Position: Member

TEL:  (310) 451-9111

FAX: (310)452-9119

Email: Click Here

Website: 

Admitted: California, 1992

Law School: USC Law School; Los Angeles CA

College: Fordham Univ; Bronx NY

Birth Date and Place: 

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense; Drugs and Narcotics; White Collar Criminal Defense; Business Fraud Litigation

Additional Information: See: The People v. Danny Masterson

During two decades as a premier trial attorney, Philip Cohen has defended individuals and corporations accused of criminal conduct in more than 30 federal and state jurisdictions throughout the country. Using a proactive, aggressive approach to litigation, Mr. Cohen has successfully represented clients in matters ranging from multi-million dollar fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement violations, to large-scale narcotics trafficking, robbery, assault, and murder. With an astonishing success rate at trial, Cohen attacks every case, regardless of subject matter, as a personal challenge to his courtroom abilities and advocacy skills. And it shows, as he is consistently recognized by his peers as one of the preeminent defense lawyers in Southern California.

Born and raised in New York, Cohen graduated with honors from Fordham University in 1988, before obtaining his juris doctorate from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1991. Unlike many criminal attorneys who began their careers by chalking up conviction after conviction of would-be future clients as state or federal prosecutors, Cohen had neither the stomach nor the mindset for such work. Instead, Cohen followed his heart and his passion for the defense of the seemingly defenseless, and set out to learn his trade by writing appeals and handling trials as a young associate for a national criminal defense practice.

Within a few years, this passion, commitment and love for the art of cross-examination began to separate Cohen's level of advocacy and representation from many of those around him, and he quickly acquired a loyal following among clients that has continued throughout his career. After building a thriving solo practice, he co-founded the boutique litigation firm of Murphy Rosen & Cohen LLP in 2003, where he headed up the firm's criminal practice, and continued to expand his presence as a select criminal trial attorney. During this time, Cohen also began to utilize his advocacy skills in the realm of civil trial work, the result of which has been an uninterrupted string of civil trial victories in cases which have included business, malpractice and wrongful death disputes. In 2008, Cohen was invited to become an equity partner in the Los Angeles office of Venable LLP., a DC-based, 600-attorney international law firm, where he co-chaired the firm's West Coast white collar/criminal defense practice.

Despite his appreciation for the national presence and support that a large firm provided, Cohen longed for the personal interaction and clientele autonomy that he had enjoyed throughout his career, and so, in 2009, Cohen re-established his solo practice with the advent of Philip Kent Cohen, APC., while continuing to maintain the highest level of attention, loyalty, and representation that his clients had come to depend upon. Recognized by clients and lawyers alike for his superior level of trial work, Cohen has been recognized annually since 2008 as a Southern California Super Lawyer as chosen by his peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics magazine. Based upon his advocacy skills, Cohen was honored by the National Trial Lawyers Association in 2013 as one of the top 100 trial lawyers nationwide.