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Nicola Cohen
Public Service Attorney
Nicola (Nika) Cohen’s practice is devoted to pro bono matters related to the criminal legal system. As a member of the firm’s Public Service Initiative, Nika litigates death penalty, post-conviction and prison conditions cases on behalf of indigent clients across the US. She also co-teaches a seminar on constitutional rights in life and capital cases at Columbia Law School.
Prior to joining the firm’s Public Service Initiative, Nika served as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She also served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she briefed and argued an appeal in the Sixth Circuit, assisted with numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court at the merits and certiorari stages, and advised the Solicitor General regarding appeals in the lower federal courts. While in law school, Nika worked at the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Center for Appellate Litigation and the Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project.
- Successfully represented two clients serving life-without-parole sentences in Louisiana in state postconviction proceedings, resulting in their resentencing and immediate release.
- Member of a legal team that successfully litigated a resentencing motion in D.C. on behalf of a young adult serving a de facto life sentence, resulting in his resentencing and immediate release.
- Member of a legal team that successfully resolved all pending litigation in federal and state courts over the planned execution of a client in Alabama.
- Successfully argued before the Alabama Parole Board for the release of a client serving a life sentence.
- Represented the federal government in the Sixth Circuit in a matter involving a procedural post-conviction issue.
- Represented a client, who had received ineffective assistance of counsel, in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division.
Education
- Columbia Law School, J.D., Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize; James Kent Scholar; Articles Editor, Columbia Law Review, 2018
- Princeton University, B.A., 2013
Admissions
- New York, 2019
Courts
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Ct. of App., Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Ct. of App., Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Ct. of App., Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
Memberships & Affiliations
- Member, Corrections & Community Reentry Committee, New York City Bar Association
- Member, Capital Punishment Committee, New York City Bar Association
- Member, Federal Courts Committee, New York City Bar Association
- Mentor, The Appellate Project
Government Experience
- Bristow Fellow, Office of the Solicitor General, US Department of Justice, 2020-2021
Clerk Experience
- U.S. Ct. of App., Ninth Circuit
Hon. John B. Owens
September 2018 - August 2019 - U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
Hon. Ronnie Abrams
August 2019 - July 2020
- Author, “Why Is No One Demanding an Explanation for the Torture of Doyle Hamm?” The Nation, March 13, 2018.
- Author, “Why Ross v. Blake Opens a Door to Federal Courts for Incarcerated Adolescents,” 51 Colum. J. L. & Soc. Probs. 177, 2017.