Judge Gene D. Cohen (Ret.)

Judge Cohen joined Horn Williamson after serving a second judicial term as a Judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas between 2016 and 2019, where he conducted trials and managed non-jury civil litigation. At Horn Williamson, Judge Cohen focuses his practice on all aspects of commercial litigation. He heads the firm’s ADR practice, serving as an arbitrator and mediator for fee disputes and intra-firm disputes. Judge Cohen is also available to provide expert analysis in fee disputes and legal malpractice claims.

Judge Cohen served his first term as a Court of Common Pleas judge from 1988 until February 2005. He served as the supervising judge of an investigating grand jury, a section leader in the Major Criminal Calendar Program, a civil motion court judge, a trial judge for the Civil Division, and a principal, civil, and primary non-jury judge. He served as a team leader for the Commerce Court Program, overseeing major commercial litigation. He returned to the bench to serve his second term in 2016 after practicing at several firms in Philadelphia.

Over two terms on the bench, Judge Cohen issued significant opinions in several landmark cases. His first term was marked by decisions regarding the Act 111 appeal of the Fraternal Order of Police in the first Rendell administration and the suit by Title Insurance Companies to bring the Philadelphia Department of Records into compliance.

In 2018, Judge Cohen issued a decision in the widely reported case of Wible v. School District of Philadelphia. In that matter, Judge Cohen ruled that under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, it is unlawful for a public school to deny a person any of the accommodations or privileges of a school based on gender. Judge Cohen further found that the plaintiff in Wible was denied equal access to an education based on the defendants’ deliberate indifference to her harassment. On July 17, 2019, in his final ruling on the bench, Judge Cohen found that the City of Philadelphia’s 2018 reassessment of commercial properties was unconstitutional and ordered repayment to Center City commercial property owners in Duffield House Associates LP et al. v. City of Philadelphia et al.

Judge Cohen has served as a faculty member and presenter for many legal, educational, and professional organizations. He taught courses in judicial decision making and the history of law at the National Judicial College, where he served as a principal faculty member. He taught the French system of criminal investigations for the National Judicial College in Paris.

Before his first term on the bench, Judge Cohen spent nearly 18 years in private practice and served in the United States Army Military Police Corps as a captain in the Armed Forces. Between his two judicial terms, Judge Cohen was a partner at a Philadelphia law firm, practicing in all aspects of commercial litigation with an emphasis on real estate and railroad matters.