Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen

Associate

ABOUT

Michael Cohen has experience advising and litigation with respect to constitutional and statutory issues involving free speech, ballot access, voter initiatives, redistricting, campaign finance and other civil rights matters, as well as general public agency law.

As a law clerk at Renne Public Law Group, he provided legal support for the municipal redistricting process. Prior to joining the firm, Michael pursued voting rights work as a legal fellow at the UCLA Voting Rights Project. He helped litigate on behalf of voting rights plaintiffs and collaborated with state and federal government officials to facilitate compliance with election laws and expand access to the voting franchise. He also served as a judicial extern in the chambers of Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert at the California Court of Appeals. Throughout law school, Michael pursued work advancing accessibility to social services and public benefits, including leading a legal aid clinic through Public Counsel. His legislative work has supported voting rights and wildfire policy at the state and federal levels.

Michael was an associate editor of the UCLA Law Review and a chief production editor of the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. He was class president of the Student Bar Association and led the Voting Rights & Political Law Society and the UCLA student chapter of the American Constitution Society. He graduated with moot court honors and a Masin Family Academic Silver Award in Land Use and Urban Planning.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE.

Sebastian Lin v. Darrius Upshaw et al., Superior Court of the State of California, County of Humboldt, Case No. CV2100970. Defended state university and auxiliary organization against state and federal claims brought by former student.
Scarlett Toor v. City of Berkeley et al., Superior Court of the State of California, County of Alameda, Case No. RG21096521. Defended city in discrimination and harassment case brought by former employee.
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools v. County of Los Angeles et al., Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 21STCP03875. Defended county in action regarding allegedly improper tax assessment.
Jane Doe v. Timothy White et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Case No. 20-15450. Drafted brief in opposition to petition for writ of certiorari to United States Supreme Court in case concerning state university qualified immunity.
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association v. County of Los Angeles, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 21STCP03475. Defended county in action concerning authority over employee classification and compensation.
Michael Laurent v. City of Sunnyvale, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara, Case No. 19CV355846. Defended city in discrimination and harassment case brought by former employee.
Aljarice Hasty v. American Automobile Association of Northern California, Nevada & Utah, Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Joaquin, Case No. STK-CV-UWT-2021-0010217. Represented plaintiff in discrimination action.
Patrick Vargas v. City of Tracy et al., United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:22-cv-01454-WBS-KJN. Defended city from state and federal claims in action concerning workplace conduct and termination.
Napa County et al. v. Hoopes Family Winery Partners, LP, et al., Superior Court of the State of California, County of Napa, Case No. 22CV001262. Defended county from state and federal facial and as-applied claims regarding land use ordinances.
Represented clients in administrative proceedings before the EEOC, PERB and CalPERS.
Advised on redistricting, election administration, campaign finance, ethics, government transparency, police reform, COVID-19 initiatives, project labor agreements and other matters.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Michael S. Cohen, Adult Court for 14-and 15-Year Olds?: A Conceptual Roadmap to the SB 1391 Litigation, UCLA L. REV. DISC. (Jan. 25, 2020).
Matt Barreto, Michael S. Cohen, Chad W. Dunn & Sonni Waknin, Protecting Democracy: Implementing Equal and Safe Access to the Ballot Box During A Global Pandemic, UCLA LATINO POL’Y & POL. INITIATIVE (Mar. 23, 2020).
Sonni Waknin, Michael S. Cohen, Chad W. Dunn & Matt Barreto, Vote-By-Mail Can Save Our Democracy, But Reforms are Needed, NW. UNIV. L. REV. OF NOTE (Apr. 30, 2020).
Chad W. Dunn, Matt A. Barreto, Michael Cohen, Mindy Acevedo & Sonni Waknin, Legal Theories to Compel Vote-by-Mail in Federal Court, CAL. L. REV. CIRCUIT (May 13, 2020).
Ryan McGinley-Stempel & Michael S. Cohen, COVID-19, the Census Delay, and Local Redistricting, PUBLICCEO (June 25, 2020).
Mindy Acevedo, Michael Cohen & Sonni Waknin, Can President Trump Withhold Funds When States Expand Mail Voting?, NW. UNIV. L. REV. OF NOTE (Aug. 5, 2020).
Mindy Acevedo, Matt Barreto, Michael S. Cohen, Chad W. Dunn & Sonni Waknin, Ensuring Equal Access to the Mail-in Ballot Box, UCLA L. REV. DISCOURSE (Aug. 31, 2020).
Matt Barreto, Michael S. Cohen & Sonni Waknin, California Election Law and Policy: Emergency Measures and Future Reforms, in CALIFORNIA POLICY OPTIONS 2021 (2021).
Leeza Arbatman, Michael S. Cohen & Shawna Strecker, New California Bills Provide Pathway for Local Wildfire Risk Reduction in Southern California, LEGAL PLANET (Apr. 15, 2021).
Matt Barreto, Michael S. Cohen, Loren Collingwood, Chad W. Dunn & Sonni Waknin, A Novel Method for Showing Racially Polarized Voting: Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding, NYU REV. L. & SOC. CHANGE (2022).
Leeza Arbatman, Michael S. Cohen, Julia Stein & Shawna Strecker, Strategies for Optimizing Regional Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation in Southern California, in CALIFORNIA POLICY OPTIONS 2022 (2022).
Jonathan Holtzman, Jenica Maldonado, Imran Dar, & Michael S. Cohen, Police Reform Position Paper, League of California Cities 2022 Spring Conference (2022).
Renne Public Law Group Summer Fellowship, 2021 – Guest Lecturer: “California Redistricting”
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, California State University – Guest Lecturer: “Voting Rights Today” (2021)
CalCities City Clerks New Law and Elections Seminar – Presenter: “New Law and Election Update and More!” (2021)
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, California State University – Guest Lecturer: “The 2022 Election and a Redistricting Postmortem” (2022)
California Special Districts Association Annual Conference – Presenter: “Boards Behaving Badly” (2022)
CalCities City Clerks New Law and Elections Seminar – Presenter: “New Law and Election Update and More!” (2022)