Big Law experience.
Boutique flexibility.

A commercial-litigation boutique representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex, high-value disputes — pairing big-firm capability with the focus, speed, and efficiency of a lean practice that leverages the strategic use of AI.

Rob Cohen is a veteran commercial litigator and strategist with over two decades of experience guiding plaintiffs and defendants through complex, high-stakes disputes. A former Big Law partner with senior government service behind him, he pairs sophisticated legal strategy and advocacy with practical business judgment.

Rob has litigated multi-billion-dollar disputes, led major government investigations, and built a successful boutique practice, litigating across antitrust, securities, private equity, insurance, and civil rights on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants at every stage from pre-suit strategy through trial and appeal. He was a senior member of the trial team in private antitrust litigation that produced 200 million pages of documents and 300 depositions and settled for a ten-figure sum on the eve of trial. He has won eight- and nine-figure judgments and settlements for clients including private-equity funds and technology companies, defended clients through trial with no financial liability, and secured dismissals of class-action claims. His clients have ranged from financial institutions and multinational corporations to individual creatives, including screenwriters and a Michelin-starred chef.

Public service and pro bono work have been an important part of Rob's career. Before he became a lawyer, Rob spent five years working in Washington, DC as a legislative aide to Representative Ed Pastor, the first Hispanic elected to Congress from Arizona. As Special Counsel and Director of Ethics and Lobbying Guidance at the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Rob led attorneys who built one of the country's most comprehensive lobbyist-disclosure regimes. He also co-led the widely reported investigation that forced the resignation of Vito Lopez, a longtime Brooklyn power broker and member of the State Assembly.

In private practice, Rob was Kirkland & Ellis' firm-wide Pro Bono Partner of the Year. He has led impact litigation on behalf of persons with mental health needs and has litigated several matters on behalf of immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Experience

Taylor & Cohen LLPCo-Founder
NY Joint Commission on
Public EthicsSpecial Counsel & Director of Ethics
Kirkland & Ellis LLPAssociate & Partner
U.S. Court of Appeals,
Ninth CircuitClerk to Hon. Michael Daly Hawkins
U.S. Rep. Ed PastorSr. Legislative Assistant & Assoc. Staff, Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

Education

University of Chicago Law SchoolJ.D., with Honors
University of PennsylvaniaB.A., Mathematics, cum laude

Admissions

New York
S.D.N.Y.
E.D.N.Y.
U.S. Court of Appeals,
Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit

Leverage without losing judgment

Rob has spent a career finding the strategy that actually moves a case — reading where a dispute is going and what will decide it, not just managing it to the finish. That judgment is what makes AI worth anything in a case, not the other way around.

The tools are only as good as the lawyer directing them. Knowing what a strong argument looks like, what a court will actually credit, and where a record's real exposure sits is what turns AI output into something a client can use. Without that judgment, the same technology just produces more noise, faster.

Clients get the reach of a far larger firm and the focus of a single accountable litigator — experience and judgment doing the work, not headcount.

The billable hour isn't always the measure

The billable hour has always been a rough proxy for what a lawyer actually contributes — judgment and effective advocacy. AI is compressing the time many legal tasks take. That makes any disconnect between hours billed and value delivered harder to ignore.

A discrete motion, a document-intensive investigation, and a multi-year litigation carry different risk and different work. No single fee arrangement fits them all — project-based pricing, flat fees, blended rates, and other structures each have their place. Having the flexibility to choose the right structure for the matter keeps the lawyer's and client's incentives aligned.