Bio

Abba David Poliakoff is a Member of the firm's Securities and Business Law practice groups. After law school, Abba started on the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, where he became a senior attorney in the Division of Corporation Finance. From 1980 to 1983, when he joined the firm, Abba was associated with the Wall Street law firm of Cahill, Gordon & Reindel in New York. Abba is active in variety of areas in the law. His Business Law practice includes corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, and intellectual property. He is counsel to public and private entities, consisting of both larger corporations as well as developing businesses. His experience includes capital formation and private placements; mergers and acquisitions; corporate and commercial financing; and general legal and business consulting. Abba's practice has focused on technology, biotech and intellectual property, and he represents venture capital funds as well as private investors. Having participated as a panelist in various legal seminars on securities law and commercial financing, Abba has authored a number of publications on those subjects in journals, such as the University of Baltimore Law Review; The Forum Law Journal; Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers (MICPEL); the American Bar Association (ABA); National Business Institute; Bowne Digest for Corporate and Securities Lawyers; Aspen Law & Business Journal; Maryland Business Law Watch; The Daily Record and The Maryland Bar Journal. Governor Larry Hogan appointed Abba to Co-Chair of Maryland's Regulatory Reform Commission, which reviewed the state's business regulations to reduce the regulatory burden on business without jeopardizing the safety and welfare of Maryland residents. In 2009, Governor Martin J. O'Malley appointed Abba to the Governor's Advisory Council on International Commerce and Trade. He was also appointed by Governor Robert C. Ehrlich, Jr. to the Governor's Transition Committee. Governor Hogan previously appointed Abba in 2015 to serve on the One Maryland Blue Ribbon Commission. From 2006 to 2014, Abba was Chairman of the Maryland/Israel Development Center, a joint venture between the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade. He was also a founder of the Maryland/Israel Trendlines Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in Israeli companies and technologies. Abba is currently a member of the Maryland State Bar Association's (MSBA) Business Law Section and former Chair of its Committee on Securities. In addition, he is a member of the ABA's Business Law Committee. Formerly, he was a member of the Business Regulations Article Review Committee of the Committee to Revise the Maryland Annotated Code. He has been listed in Chambers USA:America's Leading Lawyers for Business since 2004 and was named in the Best LawyersInAmerica for his work in Corporate and Securities Law since 2007 and for Commercial Litigation since 2014. Abba was named by Best Lawyers in America as the 2013 Baltimore "Lawyer of the Year" in Securities/Capital Markets Law. He was named by Maryland's Daily Record as an "Influential Marylander" for 2013. Abba currently serves on a number of boards, including the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Board of Directors of the BioTechnical Institute of Maryland, the Board of the JET Incubator of Baltimore, the Board of Directors of the Simon E. Sobeloff Jewish Law Society and on several advisory boards. Abba chairs the Innovation Committee of the University School of Medicine's Board of Visitors. In his community work, Abba is on the Board of, and was formerly President of, the Baltimore Jewish Council; is on the Board and formerly Chairman of the Board of Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital; and is a member of the Government Relations Committee of LifeBridge Health. Abba is a past president of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA) – Maryland Region, a past president of the Jewish Arbitration and Mediation Board of Baltimore, and formerly on the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Legislative Committee for the Greater Baltimore Technology Council.