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David L. Cohen, a mainstay at Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., will be stepping down from his day-to-day operational roles beginning in 2020, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The chief legal officer of Comcast will now oversee government and regulatory affairs and political affairs for the company, according to an internal memo sent to Corporate Counsel on Friday.

Cohen said in a statement that throughout 2020 he will continue to work as executive vice president of Comcast and his role will be to "ensure a smooth transition" of all of the functions he has overseen. After 2020, he will become a senior counselor to CEO Brian Roberts.

"I'm excited about this next chapter of my career and I am also looking forward to dedicating more of my time to civic and charitable activities that I have been so involved with," Cohen said in a statement.

Cohen wears several hats at Comcast, and it appears the chief legal officer of Comcast, Thomas Reid, will take on some of his responsibilities, according to the internal memo.

Reid, who became Comcast's top lawyer in April, will have Comcast's employees in the government and regulatory affairs and political affairs sections report to him. Kimberley Harris, general counsel of NBCUniversal who also serves as Comcast's executive vice president for international government and regulatory affairs, will continue to oversee those units.

Cohen also served as Comcast's chief diversity officer. That role will go to Karen Dougherty Buchholz, senior vice president of administration. Buchholz will also co-chair the Comcast NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Advisory Council, according to the memo. She will also oversee local media development and report to Comcast's chief financial officer, Michael Cavanagh, and Roberts.

Cohen's departure signaled a win for the founder and CEO of Entertainment Studios Networks, Byron Allen. Allen has a case pending in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and asked Comcast in a statement to withdraw its petition in front of the high court.

"With David Cohen out of the way, this is a pivotal moment in the history and legacy of Comcast and Brian Roberts. Mr. Roberts and the Comcast board of directors should immediately rescind their petition in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the civil rights of over 100 million Americans and sit down with staunch critics of Comcast/NBCUniversal," Allen said in the statement.

In his suit, Allen claims that Comcast discriminated against his company based on race. The case was initially thrown out at the pleading stage by the trial court.

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived the suit and Comcast appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.