Joel Cohen

March 09, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Judges infrequently speak publicly to troubling societal issues du jour. Consistent with his ethical obligation of restraint, lest he inadvertently prejudge issues that may conceivably come before him, Justice Acosta has agreed to weigh in on some matters with which society, particularly in New York, is currently grappling involving the administration of criminal justice.

By Joel Cohen

13 minute read

March 02, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Yes, Rakoff's procedural device might seem harsh on its face to the layperson or uninitiated, as if he was saying "the heck with what the jury thinks, I know better." Any litigating lawyer, however, would understand the rightness of a judge taking the decision away from the jury when the evidence presented at trial is simply legally insufficient.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

February 07, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Whatever the prosecutor intends, a press conference or even press release has the inordinate capacity to influence public opinion against the accused, even though the final line of every prosecutor's release, almost as an afterthought, says that an indictment is not proof of guilt. And while that last sentence is desirable and ethically required, does anyone really pay it any attention? Or more to the point, believe it? All this said, where do we go from here?

By Joel Cohen

10 minute read

January 31, 2022 | New York Law Journal

"Despite the absence of a virtual outburst from the judiciary, one suspects that many of them who are required to deal with policies with which they don't necessarily agree are expressing their doubts behind closed doors."

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

January 10, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Joel Cohen conducts an interview with Thomas Main, author of 'The Rise of Illiberalism'. Rather than a traditional book review that would, predictably, agree with or attempt to refute Main's thinking, Cohen chose to better report his actual thinking on the subject—a preview for the reader of what his excellent volume has to say—through a question-and-answer session.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

December 13, 2021 | New York Law Journal

No prosecutor should ever tell an individual, particularly someone, as was Lewinsky, with potential dire criminal exposure: "Call a lawyer and your best chance for leniency is off the table"—as essentially Lewinsky was told (whether or not the prosecutor deserved discipline for having done that).

By Joel Cohen

8 minute read

November 22, 2021 | New York Law Journal

There may be another, more tangible, benefit in a belated pardon for Plessy. Doesn't revisiting 'Plessy', most importantly, raise anew for the public consciousness the Supreme Court's action in addressing a case that on its limited facts ostensibly seemed largely inconsequential in 1896?

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

November 01, 2021 | New York Law Journal

Some judges are more cautious than others. Some are totally focused on whether the omerta rule is "absolute." Some judges are quite comfortable saying that they would never speak to a bar group as candidly as they do in this classroom.

By Joel Cohen

7 minute read

October 08, 2021 | New York Law Journal

In this Ethics and Criminal Practice column, Joel Cohen and James Bernard discuss a late attorney's recent book and its implications for the attorney-client relationship.

By Joel Cohen and James Bernard

10 minute read

October 05, 2021 | New York Law Journal

He's not writing for Slate, Politico, the New York Times or even the Federalist Society intending to provide the reader with a "scoop", or intending to move the public to his way of thinking. Rather he's a jurist who explains his craft, and how he, along with his colleagues and predecessors, have dealt with the continuing—sometimes, earthshaking—issues that have confronted the Court.

By Joel Cohen

8 minute read