Mark S. Cohen

Firm co-founder Mark S. Cohen is the managing partner of C&G’s New York office, and head of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration and White Collar Defense & Regulation groups. Mark’s litigation practice includes complex commercial disputes, real estate and construction litigation, securities litigation, employment litigation, and antitrust litigation. He also represents companies, corporate boards, board committees, and individual clients in white collar criminal cases, federal and state regulatory proceedings, and corporate internal investigations.

Mark is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He maintains an active trial practice of both civil and criminal cases and has tried approximately 25 cases to verdict. He led C&G teams to two of the most significant victories in highly contested cases of the past five years. In one case, C&G achieved a complete victory against the SEC following a two week jury trial in the representation of a former hedge fund analyst in an insider trading case. Mark was subsequently selected as a Litigator of the Week by AmLaw Litigation Daily. Mark also led a C&G team to a landmark victory in a high-profile FCPA case on behalf of a former investment analyst with one of the world’s largest publicly traded hedge funds, which resulted in C&G’s nomination for Global Investigation Review’s Most Important Court Case of the Year award in 2018.

Since 2011, he has served as the court-appointed monitor for the largest fire department in the country. The monitorship involves implementing the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York’s remedial order following a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

Prior to co-founding Cohen & Gresser, Mark served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and formerly practiced with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Note Editor of the Law Review.

Mark has been ranked by the Chambers USA guide as a Leading Individual in the white collar crime and government investigations category each year since 2013 and has been recognized in its securities litigation category since 2016. Chambers USA also nominated Mark for its White Collar Crime & Government Investigations individual award in 2016. Clients refer to Mark as “a skilled litigator” who is “smart, practical, persuasive, and diplomatic.” He is recognized in The Legal 500’s U.S. guide in the categories of corporate investigations and general commercial disputes, and is ranked as a Leading Lawyer in the securities litigation defense and white collar criminal defense categories. The Legal 500 commentary describes him as “an outstanding trial lawyer and strategist who has excellent judgment,” and “highly intelligent and strategic, great on his feet, has outstanding judgment and instincts, a calming and reassuring presence as a counselor, and is appropriately aggressive and tough when and as needed.” The guide has further described Mark as a “formidable” trial lawyer within the securities litigation space. Both Chambers and The Legal 500 commentary refer to Mark as an excellent trial attorney noting that “he stands out for his combination of skill, thoughtfulness and tenacity during investigations with seasoned trial expertise during litigation.” Mark is regularly recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for white collar criminal defense, and is a former member of Law360‘s editorial advisory board for its white collar coverage. He has also been named a Local Litigation Star in each edition of Benchmark Litigation since 2012. Super Lawyers has recognized Mark on its annual New York Metro Super Lawyers list for business litigation each year since 2008, has named him one of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area each year since 2014, and named him one of the top 10 lawyers in the New York Metropolital area in 2023. Mark has also been recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America.

For many years, he has been a visiting lecturer at the Sorbonne in Paris, teaching a course to French law students on U.S. white collar criminal law.