Biography
Joel M. Cohen, a trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, is Chair of the Firm's Global White Collar and Investigations Practice Group. He is a nationally and internationally recognized litigator, crisis manager, and investigator.
Mr. Cohen has been lead or co-lead counsel in dozens of civil and criminal trials in federal and state courts. Mr. Cohen is equally comfortable leading confidential investigations, managing crises or advocating in court. Mr. Cohen's experience includes all aspects of FCPA/anticorruption issues, insider trading, cross-border tax issues, securities and financial institution litigation, class actions, sanctions, money laundering and asset recovery, with a particular focus on international disputes and discovery.
Mr. Cohen was the prosecutor of Jordan Belfort and Stratton Oakmont, which is the focus of "The Wolf of Wall Street" film by Martin Scorsese. He was an advisor to the OECD in connection with the effort to prohibit corruption in international transactions and was the first Department of Justice legal liaison advisor to the French Ministry of Justice.
Mr. Cohen is Band One rated in Litigation Chambers (12 years rated), where practitioners and clients have noted that he "is very, very good at getting the big picture . . . understanding where his clients want to be, which leads to better strategic judgments," he has "incredibly strong substantive depth melded with a risk-based practicality," "strong trial skills and handling of large-scale investigations," "has a finger on the pulse of the regulators and government," is "very, very smart and very knowledgeable," and praised his ability to "handle very intense, complex matters with regulatory authorities and really just deliver great results."
Mr. Cohen has been repeatedly named a top global crisis management practitioner and top 120 trial attorney by Lawdragon, a leading white collar criminal defense attorney by The Best Lawyers in America®, a "Litigation Star" and national Top 100 Trial Lawyer by Benchmark Litigation, an "MVP" by Law360, one of the world's leading practitioners in White Collar Crime in Legal Media Group's Expert Guides – White Collar Crime, a "Super Lawyer" in Criminal Litigation, by Global Investigations Review, and his work has been noted by Legal 500 in the areas of white collar criminal defense and securities litigation. Most recently, Mr. Cohen has also been featured as one of Lawdragon's "500 Leading Litigators in America" and "Leading Crisis Managers."
Mr. Cohen has achieved significant victories pretrial and at trial in many high-profile matters, including:
Obtaining an extraordinary outcome in USA v. Morgan, where DOJ caved to settle what originally was an alleged $500 million fraud they contended was among the largest in recent history, dismissing virtually all criminal and civil allegations against client, real estate developer, Robert Morgan. Mr. Cohen's team uncovered evidence of government malfeasance that led government to settle to avoid an embarrassing hearing examining prosecution and FBI team. This followed an earlier extremely rare dismissal of indictment against client and his business, and the settlement of related SEC allegations in SEC v. Morgan (WDNY 2020), with no admission of fault or financial penalties.
The government dismissed virtually all of its allegations, agreed investors and lenders suffered no financial losses, and only a $2000 fine was ordered. The American Lawyer, featuring Mr. Cohen and his team, noted that the extremely rare dismissal was built on a meticulous unraveling of government missteps and that it is "often unsexy work that leads to sexy results in white-collar defense work."
In awarding him the Am Law Litigator of the Week in July 2022 they noted the Court's comments at sentencing to Mr. Morgan, "You are fortunate that you have excellent, excellent attorneys representing you." "I don't think I have to tell you that. But they did a tremendous job in advocating for you. And, at the end of the day, I think the resolution here is a fair one."
Winning a jury trial in the closely watched Securities and Exchange Commission v. Obus insider trading matter on behalf of Wynnefield Capital and Nelson Obus, its chief portfolio manager after a 12 year battle with the SEC. The American Lawyer named Mr. Cohen as one of its Litigators of the Week after the victory and he later was featured in The American Lawyer's 2016 award of "White Collar/Regulatory Law Firm of the Year." Noting that his client was "in awe" of his trial and cross examination skills, The American Lawyer linked the trial victory with the SEC's decision days after the defense verdict to avoid jury trials and seek administrative actions in the future.
Obtaining summary judgment for Citi in a class action seeking more than $13 billion in damages for its alleged role in the Parmalat collapse.
Winning a jury trial for AllianceBernstein in which the Florida state pension fund attempted to recover $3.2 billion in losses sustained in Enron and other stocks, and successfully defending the same client in other significant Enron-related litigation, one of which resulted in an award of attorney's fees and costs for his client.
