STEVEN D. COHN, ATTORNEY AT LAW
Steven D. Cohn as the Managing Partner of Goldberg & Cohn, LLP, brings to the Firm over forty years of experience in the areas of Family and Matrimonial Law, Government Relations, Real Estate and Litigation, among other niche areas. Together with its founding partner, Richard S. Goldberg, he is an esteemed member of the legal community. Within family law, Mr. Cohn is a recognized authority on custody, child support, relocation, divorce, visitation, nuptial agreements and the GET statute. Mr. Cohn wrote the first law review article on equitable distribution, “Equitable Distribution — One Year Later,” for the New York Law School, and most recently an article entitled “New York’s Marriage Equality Act: One Year Later” and has continued to stay abreast of developments on the issue, and write about it as well. He is a respected litigator, who bridges past experience with changing times, to offer clients, top-notch advocacy in and out of the courtroom. He is often hired by prestigious law firms as local of Counsel.
Mr. Cohn is a Past-President of the Brooklyn Bar Association, and currently sits as Chair of its Continuing Legal Education Committee. He served on the New York City Bar Matrimonial Committee, and is a Delegate to the New York State Bar Association.
Mr. Cohn is an Adjunct Professor, and lectures and conducts continuing legal education presentations for fellow attorneys, legal professionals and business leaders. He has served, and continues to serve as an advisor to local, state and federal elected officials, including acting as Special Counsel to New York City Council Member Kenneth Fisher. He served as Counsel to the New York State Advisory Committees on Consumer Affairs and Public Authorities and as Special Counsel to the New York State Senate Minority Leader and New York State Senator Eric Adams.
Mr. Cohn possesses the requisite knowledge of administrative agencies, governmental agencies, in addition to the New York City Council Chamber and Executive Chamber, along with the New York State Legislature in Albany, to be able to effectively represent a diverse group of clients, and successfully advocate for them with a “results oriented” approach.
Mr. Cohn frequently appears before City and State agencies, and has successfully represented clients in actions brought by the Attorney General of the State of New York, including those brought against the Town of Huntington (Long Island), mortgage brokers in the Delta Funding case, title companies and real estate developers.
Mr. Cohn has donated his expertise and time in a variety of pro-bono cases over the years. Amongst these matters are, fighting the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge tolls, Mobo Garbage Barge, Brooklyn Brig, and Mobil Oil Plume. In addition, he is a founding member and Trustee of the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP), an offshoot of the Brooklyn Bar Association, and is active in its serving the local community.
Steve is proud native New Yorker, having been reared in Williamsburg, a student of the public school system, a believer in taking both his service in the public and private sectors, to go on to become a noted attorney, while giving back to the New York City community as a whole. Steve has also been rated an outstanding lawyer by Super lawyers, a prestigious evaluation for lawyers worldwide.
BAR ADMISSIONS
State of New York – Appellate Division, Second Department, 1975
Federal Courts, Second Circuit – Eastern and Southern Districts, 1975
Supreme Court of the United States, 1977
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1995
EXPERIENCE
Goldberg & Cohn, LLP, Brooklyn, New York
- Partner – 1978-Present
New York State Senate, Special Counsel to the Senate Minority Leader
- 2001-2003
New York State Senate, Special Counsel to the Honorable Martin Connor
- 2003 – Present
New York City Council, Governmental Operations Committee Council Aide
- Counsel – 1989-1997
New York City Council, Special Committee on the Homeless Council Aide
- Counsel – 1987-1989
New York State Assembly, Subcommittee on Public Authority Structures
- Counsel – 1980-1984
New York State Assembly, Majority Program Committee
- Counsel – 1978-1980
Civil Court of the City of New York
- Law Secretary – 1974-1978
Mayor’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Counsel
- Assistant Counsel – 1973-1974
EDUCATION
New York University Law School, New York
LL.M. 1977
Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York
J.D. 1973
New York University, New York
B.A., Politics, 1970, Dean’s List
MEMBERSHIPS/LICENSES
Appellate Division – member Grievance Committee for the Second and Eleventh Judicial Districts
American Bar Association – elected a Fellow of the American Bar Association
Association of the Bar of the City of New York – Family Law Committee and Matrimonial Law Committee
Brooklyn Bar Association – Past President, Chair CLE Committee, Past Vice-President – Grievance
Brooklyn Bar Association – Committee, Audit & Budget Committee
Fashion Institute of Technology – Adjunct Professor
New York State Bar Association – various committees including General Practice Section
New York State Bar Association – Executive Committee and District Delegate
New York State Bar Association Member – Special Commission on Legal Services for the Middle Income
New York State Bar Association – Delegate, Second Judicial District
New York State Bar Association – Lawyers in the Classroom Program Founder and Instructor
New York State Bar Association Member – New York City – 2012 Committee
Bar-Bri Bar Review Course – Family Law Instructor
Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh – Member Board of Directors, Audit Committee, Chairman Community Reinvestment Act Committee, Chairman Governance Committee
Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh – Community Reinvestment Act Committee, Chairman Governance Committee
Continuum Health Partners and Long Island College Hospital – Member, Board of Regents
Volunteer Lawyers Project – Founding Member, Board of Trustees
AWARDS
Brooklyn Bar Association – Annual Award, Outstanding Jurisprudence and Public Service
New York State Bar Association Pro Bono Award
Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association – Award of Special Recognition
Rotary Club “Service Above Self Award”
Catholic Lawyers Association Ecumenical Award
PUBLIC SERVICE
Democratic State Committeeman – 50th A.D. Kings County
1982-2010
New York Guard – Colonel – Retired
North Brooklyn Development Corporation – Honorary Board of Trustees
Pesach Tikvah Hope Development, Corp. – Honorary Board of Trustees
Yeshiva of Flatbush – Board of Officers, Vice President
Principal for a Day
PUBLICATIONS
Brooklyn Bar Association, Brooklyn Barrister,
“New York’s Marriage Equality Act: One Year Later”, Fall 2012
New York State Bar Association, One On One – Vol. 22, No. 2,
“New York’s Marriage Equality Act: One Year Later”, Fall 2012
Brooklyn Law School, Presentation Chairman, Family Law,
“A Special Focus on Children”, Spring 1994.
Family Law Quarterly – May, 1992
“Mental Illness and Divorce”
Brooklyn Barrister – Vol. 42, No. 2 – January, 1991
“The Best Interests of the Child and Religion”
Family Law Review – Vol. 20, No. 2 – June, 1988
“Is it Possible to Deny a Natural Parent the Right to Visitation?”
Family Law Review
“Relocation – The New Breed of Matrimonial Cases”
Family Law Review
“College Education – Parental Option or Obligation?”
Brooklyn Barrister – Vol. 38, No. 4 – May, 1987
“Evaluation of Marital Assets: Is there a Definitive Answer?”
Brooklyn Barrister – Vol. 38, No. 1 – November, 1986
“What is Section 170(a) of the Domestic Relations Law”
Brooklyn Barrister – Vol. 37, No. 2 – January, 1986
“Child Support: Can It Finally Be Collected?”
New York State Bar Association, Family Law Review – Vol. 17, No. 2, April 1985
“The Burden of Proof in a Divorce Action Based Upon the Ground of Cruel and Inhuman Treatment”
New York State Bar Association, Family Law Review – Vol. 16, No. 1 – March, 1984
“Valuation of Professional Licenses and Small Business Interests Under the New York Equitable Distribution Law”
New York Law School, Law Review – Vol. 27, No. 2 – 1981
“New York’s Equitable Distribution Law – A Year Later”
