Joel Cohen

November 13, 2023 | New York Law Journal

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik's ethics complaint against the judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in Manhattan is an attempt to undermine the court process by making a further public spectacle of their largely silly allegations, former members of the board for New York's judicial watchdog write.

By Joel Cohen and Richard Emery

5 minute read

November 01, 2023 | New York Law Journal

a lawyer who is presented by his client with a plan to commit a "future" crime can be compelled before a grand jury to give testimony against that client. The courts have long recognized the "crime fraud exception" to the privilege in such instances.

By Joel Cohen

6 minute read

October 06, 2023 | New York Law Journal

In his Ethics and Criminal Practice column, Joel Cohen discusses the ethics regarding complex criminal investigations where a third party—the target of the investigation—pays their employees' legal fees as part of the inquiry.

By Joel Cohen

11 minute read

September 29, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson will be called to testify at the most important trial in America about her unique act of heroism. And whether or not she told the prosecutors in advance her plan to write a book, or that she was already writing one, they simply lacked the ability to demand that she not, a Law Journal columnist writes.

By Joel Cohen

6 minute read

August 24, 2023 | New York Law Journal

In his conversation with Sam Freedman, author of 'Into The Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights' Joel Cohen looks at how Freedman was able to present Humphrey as a hero, even as he's associated with the Vietnam war.

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

August 07, 2023 | New York Law Journal

How far can attorneys go to get an adjournment from a judge, even where extra time is in the client's best interests or where the client simply wants a postponement, before they could face disciplinary action?

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read

August 04, 2023 | New York Law Journal

People don't simply contribute big money without wanting to push their personal agenda, e.g., George Soros. Or they're looking for something specific, a Law Journal columnist writes.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

July 21, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Donald Trump is unambiguously hoping for a victory by himself or a fellow Republican unwilling to offend Trump's base even if elected, in order to accomplish a pardon for himself or have the incoming Justice Department dismiss the case altogether, a former prosecutor and Law Journal columnist writes.

By Joel Cohen

8 minute read

June 20, 2023 | New York Law Journal

The ongoing Trump saga, in which a number of lawyers have testified against him, brings some of the issues created by the government's seeming lack of respect for the privilege and the sacrosanct nature of the attorney-client relationship to the fore, two columnists write.

By Joel Cohen and Gerald Lefcourt

8 minute read

June 12, 2023 | New York Law Journal

But what if the prosecutor's office determines that a convicted defendant in jail may have been wrongly convicted but is actually guilty? What is their obligation then? Can they just sit on their hands and do nothing? Or, if only as a matter of legal ethics, must they try to repair the wrongful conviction by asking the courts to set it aside, even if they believe the defendant is guilty?

By Joel Cohen

9 minute read