From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Cohen served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, supervising the Business/Securities Fraud Unit, where he received numerous awards from the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Cohen received his bachelor's degree from Middlebury College, his master's degree in History from Duke University and his Juris Doctor from Duke University Law School, where he was a moot court champion. He is a member of the bars of New York and Massachusetts.
Pro Bono / Community Service
- Board Chair, Lawyers Without Borders
- Boards of National Center for Law and Economic Justice, Jericho Project, The Fund for Modern Courts
He successfully led a team of attorneys in representing all plaintiffs in a high-profile immigration civil rights case (Barrera v. Boughton) in Connecticut federal court, which resulted in the largest settlement in history for such claims. He has been awarded the National Legal Aid & Defender Association's Beacon of Justice Award, and The New York Times noted the accomplishment in an editorial, and his team received the National Law Journal's Hot Pro Bono designation.
In addition, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice awarded the team led by Mr. Cohen the Pro Bono Leadership Award for their work behalf of Migrant Justice and individual Migrant Justice members against ICE and Vermont authorities who allegedly stifled their First Amendment rights. He recently has been lead counsel for several New York City and Buffalo community groups advocating for public disclosure of police disciplinary records. He is a 2020 recipient of the "Responsible 100" award from City & State for his contributions as a "socially responsible leader in New York."
Experience
Representative matters
- SEC v. Presto: successfully obtained negligence-only, neither admit nor deny settlement with no financial penalties, and avoided all DOJ charges, in one of the first charged AI fraud cases.
- Representing major U.S. Health company in Mexican trade investigation.
- Representing PE Fund fighting one of the largest OFAC financial penalties in industry history.
- Representing major public figure in DOJ matter alleging conspiracy to overthrow African government.
- Representing Ken Peterman, former Comtech CEO, in insider trading criminal (DOJ-EDNY) and SEC cases.
- Representing prominent PE Fund in matter alleging supposed fee allocation issue.
- Robert Morgan, charged in a $500 million criminal indictment, forfeiture claims, and a related SEC action alleging bank, insurance and investment fraud.*
- Represented Zoom Video Communications Inc. in multiple DOJ investigations and SEC investigation involving securities fraud and foreign influence allegations (EDNY, NDCA, Main Justice).*
- Represented cryptocurrency trading firms in two different DOJ/SDNY investigations, avoiding all charges for clients.*
- Advised two private equity firms in separate Delaware and New York civil proceedings relating to disputes over investment and board government issues.*
- Representing key figure in OneCoin cryptocurrency criminal matter (SDNY).*
- Representing a public precision instrument company in a DOJ antitrust division investigation.
- Representing the Supervisory Board of AllianzSE in a resolved (2022) DOJ and SEC asset management matter in SDNY involving over $6b in alleged losses.*
- Major U.S. bank: Representation of Major U.S. bank in European criminal tax proceeding.*
- Major U.S. bank: Representation of Major U.S. bank in Brazilian/U.S. investigation.*
- Major European Insurance/Asset Management Company: Representation of Major European Insurance/Asset Management Company in global cross-border tax matter.*
- Major European bank: Representation of Major European bank in U.K. Serious Fraud and DOJ matter.*
- Och-Ziff: Represented Och-Ziff, the publicly-traded asset management firm, in connection with DOJ and SEC investigations relating to investment activity in Africa and elsewhere. After five-year investigations, successfully negotiated settlements allowing for deferred prosecution for parent entity, in one of the most-closely followed FCPA matters in years because of its impact on the investment and asset management sectors.*
- Nelson Obus and Wynnefield Capital: Achieved trial victory and exoneration for Nelson Obus and Wynnefield Capital, a prominent hedge fund, in one of the longest fought insider trading cases in history. Nelson v. Obus.*
- Ahmad Chatila, CEO of SunEdison: In connection with DOJ and SEC investigations and over thirty securities and employment cases.* Client never charged, no adverse findings or penalties.
- Major U.S. telecom company: Successfully resolved two separate SEC investigations involving alleged securities bond market activity and data security breaches, both ending with no charges.*
- Fortune 100 Major Public Wireless and Broadband Company: Prevailed in civil action against major Mexican television and cable company in New York Supreme Court (Manhattan), recovering over $50 Million for client after expedited proceedings.*
- Société Générale: Representing the Global Head of Treasury in DOJ LIBOR investigation.*
- Crédit Agricole: Represented senior management and employees of a European bank in a large U.S. economic sanctions investigation.*
- Swiss banks: Acted as independent examiner for several Swiss banks in connection with the DOJ's "Tax Non-Prosecution Program."*
- European bank: Multi-billion dollar DOJ FIRREA mortgage fraud investigation.*
- Moody's: Successfully defended Moody's in two matters concerning its ratings of structured investments. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank v. Moody's et al.*
- Duke Energy: Represented Duke Energy legacy board of director members in connection with outstanding derivative and class action litigations and a resolved regulatory matter arising from the Duke-Progress corporate merger. North Carolina Utilities Commission/Duke Energy.*
- UBS, Citi and Lazard: Successfully defended UBS, Citi and Lazard in a class action (and related SEC inquiry) alleging violation of federal securities laws in the underwriting of the $165 million IPO for SinoTech, a Chinese issuer delisted from NASDAQ following allegations that SinoTech was a shell operation. Athale v. Sinotech.*
- Allianz SE: Obtained a rare declination to prosecute from the Department of Justice and highly favorable SEC settlement on a cease-and-desist basis, in which both agencies were convinced not to proceed on an aggressive "private equity liability" theory relating to FCPA-related issues. SEC v. Allianz SE.*
- Expro: Global upstream oil and gas conglomerate, represented client involving reviews in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, resulting in no charges brought anywhere globally.*
- Private equity and investment management funds: Represented several private equity and investment management funds in connection with SEC and Department of Justice FCPA-related investigations.*
- AllianceOne: Acted as monitor counsel for AllianceOne in connection with a three year DOJ and SEC FCPA-related monitorship. United States v. Alliance One.*
- Mazars: Represented a major accounting firm, convincing the SEC not to bring charges for alleged violations of the auditor independence rules.*
- Wall Street general counsel: Represented a Wall Street general counsel, convincing the SEC to decline to bring insider trading charges.*
- Former head of CDO trading: Represented the former head of CDO trading at a top global bank in connection with several related criminal and regulatory and civil litigations in which no charges were brought against client. SEC v. Stoker.*
- Multiple financial institutions: Represented multiple financial institutions in designing crisis management and global anticorruption programs.*
- Audit and special committees: Represented many audit and special committees of public companies and private company boards of directors in connection with allegations of wrongdoing.*
*Matters prior to joining White & Case
Band 1, White Collar Crime & Government Investigations - New York, Chambers USA 2025
2x White Collar MVP, Law 360
Top 100 Trial Lawyer 2023-2025
2025 ACI FCPA Houston, January 2025
Speaker, "Lessons Learned: Ericsson's DPA", ACI FCPA Houston, January 2024
Speaker, "Requests from on High: Keeping In-House Counsel Out of Hot Water", UT Law's 45th Corporate Counsel Forum, May 2023
Speaker, "Hot Trends in DOJ and SEC Enforcement and Litigation Conference," Sandpiper Partners, September 2020.
Speaker, "2019 Annual Trade Finance Compliance Conference," Institute of International Banking Law & Practice, New York, NY, November 2019.
Host, "Compliance and Beyond: Trends in Cross-Border Investigations and Law Enforcement," Sāo Paolo, Brazil, April 2019.
Speaker, "Hot Trends in DOJ and SEC Enforcement Litigation 2018/2019," Sandpiper, New York, NY, December 2018.
Speaker, "The Current State of FCPA Enforcement Efforts," RANE Network Podcast, January 2018.
Co-author, "SEC targeting cross-border fraud, with a focus on Chinese companies & gatekeepers," White & Case Client Alert, September 2025
Co-author, "The evolving threat of terrorist financing: understanding and managing risk," White & Case Client Alert, September 2025
Co-author, "FCPA Update: DOJ Encourages US Companies to Report Corrupt Foreign Competitors," White & Case Client Alert, August 2025
"US enforcement agencies intensify scrutiny of AI washing," Global Investigations Review 2026 (co-author with Maria Beguiristain, Marietou Diouf and Robert DeNault)
"Second Circuit Decision Likely Expands Access to Sentencing Documents," The National Law Journal, August 2025 (co-author with Marietou Diouf and Robert DeNault)
"New Orders Lifting Bars Signal Shift by SEC," NYU Program on Corporate Compliance, June 2025 (co-author with Ladan Stewart, and Robert DeNault)
Co-author, "DOJ Issues Promised FCPA Guidance: Decoding the Message", White & Case Client Alert, June 2025
"Fraud Without Economic Loss—Supreme Court Expands Scope of Federal Fraud Statutes," The National Law Journal, May 2025 (co-author with Brent Wible, Marietou Diouf and Elisha Mvundura)
"Evolution of AI Washing Enforcement: DOJ Enters the Picture," NYU Program on Corporate Compliance, May 2025 (co-author with Gabriella Margaux Pérez Klein, and Robert DeNault)
Co-author, "Ten Takeaways from the DOJ Criminal Division's New Playbook on White Collar Enforcement Priorities", White & Case Client Alert, May 2025
"SEC Enforcement 2.0: Chairman Atkins Has Arrived," Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, April 2025 (co-author with Ladan Stewart and Tami Stark)
"DOJ Announces Policy Ending "Regulation by Prosecution" of Digital Assets," NYU Program on Corporate Compliance, April 2025 (co-author with Brent Wible, Ladan Stewart, Marietou Diouf, Robert Denault, and Elisha Mvundura)
Co-author, "The Guide to Multilateral Development Bank Investigations", White & Case Client Alert, March 2025
Co-author, "DOJ Implements Major Changes to National Security Priorities", White & Case Client Alert, February 2025
Co-author, "FCPA Freeze and Refocus: Is Enforcement Becoming a Tool to Promote U.S. Economic, Foreign Policy and National Security Interests?", White & Case Client Alert, February 2025
"Defending companies in MDB sanctions proceedings," Global Investigations Review, February 2025 (co-author with Darryl Lew, Courtney Andrews, Daniel Zapf, Maximilian Clasmeier)
"SEC Charges Investment Adviser – Signaling Importance of Accurate Disclosure of AML Procedures," NYU Program on Corporate Compliance, January 2025 (co-author with Tami Stark, Claudette Druehl, Marietou Diouf, and Jason Ho)
"SEC Enforcement Year-End Overview," NYU Program on Corporate Compliance, January 2025 (co-author with Ladan Stewart, Tami Stark, Marietou Diouf, Gabriella Klein, and Robert DeNault)
"Expect Continuity In 2025 Anti-Money Laundering Policy," Law360, December 2024 (co-author with Marietou Diouf and Olivia Hussey)
"The Coming Era of Anti-Kickback Statute Enforcement," The National Law Journal, November 2024 (co-author with Zach Williams)
Co-author, "Lessons Learned from DOJ's First Money Laundering Plea by a Major Financial Institution", White & Case Client Alert, October 2024
Co-author, Expert Analysis Chapter, "DOJ Enforcement Priorities and Outlook for 2024/2025" International Comparative Legal Guide to Business Crime 2025 (Fifteenth Edition), Global Legal Group, October 2024
Co-author, "DOJ to Evaluate AI Risk Management and Whistleblower Protections in Corporate Compliance Programs", White & Case Client Alert, October 2024
Co-author, "Businesses face an expanded range of obligations", White & Case Insight, September 2024
Co-author, "FinCEN Issues Final Sweeping AML Requirements for Registered Investment Advisers & ERAs", White & Case Client Alert, September 2024
Co-author, Chapter, "US courts zero in on border searches of electronic devices" Americas Investigation Review, Global Investigations Review 2025, August 2024
Co-author, "DOJ Recommends AI-Specific Sentencing Enhancement", White & Case Client Alert, August 2024
"Supreme Court rules SEC use of in-house tribunals is unconstitutional," Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, July 2024 (co-author with Tami Stark and Ladan Stewart)
"Views From Two Trenches: Supreme Court Limits SEC's Ability to Use Internal Proceedings," The National Law Journal, July 2024 (co-author with Ladan Stewart and Robert DeNault)
Co-author, "Judge Rejects SEC's Aggressive Approach to Cybersecurity Enforcement", White & Case Client Alert, July 2024
Co-author, Expert Analysis Chapter, "Hawala, Underground Banking and Informal Value Transfer Systems" International Comparative Legal Guide to Anti-Money Laundering 2024, Global Legal Group, June 2024
Co-author, "SEC Enforcement Director Outlines His View of Effective Cooperation", White & Case Client Alert, June 2024
Co-author, " SEC's Corp Fin Director Issues Statement on Cybersecurity Incident Disclosures", White & Case Insight, May 2024
Co-author, "FinCEN and SEC Move Closer to New AML Requirements for Investment Advisers & ERAs", White & Case Client Alert, May 2024
Co-author, "SEC Warns Individual Actors of Potential Liability for AI-Related Security Risk Disclosure Failures", White & Case Client Alert, April 2024
Co-author, "'Novel' or Not: the SEC and DOJ's Expansion of Insider Trading to "Shadow Trading" and 10b5-1 Plans Survive Their Days in Court", White & Case Client Alert, April 2024
Co-author, "New Settlements Demonstrate the SEC's Ongoing Efforts to Hold Companies Accountable for AI-Washing", White & Case Client Alert, March 2024
Client Alert: "DOJ Doubles Down on Warnings Against AI Misuse", White & Case Client Alert, March 2024
Client Alert: "DOJ Announces Pilot Program to Pay Monetary Rewards to Whistleblowers", White & Case Client Alert, March 2024
Client Alert: "Recent Regulatory Announcements Confirm Increased Scrutiny of "AI-washing", White & Case Client Alert, February 2024
Client Alert: "FinCEN Again Proposes Sweeping AML Requirements for Registered Investment Advisers & ERAs", White & Case Client Alert, February 2024
Client Alert: "How to Avoid Risk of SEC Whistleblower Rule Violations in Connection with Settlement Agreement Confidentiality Provisions", White & Case Client Alert, January 2024
Client Alert: "Navigating New Frontiers in Regulatory Enforcement: the SEC Increases Scrutiny of Artificial Intelligence", White & Case Client Alert, December 2023
Client Alert: "A View from Abroad: Unpacking DOJ's M&A Safe Harbor Policy, Part II", White & Case Client Alert, November 2023
Client Alert: "The SEC's Charges Against SolarWinds and its Chief Information Security Officer Provide Important Cybersecurity Lessons for Public Companies", White & Case Client Alert, November 2023
Client Alert: "Questions about the "Carrot" and "Stick" Remain: Unpacking DOJ's new M&A Safe Harbor Policy, Part I", White & Case Client Alert, November 2023
Client Alert: "The Economic Impact of FATF Grey-Listing", White & Case Client Alert, October 2023
Client Alert: "DOJ Enforcement Priorities and Outlook for 2023-2024", ICLG Business Crime 2024 (Fourteenth Edition), October 2023
25 Years of the World Bank's Sanctions Regime – Why a Closer Look Is More Important Than Ever, September 2023. (co-author with Dr. Daniel Zapf, Dr. Maximilian Clasmeier)
Client Alert: "A Primer on Navigating Source of Wealth Issues," International Comparative Legal Guide to Anti-Money Laundering 2023, Global Legal Group, June 20, 2023.
Client Alert: "The Wolfsberg Group's Updated Anti-Corruption Guidance – The New Global Threshold?", White & Case Client Alert, April 2023
Client Alert: "Money Laundering Issues in the Art Market", White & Case Client Alert, March 2023
Contributor, "The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Corporate Investigations Laws & Regulations", January 2023
Client Alert: "Bribery & Corruption Laws and Regulations 2023: Potential liability under the third-party payment provision: due diligence a must do." Global Legal Insights, Bribery & Corruption 2023, Global Legal Group December 2022
Contributing Editor, "The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Anti-Money Laundering 2020 - 2025" Global Legal Group, Ongoing
Client Alert: "Recent Prosecutorial Failures in the US and UK: Why Corporations Should Rethink How they Evaluate Deferred Prosecution Agreements", The New York Law Journal, May 5, 2021
Client Alert: "Financial Policy Priorities In The Incoming Biden Administration: What Can We Expect?," Wall Street Lawyer, December 2020.
Client Alert: "INSIGHT: Lessons From a Rare in–Person Courtroom Experience in a Pandemic," Bloomberg Law, August 6, 2020.
"Bankruptcy Fraud Prosecutions May Increase Post-Pandemic," Law360, May 19, 2020.
Contributing Editor, "The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Anti-Money Laundering 2018," Global Legal Group, May 6, 2018.
