A recent SDNY Assistant United States Attorney and former NY Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Cohen strengthens the firm’s trial and white-collar capabilities

Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Carrie H. Cohen, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has joined the firm as a partner in New York. Ms. Cohen joins the firm’s Securities Litigation, Enforcement and White-Collar Criminal Defense (SLEW) and Commercial Litigation and Trials Practice Groups. Ms. Cohen has been recognized as a top trial attorney and most recently was the lead prosecutor in United States v. Sheldon Silver, securing the conviction of the long-time Speaker of the New York State Assembly on corruption and money-laundering charges.

“Carrie’s sophisticated trial and investigatory experience will add notable bench strength to our robust East Coast litigation presence,” Ben Fox, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s global Litigation Department, said. “Her impressive credentials, experience, and reputation will provide significant value to our clients.”

Jordan Eth, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s SLEW Group, added: “Carrie is another key addition to our elite group of securities and white-collar litigators, following Chuck Duross and James Koukios’s arrivals from the Department of Justice over the last couple of years. Carrie has a distinguished record of success in the courtroom, including her prosecution of Sheldon Silver. We are delighted that she is joining us.”

At Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Cohen will represent financial institutions, corporations, and individuals in white-collar criminal investigations, internal investigations, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and bribery and enterprise corruption matters, as well as consumer, health care, procurement, and tax fraud cases and complex civil litigation. Ms. Cohen brings to the firm extensive criminal and civil trial expertise and vast experience conducting large and complex criminal and civil investigations involving federal, state, and local agencies and regulators. In addition to the Sheldon Silver case and other public corruption cases, Ms. Cohen has investigated and prosecuted a wide range of financial and investment fraud cases, including a $30 million pump-and-dump securities fraud trial and $80 million Ponzi scheme trial.

Before becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Ms. Cohen served in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, first as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau, where she received the Louis J. Lefkowitz Memorial Award for outstanding service, and then as Chief of the Public Integrity Unit in the Criminal Division. At the Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Cohen successfully prosecuted then State Comptroller Alan Hevesi for personal use of state employees’ time, among other notable cases. Before that, she spent six years in private practice, including as a litigation associate at Morrison & Foerster.

“In returning to private practice, I wanted to join a premier trial practice with a distinguished reputation for handling high-stakes litigation, including in securities and white-collar cases,” Ms. Cohen said. “I didn’t need to look far; and I am thrilled to call MoFo home again.”

Among her many public service roles, Ms. Cohen has held numerous leadership positions in bar associations. She currently serves on the Advisory Group to the New York State-Federal Judicial Council, as a representative to the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates, and as a member of the Federal Bar Council, American Inns of Court. Ms. Cohen recently served as the Vice President of the New York City Bar and Chair of its Executive Committee, as well as Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial & Federal Litigation Section. Ms. Cohen has also been a leader in advancing women in the legal profession both in New York and globally, and currently serves on the New York City Bar’s Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, where she spearheads a professional development program for women attorneys in Latin America. Ms. Cohen earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and undergraduate degree from Cornell University.