Peter C. Cohen

24Jun
2016

Peter C. Cohen

Peter Cohen, of Brooklyn, New York, joined Charlson Bredehoft Cohen Brown & Nadelhaft, P.C. (then Charlson Bredehoft) in 2003 and became a Partner in September of 2004. He graduated with top honors from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a B.A. in Political Science. In 1984, he received his J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Mr. Cohen is admitted to practice in Virginia, Washington, D.C., the state and federal courts in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. Cohen possesses over thirty-seven years of experience handling a variety of litigation matters, including employment disputes, ERISA and labor law litigation, financial institutions litigation, pension and health care litigation, and criminal defense litigation.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Cohen litigated claims on behalf of retirees seeking pension plan benefits, employees of the Federal Government to recover overtime compensation, and labor unions. Mr. Cohen asserted claims to recover the savings of people who lost their money as a result of the savings and loan scandal, and he represented beneficiaries and fiduciaries of retirement and health care plans in private class action lawsuits and enforcement actions by the Department of Labor. Mr. Cohen represented the interests of indigent criminal defendants, including death row inmates, before appellate courts, testified before Congress, and authored articles of interest to the public defender community.

Before coming to the firm, Mr. Cohen managed his own practice in Maryland for several years where he represented plaintiffs in litigation of a wide variety of employment related matters in the state and federal courts of the District of Columbia and Maryland. During this time, Mr. Cohen tried cases and appeals addressing D.C. Human Rights laws, Title VII, the ADA, other federal and state statutes, and a variety of common law claims, including defamation, breach of contract, fraud, tortious interference, assault and battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mr. Cohen continues to litigate these and other employment-related and business-tort related claims today at the firm where he serves as lead counsel in multiple employment and commercial cases involving discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, wrongful termination, discharges, commercial disputes, and other employment and business cases including those enumerated above, and has argued before the Virginia Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Cohen has provided advice to hundreds of clients (including high-level executives and corporate officers and directors) relating to severance packages, employment agreements, covenants not to compete, change in control provisions, and other business and employment-related advice.

Mr. Cohen is also proud to have represented pro bono a widow of a 9-11 victim for claims made to
the fund established by Congress.
Mr. Cohen has been recognized as a Virginia Super Lawyer each year since 2008, has been
recognized as one of the top 100 Lawyers in the Washington Metropolitan Area over the past several years,
and was selected as a Washington D.C. Super Lawyer in 2013 and 2014. Recognized as an expert in
employment matters, Mr. Cohen was recently quoted by the Wall Street Journal in an article regarding
pregnancy discrimination.
Mr. Cohen is a member of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, the
Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Employment Lawyers Association.

HONORS & AWARDS

• Virginia Super Lawyers 2008 – Present
• Top 100 Lawyers in the Washington Metropolitan Area over the past several years
• Washington D.C. Super Lawyer 2013 & 2014

REPRESENTATIVE CASES 

Confidentiality requirements accompanying the many cases that Mr. Cohen has settled prevent disclosure of specific settlement details, but these cases have involved a wide range of claims and damages.

• Lareau v. Oseth Group LLC, Civil Action No. 1:19-cv00935 (E.D. Va. 2020) (Title VII claims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination – Judgment of $106,199.46 compensatory damages)
• Federated IT, Inc. v. Arrington, 1:18-cv1484 (E.D. Va. 2020) (conversion, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, civil and statutory conspiracy – Judgment of $151,513.35 compensatory damages and attorney’s fees)
• Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, LLC v Sabre International Security, C.A. No. 2015-00445 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 2015)(Breach of Contract and Actual/Constructive Fraud – Judgment of $10,161,089.47 compensatory/ $350,000.00 punitive damages)
• Sara K. Payne v. Marsh & McLennan Agency, LLC, Civil Action 1:12cv1 (E.D. Va. 2012) (represented individual and successor employer Lockton in successfully defending against temporary restraining order in dispute challenging validity of covenants – February 2012)
• Holmes v. Deque Systems, Inc., et al., At Law No. 2007-4165 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 2008) (unjust enrichment – $580,000 jury verdict)
• Hughston v. New Home Media, et al., C.A. No. 1:06cv1362 (E.D. Va. 2007) (assault and battery, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge – $314,717.40 judgment, fees, and costs awarded)
• Hyland v. Raytheon Company, et al., At Law No. 221038 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 2005) (defamation – $3.5 million jury verdict, reduced to $1.875 million, reversed on legal grounds)
• Butler v. Southern States Cooperative, Inc., et al., 270 Va. 459 (2005) (Virginia Supreme Court reversed trial court’s dismissal of sexual assault and battery claims in the workplace).
• Mr. Cohen is also proud to have represented pro bono a widow of a 9-11 victim for claims made to the fund established by Congress.

OTHER REPORTED CASES

• Dao v. Faustin, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14864 (E.D. Va. Aug. 29, 2019)
• Bravo! Facility Services v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, 256 F. Supp. 3d 653 (E.D. Va. 2017)
• Weth v. O’Leary, 796 F.Supp.2d 766 (E.D. Va. 2011)
• Fried v. Town of Vienna, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127643 (E.D. Va. 2011)
• Hughston v. New Home Media et al., 552 F.Supp.2d 554 (E.D. Va. 2008)
• Zuurbier v. Medstar Health, Inc., et al., 895 A.2d 905 (D.C. 2006)
• At Law No. 221038 (Fairfax Cir. Ct., 2005)
• Butler v. Southern States Cooperative, 270 Va. 459, 620 S.E.2d 768 (2005)
• Rohan v. Networks Presentations, LLC, 375 F.3d 266 (4th Cir. 2004)
• Zuurbier v. Medstar Health, Inc., et al., 306 F. Supp.2d (D.D.C. 2004)
• Rohan v. Networks Presentations, LLC, 192 F.Supp.2d 434 (D. Md. 2003)
• Stith v. Chadbourne & Parke, LLP, 160 F.Supp.2d 1 (2001)
• Board of Trustees of the Hotel & Restaurant Employees of Local 25 v. Madison Hotel, 43 F.Supp.2d 8 (D.D.C. 1999)
• Currier v. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 159 F.3d.1363 (D.C. Cir. 1999)
• In re Forfeiture Hearing re: Caplin & Drysdale, 837 F.2d 637 (4th Cir. 1998)
• United States v. Harvey, 814 F.2d 905 (4th Cir. 1987).

PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Throwing Your Hat in the Ring: Finding Good Plaintiffs and Structuring Good Cases (29th Annual Employment Law Update Seminar – 2020)
• Preserving Your Client’s Claims: Trying Your Case With Appeal In Mind And With Post-Trial Motions (Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference – 2012)
• Effective Techniques for Using and Excluding Evidence in Employment Litigation (VA State Bar CLE program – 2011)

MEMBERSHIP & LEADERSHIP

• Member, Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA)
• Member, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA)
• Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE

• Commonwealth of Virginia
• District of Columbia

EDUCATION

• J.D., American University Washington College of Law, 1984
• B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo