Joel Cohen

October 08, 2013 | New York Law Journal

In his Ethics and Criminal Practice column, Joel Cohen, of counsel at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, writes that truth-telling witnesses will inevitably remember probative events differently on different occasions, and one can easily understand why a prosecutor might prefer not to have to transmit a contemporaneous-to-the-inconsistency piece of paper directly into the hands of a skillful defense lawyer. But what law exists on this issue, given that no federal case law affirmatively obligates prosecutors or their witnesses to take notes?

By Joel Cohen

14 minute read

July 02, 2012 | Law.com

Ideally, writes attorney Joel Cohen, a sentence should hold a mirror up to a defendant so that the sentencing judge and society can determine that the defendant's demons have been exorcised, or at least that the process has begun. But in reality, how often does the punishment handed down by U.S. courts actually fit the crime?

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

January 05, 2010 | Daily Business Review

Should questions arise about our own conduct because of willingness to let our colleagues' "on the edge" behavior go unchecked?

By Joel Cohen and Katherine A. Helm

7 minute read

May 21, 2012 | Law.com

By Joel Cohen

8 minute read

March 19, 2012 | Law.com

In this commentary, Joel Cohen examines some of the lessons to be learned from an iconic law firm's handling of a death penalty case in which a series of errors led to a pivotal appeal deadline being missed.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

March 22, 2012 | New York Law Journal

When investigating a case, Tom Puccio would ask witnesses amateurish questions in unabashed Brooklyn tones, suggesting he knew little about the facts. It was pure pretense, gamesmanship.

By Joel Cohen

6 minute read

November 14, 2011 | Law.com

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

July 15, 2013 | Law.com

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

February 19, 2007 | National Law Journal

The prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players for the rape of a young woman at a party has exposed to a national audience an unbridled abuse of prosecutorial power.

By Bennett L. Gershman and Joel Cohen/Special to The National Law Journal

5 minute read

November 17, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

Way too often, a lawyer gives the client the best advice he can, perhaps the advice that every other skilled lawyer would impart under the circumstances, only to be met with the client's foolish rejection of it.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read