Carrie H. Cohen is global co-chair of the Investigations + White Collar Defense practice group as well as co-chair of the firm’s State + Local Government Enforcement team and Workplace Misconduct Investigations Task Force. Prior to joining the firm, Carrie served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and as Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

As a former federal and state prosecutor, Carrie routinely advises and represents corporations, boards, and c-suite executives in government-facing investigative and regulatory matters with a particular focus on state and local government matters. Carrie’s extensive trial experience and distinguished record of success in high-stakes, white collar defense and securities matters cement her position as a leading lawyer in these practice areas and she is often called upon as trial counsel for particularly sensitive matters. Carrie’s trial and white collar expertise have been recognized by a variety of organizations including Chambers USA, which describes her as “. . . a terrific trial lawyer with great judgment and timing, [who] knows how to present complex cases in a digestible way.”  Carrie also routinely prepares clients who are called to testify before Congress and state and city legislatures and works on matters that involve multijurisdictional investigations, legislative oversight and significant media attention.

While serving in the SDNY, Carrie investigated and tried public corruption, investment fraud, and securities cases, including obtaining the first convictions of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. She also served as Chief of the Public Integrity Unit in the Criminal Division in the New York State Attorney General’s Office and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau, where she received the Louis J. Lefkowitz Memorial Award for outstanding service.

Carrie is a recognized industry expert in public corruption and state and local government actions. Among other appointments, she has served as Special Counsel to the New York City Council, Special Independent Counsel to the City of Rochester, and on the Monitorship team appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice for the global Odebrecht corruption matter, as well as having been appointed by the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York as Counsel to the Court’s Grievance Committee. Carrie also is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she teaches a seminar on Public Corruption and the Law.

Carrie serves on multiple bar committees and task forces as part of her effort to promote the public interest through criminal justice reform. She was appointed Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes, whose report was adopted by the House of Delegates in June 2020 and as a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Racial Injustice and Police Reform and Task Force on Wrongful Convictions. As a leader of the bar, Carrie serves as a Vice President and Trustee of the Federal Bar Council and Treasurer of its Inn of Court and was appointed to the Federal-State Judicial Advisory Council as well as prior service as a Vice President of the New York City Bar, Chair of its Executive Committee, and member of its Nominating Committee. Carrie also is a member of the board of directors of Volunteers of Legal Service, an organization that provides pro bono legal services to the New York community.

Carrie has long been dedicated to advancing women in the legal profession, both in the United States and globally. She co-chairs Morrison & Foerster’s Women’s Strategy Committee, a group that works with firm leaders to ensure the advancement of women remains a strategic priority and serves as a member of 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 and South Africa.

Carrie co-authored the acclaimed New York State Bar Association report adopted by the American Bar Association “If Not Now, When? Achieving Equality for Women Attorneys in the Courtroom and in ADR” and the recent follow-up report adopted by the House of Delegates “The Time is Now: Achieving Equality for Women Attorneys in the Courtroom and in ADR.”  She serves on the Steering Committee of the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project, which she founded with other alumnae from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to honor the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by providing law school scholarships and mentorship to the next generation of women leaders.