Stephen M. Cohen, Palm Beach Gardens

about us

Stephen Cohen

Stephen M. Cohen provides an extraordinarily varied professional background, which includes the honor of serving as a Palm Beach County Judge from 1993 through 1999 before choosing to re-enter private practice. His practice includes business and commercial litigation, probate and probate litigation, cemetery and funeral litigation and is considered one of the leading attorneys in South Florida for mold litigation. Stephen is one of only a few attorneys admitted to practice law in both New Mexico and Florida. He is also a certified County and Circuit Court Mediator in Florida and is also a member of the Southern and Middle District Courts for Florida.

Stephen has served as a Florida Assistant State Attorney, a shareholder with Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay in Palm Beach, Vice-President and General Counsel to a privately held company and a solo practitioner.

Stephen has a life-long history of civic involvement, including having served as a member of the Board of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry, a delegate to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, an officer of local synagogues, and has served as Chair of the Young Leadership Development Program of the Palm Beach Region of the Anti-Defamation League and served on the ADL National Civil Rights Committee. He also currently serves as Chair-Elect of the Suncoast Community High School Foundation.


Professional History

  • Florida Supreme Court County and Circuit Court Mediator, 2002 – Present
  • Law Offices of Stephen M. Cohen, P.A., September 2001 – October 2005
  • Member/Chair, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee “B”, 2001 – 2004
  • Vice-President, General Counsel, Dharma Holdings Limited, Delray Beach, FL and Taos, NM, January 2000 – May 2001
  • County Court Judge for Palm Beach County, 1992-1999
  • Assigned to the Criminal Division, January 1993 – September 1995 and January, 1997-1999 (Deputy Administrative Judge)
  • Assigned to the Civil Division, October 1995 – December 1996
  • Certified Mediator/Arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, 1991 – 1992
  • Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay, P.A., Palm Beach, FL, January 1984 – December 1992
  • Assistant State Attorney, August 1981 – December 1983, Palm Beach County, FL

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Board of Directors, B’nai Torah Congregation, Boca Raton, FL April 2002 – 2005; Executive Vice President, April 2003 – 2005
  • Chair, Civil Rights Committee, Palm Beach Region of the Anti-Defamation League, 2003 – 2006
  • Member, Florida Bar Judicial Nominating Committee 2011 - Present
  • Member, Florida Bar Circuit Court Civil Rules of Procedure Committee, 2002 - 2004
  • Member, Education Committee of the Conference of County Court Judges, 1994 – 1999
  • Faculty Member, Conference of County Court Judges, 1995 – 1999

    “New Developments in DWLS Law”, Winter 1998 Meeting

    “Misdemeanor Sex Crimes”, Summer 1996 Meeting

    “Faretta, Richardson, Neil & Nelson Hearings”, Summer 1995 Meeting

  • Chairman, Soviet Jewry Legal Advocacy Center-Moscow, U.S.S.R.: 1990 – 1992
  • Delegate on behalf of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (registered with the Delegation of the United States) to C.S.C.E. meetings of the Helsinki Commission, Moscow, September 1991
  • Founding Program Attorney, Guardian Ad Litem Program of Palm Beach County, 1984 – 1986

Artilcles, Publications, and Lectures

  • Author, Electronic Data and Discovery: Nightmare or Opportunity?, The Florida Bar Journal, February 2002
  • Authored and presented The Political Implications of the Introduction of the Rule of Law to the Soviet Union, International Helsinki Federation Meeting, Vilnius, Lithuania, September 1991
  • Contributor to the drafting of revised Soviet, Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian (Constitutional) Laws on Emigration, 1988 – 1991
  • Guest speaker “The Recognition Of Human Rights In A Modern Soviet Society,” Leningrad Soviet (city government), June 1990
  • Authored and presented The Role of Non-Governmental Delegates To CSCE Conferences Moscow, October 1989
  • Presenter of An Analysis Of The May 1990 Draft Soviet Emigration Law, Moscow, June 1990; Paris, June 1989
  • Authored and presented The Effects of Media Jewish Emigration from the Soviet Union, hosted by The International Foundation For The Preservation Of Humanity, Andrei Sakharov, Chairman, Moscow, May 1989

Awards and Recognitions

  • AV Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Listed in Who’s Who In America1997 – Present
  • Listed in Who’s Who In World, 1995 – Present
  • Listed in International Who’s Who Of Professionals 1995 - Present
  • Listed in Who’s Who In America 1987 – Present
  • Listed in Who’s Who In Emerging Leaders In America 1987 – Present

Education

J.D., 1981, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, IL
B.A., 1978, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Bar Admissions

1981 State Courts of Florida
1984 United States District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida
2000 State Courts of New Mexico