SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – David Robinson is on a mission — the pursuit of social justice and fairness.
Since his youth, Robinson has always pursued what is right. Doing the right thing and expecting the same from others. He grew up in a segregated, working-class Detroit neighborhood. He is the youngest of four children. He was a child of the civil rights movement and, as were millions, greatly influenced by it.
As an 8-year-old, he witnessed Martin Luther King’s legendary 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Detroit, months before it was delivered by Dr. King in Washington, D.C. Robinson was an outstanding student and knew from an early age that he wanted to be an attorney, largely with influence and encouragement by his mother. Perhaps more importantly, he wanted to effect change. He enrolled into Wayne State University and worked at a religious bookstore during college to meet expenses.
His brother had become a police officer and Robinson learned through him that the Detroit Police Department offered a cadet program for young people, and it paid for college. In 1973, Robinson applied for the program and was accepted.
He worked for the Detroit Police Department both as an officer and an attorney. He served the Detroit Police Department for 13 years as a legal advisor to the department. He also defended officers in civil litigation.
As part of his responsibilities, he was required to teach the legal section to recruits in the Detroit Metropolitan Police Academy. During these same years, Robinson obtained a part-time teaching position in the Wayne State University Criminal Justice Department.
Robinson is a fierce defender of social justice and fairness. When he sees wrong or corruption, he calls it out. He has litigated in the area of police misconduct for both defense and plaintiffs. He has taken, to settlement or verdict, hundreds of police misconduct matters involving the gamut of wrongful arrests to wrongful deaths at the hands of police officers. He has litigated cases in federal court and circuit courts in the tri-county areas as well as courts in the states of Ohio and Louisiana.
Robinson associated with Johnny Cochran, Barry Scheck, and Peter Neufeld (of O.J. Simpson fame), in the wrongful conviction case of Eddie Joe Lloyd, which resulted in a settlement of $4,000,000. This case also resulted in an agreement whereby the City of Detroit conceded that all interrogations and interviews of suspects in serious offenses will be recorded, including police chase cases, accident cases and other police shooting cases not resulting in death.
In addition, he has litigated cases involving the death of pre-trial detainees in Detroit jails which resulted in six and seven-figure settlements.
Robinson has brought suit against the Michigan Department of Corrections, Lenawee County Sheriff, and Wayne County Sheriff for in-custody deaths. Based on his knowledge, litigation experience and practice in the area of police misconduct, he has authored a book on the subject called “You See a Hero, I see a Human Being.” It is available at momentumbooks.com and Amazon. The E-book is available at iTunes, Amazon, and bn.com.
