Ethan H. Cohen

Ethan H. Cohen counsels and represents corporations and individuals in a wide range of securities- and fiduciary-related compliance and regulatory matters, including investigations and enforcement actions initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and various state securities, banking, and insurance agencies.

Mr. Cohen also maintains an active wealth management and fiduciary litigation practice. He works on dispute resolution and litigation matters for institutional and individual fiduciaries, including family offices and investment managers, along with their compliance and risk management personnel and securities, tax, trust, estate and administrative professionals and business partners. He also conducts internal investigations, often working with parallel investigations by civil and criminal authorities. Mr. Cohen has prosecuted and defended actions and conducted investigations on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) related to FDIC-insured bank failures.

Mr. Cohen handles multiparty and class action litigation and arbitration matters through trial and has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal and state appellate and trial courts.  

Representative Cases

• SEC v. Edwards, 540 U.S. 389 (2004) 
• SEC v. Smyth, 420 F.3d 1225 (11th Cir. 2005) 
• SEC v. ETS Payphones, Inc., 300 F.3d 1281 (11th Cir. 2002) 
• CFTC v. American Derivatives Corp., 2005 WL 3149535 (N.D.Ga. 2005) 
• Dassaro v. Edwards, 190 F.Supp.2d 544 (W.D.N.Y. 2002) 
• Hilliard v. Black, 125 F.Supp.2d 1071 (N.D.Fla. 2000) 

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Section of Business Law

Atlanta Bar Association, Litigation Section

Representative Speaking Engagements/Instruction

"American Express v. Italian Colors: An Antidote to Shareholder Class Actions?" Ballard Spahr webinar, March 20, 2013

"Broker-Dealer Regulatory Exams," National Society of Compliance Professionals, Southern Regional Meeting, March 11, 2013

"Investment Adviser Regulatory Exams," National Society of Compliance Professionals, Southern Regional Meeting and Labs, February 27, 2012

"Introduction to Compliance (Large Firms)," National Society of Compliance Professionals, National Meeting, October 17, 2011 

Lab Broker-Dealer, "How to Conduct a Branch Exam," National Society of Compliance Professionals, Southern Regional Meeting, April 12, 2011 

"Addressing New Issues in Regulatory Examinations (Large Firms)," National Society of Compliance Professionals, National Meeting, November 2, 2010 

"Hedge Funds—Managing Conflicts of Interest," National Society of Compliance Professionals, Southern Regional Meeting, February 22, 2010 

"Branch Office Compliance Examinations (Small Firms)," National Society of Compliance Professionals, National Meeting, October 7, 2009 

"Hedge Funds—Managing Non-Public Information," National Society of Compliance Professionals, Regional Meeting, February 23, 2009 

"Compliance Strategies in These Volatile Times," BD Week Webinar, December 16, 2008

Panelist, "Corporate Internal Investigations," Meeting of Atlanta Bar Association's Securities and Corporate Litigation Section, September 2008

Stetson University College of Law (J.D. 1996, cum laude)
Lead Articles and Symposia Editor, Stetson Law Review

University of Georgia (B.A 1993)

Georgia