Harriet Newman Cohen

PARTNER

EMAIL hcohen@csklawny.com
TELEPHONE 212-512-0801

EDUCATION

Barnard College (B.A. cum laude)
Bryn Mawr College (M.A.)
Brooklyn Law School (J.D. cum laude)

ACHIEVEMENTS

SuperLawyers Top Lists
Top 50 Women Attorneys New York
Top 100 Attorneys in New York

Crain’s New York Business
2023 List of Notable Women in Law

Nominee, 2024 Inns of Court Professionalism Award

It is said that she is the best in town, and when someone needs a smart, tough and humane matrimonial and family law expert and advocate, they are told ‘You need Harriet Cohen!’

Harriet Newman Cohen is a founding partner of Cohen Stine Kapoor LLP.  Providing sophisticated representation in contested trials and settlements, Ms. Cohen is a negotiator and trial attorney who handles all aspects of matrimonial and family law, including complex litigation in high-net-worth cases and high-conflict custody matters.  Ms. Cohen represents celebrities and other high net worth individuals, as well as other worthy clients and has represented Tom Brady, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the former wives of Harvey and Bob Weinstein, NBA star Paul George, Howard Stern’s former wife (Alison), Laurence Fishburne, Ute Lemper, Linda Lavin, among other celebrities.

Ms. Cohen is featured in the three-part HBO Documentary, “Nuclear Family,” which depicts her devoted and skillful representation of a Lesbian couple who were in a lurid custody fight with a sperm donor who asserted parental rights for one of the couple’s daughters. She guided the couple to a successful, precedent-setting conclusion. 

Ms. Cohen was the subject of feature profiles for the New York Super Lawyers Magazine, entitled, "The Second Life of Harriet Cohen, What the Matrimonial Lawyer Learned to Share with the World" and the Barnard College - Columbia University Magazine, Fall 2023, entitled, “Girl in a Hurry, Harriet Newman Cohen.” In 2023, Ms. Cohen was selected as one of the ”Notable Women in Law” by Crain’s New York Business.  Ms. Cohen has been nominated for the 2024 Inns of Court prestigious “Court Professionalism Award” by the New York Women’s Bar Association, an honor given to lawyers and judges who demonstrate the highest standards of character, unquestioned integrity, ethics, civility, and professionalism.

Throughout her professional career, Ms. Cohen has been awarded the highest AV® Preeminent™ rating (5 out of 5) by Martindale and Hubbell, the nationally recognized legal directory, signifying the highest rating for legal ability and professional standards of conduct and ethics. Ms. Cohen has been consistently (through 2023) listed as one of the “TOP 50 Female Lawyers” by New York Metro Super Lawyers; this list recognizes "the women lawyers who received the highest point totals in the New York Super Lawyers-Metro Edition nomination, research and blue ribbon review process." Ms. Cohen is annually listed as one of the TOP 100 Lawyers in New York Metro by Super Lawyers, 2009 - 2023. 

Ms. Cohen is a graduate of Barnard College (B.A. cum laude) (Latin major; Music minor) and Bryn Mawr College (M.A. in Latin). She graduated from Brooklyn Law School (J.D. cum laude). When at law school, Ms. Cohen was an editor of the Brooklyn Law Review. Ms. Cohen is the President of her alumnae class at her alma mater, Barnard College. Ms. Cohen has been a role model and advocate for women in law, and she is active in the Brooklyn Law School Women's Leadership Circle.

Ms. Cohen sits on the Board of Directors of the Lotos Club, founded by a group of literati including Mark Twain, one of the oldest cultural clubs in the United States, was chair of its Music Committee and was awarded its Medal of Merit, the Lotos Club’s highest award, for her outstanding contributions to the Club. Ms. Cohen served as “roast-master” at the Lotos Club’s 2024 Founder’s Day dinner.

Ms. Cohen has been appointed by the court to represent children in contested family law matters and as a neutral evaluator to assist the court in bringing highly-contested matters to settlement. She was one of the authors of the equitable distribution law, served on the Child Support Commission of the State of New York and served on the Foster Care Commission of the City of New York. Ms. Cohen was President of the New York Women's Bar Association, was a member of the New York State Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County, Matrimonial Mediation Subcommittee and is a member of the Matrimonial Advisory Committee of the New York State Supreme Court, County of New York. Ms. Cohen is a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. Ms. Cohen serves on the Matrimonial Law Committee of the Bar Association of the City of New York and served as a Member of the President’s Advisory Council of Brooklyn Law School. Despite these activities, Ms. Cohen can be found in her law office “24/7.”

Ms. Cohen is dedicated to the practice of law in the finest tradition, zealously representing her clients and making herself available to promote reform in the law by authoring annual informative legal articles for the New York Law Journal and sharing her knowledge and experience in the law with the Governor, the Legislature and the Courts. Matrimonial and family law and custody is her passion.