Joel Cohen

May 13, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Stephen Breyer's book may have been panned by critics—a New York Times reviewer, for instance, called it "exasperating." But Law Journal columnist Joel Cohen writes that retired judges are uniquely positioned to address pressing issues in criminal justice.

By Joel Cohen

8 minute read

April 23, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Weighing in on Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, two veteran criminal defense attorneys say that the defense will have to deal with the prosecution's theory of why the payments were made—and create its own countertheory.

By Joel Cohen and Laura A. Brevetti

5 minute read

April 09, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Two longtime Law Journal columnists respond to a recent opinion piece on the tenure and 1976 removal of a special prosecutor.

By Bennett L. Gershman and Joel Cohen

2 minute read

April 08, 2024 | New York Law Journal

It might have appeared to go unnoticed, but lawyers, criminal lawyers especially, are no longer specifically instructed by New York's rules or canons to represent their clients "zealously." Criminal lawyers are instead now simply bound by the extremely lukewarm phraseology contained in Rule 1.3 of New York's Rules of Professional Conduct.

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

March 18, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Former President Donald Trump's unparalleled ability to "delay" lies directly at the feet of the prosecutors for the three major criminal cases against him and the attorney general of the United States, the Law Journal's Joel Cohen writes.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

February 26, 2024 | New York Law Journal

A 26-year-old man allegedly kills a young woman in New York City. He flees to Maricopa County, Arizona to avoid his arrest and where several days later…

By Joel Cohen and Bennett L. Gershman

5 minute read

February 12, 2024 | New York Law Journal

In this article, Joel Cohen analyzes a case in the public eye that is still pending. It will hopefully provide a teachable moment in the context of an artificial intelligence mistake that many litigators may conceivably encounter.

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

January 17, 2024 | New York Law Journal

A criminal defendant exposing himself as having suffered life-altering problems resulting from his wrongdoing can accomplish "general deterrence" more effectively than might any prosecutor or judge who merely gives a lecture largely telling her audience the potential penalties for similar conduct.

By Joel Cohen

6 minute read

December 21, 2023 | New York Law Journal

The presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT and the lawyers who prepared them certainly recognized that they would be roasted by at least one or two members of the Congressional committee. And they were undoubtedly correct that hate speech on campus would depend on the "context" in which it was made, a Law Journal columnist writes. But would any intelligent, well-prepared, witness, even testifying truthfully, want to hand a loaded gun to her interrogator, enabling her to aggressively question her as U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik so ably did?

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

December 11, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Public figures as diverse as Donald Trump and Sam Bankman-Fried, for example, have believed that "going public" will best bring them a soft landing. The 'Trump' case raises important questions about an attorney's ethical obligations when they propose to pursue one road, but the client wants another—potentially suicidal—path in a criminal case.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read