David Storobin

David came to the United States with his mother twenty years ago at the age of 12. While In Russia, David's mother was teaching in medical school. In the United States, for many years she became a person who cleaned other people’s homes for a living, before finally landing a job as a social worker. Her life and David's isn't just the story of Jewish immigrants who came during the fall of the Soviet Union, but much more. It is a story of millions who came to the United States from all over the world over hundreds of years, leaving everything behind with nothing but a dream and the hope that their personal sacrifice will lead to a better life for their children.

Shortly after coming to America, David heard the joke that the words “doctor” and “engineer” translated from Russian to English mean “cleaning woman” and “cab driver.” He saw my uncle, a tough guy who used to manage a restaurant in Russia, break down and cry. But more importantly, David saw his mother and others press forward, never giving up and always teaching David and their children, respectively, that success lies in hard work and education. While his mother’s current job as a social worker never achieved the prestige of her job in Russia, it is dignified and it taught David that success could be achieved. She fell in love with her new job because she could help people, and that planted a seed in David to succeed, as well as to help his community.

Graduating from law school with a hundred thousand dollars in loans, David started at the very bottom in a law firm. But by the age of 25 David started his own law firm. Since he only had meager savings at this young age, David had to max out all of his credit cards, the only time in his life when he did not pay them off in full. David started by working out of his friend’s office, then got a virtual office, then a tiny one-room office. Today, David has two real offices with full-time associates and paralegals working for him.

David found the American Dream, but it was important for him to give to others who were the source of strength for him. At Rutgers University School of Law, despite being the youngest student in his class, David not only became the President of the Jewish Law Students Association, but it went from being inactive to the single most active organization on campus.

David is on the Board of Directors of the American Jewish Committee (New York Chapter) and on the Board of Governors of the Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration Commission. The Wallenberg Commission, in honor of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust only to be arrested by the Soviet government, never to be heard from again.

As an active member of the American Jewish Committee, David recently spoke to an audience of 1,300 business and community leaders at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum. Only in America can a penniless immigrant grow up to stand on the same stage and speak immediately after the Foreign Minister of Germany and the President of Panama to an audience of some of the most successful people in the country! When David spoke, he spoke about everthing the Jewish community and the United States has afforded him and millions of others, and how proud it makes him to be an American.

As a proud American patriot, David has also been active in politics ever since arriving in the United States. In 1993, he volunteered for Rudy Giuliani, and the following year for George Pataki.

Over the years, David has been interviewed in many media outlets, from Bloomberg News to Fox News radio. The editorial board of the Investor’s Business Daily referred to him as a “global legal expert” and the Examiner called him a “well-recognized legal expert.” David was also profiled or discussed in the New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, and a lot of other high profile publications.

He have appeared on Russian-American TV, radio and newspapers on a regular basis for several years, and now any time he is in the presence of older people who prefer Russian-language media, a significant number of them recognize who David is. After Bob Turner’s success in the Russian community during the September 2011 special elections, WNYC radio and Staten Island Advance reached out to David for interviews.

David has also been published in Jewish media. In January 2005, the Jewish Press ran his article on most of its front page and the whole back page. He was also interviewed on The Jewish Channel, on Zev Brenner’s show and in the Jewish Star, as well as in the Russian-language “Jewish World” newspaper.

For the last two and a half years, David has been a Vice-Chair of the Kings County Republican Party, enjoying a close personal relationship with Chairman Craig Eaton. He also assisted in the re-founding of the Brooklyn Young Republicans Club.

David's interest in politics stems from his desire to “pay it forward.” So many people helped his mother and he when they arrived in the United States – people who did not know them, people who sacrificed their time and money knowing that they would never be able to pay them back. But what David can do is help those who need help now. Whether it’s teaching English as a Second Language to the elderly or mentoring students who want to become lawyers, David has always tried to be active in community affairs and he has always tried to give back. It’s the only way David can pay back those who once helped him.

For more information, visit David's website: www.storobinforsenate.com