, what has been your most rewarding experience so far, and what personal goals do you have for the future development of your Israel practice?
Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with many incredibly talented and fascinating Israeli clients. By far, the most rewarding experience of my career has been the opportunity to call many of them my friends. Being in Israel for most of the year, I hope to take full advantage of this presence to strengthen client relationships and, hopefully, build even more meaningful connections along the way. My goal is to translate our unique value proposition into a thriving, Israel-based practice—providing U.S. legal assistance to Israeli clients and helping them grow and succeed.
In your own experience, what is the best advice you would give to someone working with Israeli law firms or clients?
In my experience, working with Israeli clients is by and large a wonderfully rewarding experience, but I’m aware that many US lawyers do not share the same sentiment. The majority of the Israeli clients I have helped are interesting, creative, and genuine. As I mentioned before, many have become truly dear friends. I encourage U.S. lawyers to take the time to understand and appreciate Israeli culture, approach interactions with patience and flexibility, and show genuine care. The effort is well worth it.
How do you switch off outside of the law?
I feel very fortunate to have many interests outside of the law and have always believed that being a well-rounded individual makes you a better lawyer. This is especially true when working on cross-border deals. My extracurricular passions include collecting art and classical music autographs, planning my next trip abroad, studying art and music history, and attempting—though not always successfully—to stick to my exercise regimen.
