Practice Areas

With his own firm in 1981, Mr. Cohen continued his representation of those charged with serious violations of the laws in both state courts and the courts of the United States. From his base in New York, he has handled matters all across the country including, for example, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont. At the same time, Mr. Cohen's civil litigation practice expanded into many other areas, most notably unjust conviction, civil rights, and legal malpractice.

As a scholar of the law, as well as a trial practitioner, Mr. Cohen has had an extensive practice in the appellate courts. This is a product of his view that in order to "protect the record," a trial lawyer must be aware of constantly changing legal precedent. This, he believes, is best accomplished by maintaining an active appellate practice.

As an unwavering opponent of the death penalty, Mr. Cohen agreed to continue his representation of a former police officer eventually charged with the murders of twelve people. This was the first prosecution since the famous “Rosenberg” case in 1953 in which the federal prosecutor in Manhattan chose to seek execution. In the end, Mr. Cohen’s client was spared the death penalty.

Irving Cohen’s expertise in handling narcotics cases - especially in the courts of the United States - is well-known. As is his reputation in murder cases. But Mr. Cohen has also achieved great success in white-collar investigations and prosecutions. These have ranged from bank and mortgage frauds to Medicaid larceny schemes to federally insured pension mismanagement and theft. Mr. Cohen’s clients have included doctors, lawyers, accountants, dentists, and corporate executives. Mr. Cohen has also developed a clientele in the arts and, in particular, the hip-hop community; for instance, Prodigy, one half of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep.