GARY J. COHEN is a partner in the firm’s Corporate group. Following law school, Mr. Cohen was a law clerk for the Honorable Wilfred Feinberg, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

From 2010 to 2011, Mr. Cohen served as the General Counsel to the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington, D.C. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was created by Congress to “examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States.”

In March 2011, Mr. Cohen was awarded the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Regulatory Contribution award for his service as General Counsel of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Mr. Cohen was recognized in the 2013-2015 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in Private Funds / Hedge Funds law.

In 2013, Mr. Cohen was a Visiting Professor in the School of Business and Economics, Humboldt University zu Berlin, Summer 2013, teaching a class on “The 2008 Financial Crisis and the Regulation of Financial Institutions.”

Mr. Cohen’s principal areas of practice include:

Private investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds and hybrids (domestic and offshore);
Mergers and acquisitions of a broad range of businesses and general corporate advice.
Fund restructurings and workouts;
Regulation of investment advisers;
Seed capital transactions;
Compensation plans;
Organization and re-organization of closely-held investment management businesses, including the negotiation and drafting of organizational documents addressing economic sharing arrangements, management and control, and succession issues.

Mr. Cohen and his colleagues were ranked as either the first or second place "onshore" (U.S.) law firm for hedge fund legal service providers in each of the four years that Institutional Investor’s Alpha Magazine published its rankings of service providers (2006 - 2009). In 2012, the group was named “Best Onshore Law Firm – Client Service” by Hedge Fund Manager (HFM) Week, a weekly publication produced for the international hedge fund community. In both 2011 and 2010, the group also received first-tier national rankings for its Private Funds / Hedge Funds, Derivatives & Futures and Mutual Funds Practices in the U.S.News - Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S.News & World Report.

Prior to joining the firm in 1989, Mr. Cohen had formed his own firm where he focused his practice on corporate matters, real estate securities and tax law.