Ronald “Rocky” A. Robins, Jr.

Rocky has over three decades of experience as external and in-house legal counsel, including more than 15 years as a public company chief legal officer.  As both a CLO and outside counsel, Rocky served as a trusted, pragmatic business advisor to executives and boards of directors on corporate governance, crisis management, litigation, commercial lending, M&A, venture capital, debt and equity financings, compliance, restructuring and international expansion, among other things.  As a CLO, Rocky took pride not only in problem solving and strategy development as a key member of the executive team but also in leading efficient, cost-effective legal and risk teams (benefiting, in each case, from having exceptional teams of lawyers and staff working with him).

Rocky’s battle-tested corporate experience makes him uniquely suited to provide counsel to existing legal and executive teams and boards of directors as well as to provide outside general counsel services to companies without an in-house legal team or during times of transition.

Most recently, Rocky served as acting general counsel at Ionic Digital, a leader in powered land development and data center development that completed a direct listing on Nasdaq in late July 2026.  Rocky served as executive vice president, chief legal and governance officer, general counsel and corporate secretary for Big Lots, Inc. for more than a decade.  Rocky also spent several years as senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary for Abercrombie & Fitch Co.  Prior to his positions at Abercrombie and Big Lots, Rocky was a corporate partner at Vorys and was recognized as one of the leading corporate lawyers in Ohio.

Rocky’s corporate experience is broad.  He has provided legal counsel to senior executives and public company boards on high-stakes legal matters, including as a member of the executive leadership team/core CEO staff.  Rocky also has extensive experience overseeing the preparation and filing of a wide range of SEC disclosures and compliance with SEC regulations, including oversight of compliance practices and reporting.  In addition, he has overseen multiple M&A and securities transactions as a law firm partner and as a chief legal officer.  These transactions include private equity transactions, public company acquisitions, public and private debt and equity financings and transactions to support international expansion strategies.

Rocky’s knowledge also extends to crisis management.  He has extensive experience leading an in-house crisis management team in response to multiple change management events, including a Chapter 11 restructuring, CEO medical crisis/succession, the COVID-19 pandemic, social media snafus and defense efforts against activist campaigns.  In addition, as an external legal adviser, Rocky has supported clients in risk management initiatives, such as data breaches, human capital management, internal investigations and health and safety issues.

Rocky serves as an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, teaching a semester class on public company corporate governance during the 2025–26 and 2026–27 academic years. 

Early in his career, before returning to his hometown of Columbus and joining Vorys, Rocky served as a clerk for The Honorable Milton Pollack of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and worked as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City.  He is licensed to practice in Ohio and New York.  

Rocky received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his B.A., summa cum laude, with honors from Duke University.  

Honors & Recognitions

Columbus CEO, Top Lawyers in Columbus, 2015

Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Corporate/M&A, 2009

Association for Corporate Growth, 2008

The Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Law, 2006–2010

Columbus Bar Foundation, Fellow, 1999–Current

Professional & Community Activities

The National Veterans Memorial and Museum Foundation, Board of Directors, 2023–2025

The Ohio Health Foundation/Riverside Methodist Hospital Development Board; member 2017–2025; chair, 2020–2021

Duke Univ. Alumni Admissions Committee for Central Ohio, chair, 1994–2020

Columbus School for Girls Board, 2010–2019; chair, 2017–2018

Ballet Met Board of Trustees

Jewish Family Services Board of Trustees

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra Board of Directions, 2003–2012

The Columbus Academy Alumni Board, past president