JONATHAN COHEN, ESQ.

Prior to starting J.Cohen Legal, Jonathan practiced at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, a venerable corporate and litigation law firm. He began his legal career at a boutique litigation law firm in New York City and also later practiced real estate law at a well-regarded Manhattan real estate law firm.

Jonathan’s legal experience spans a wide variety of practice areas and industries. His main practice areas are real estate transactions and real estate litigation. His past practice areas focused on government (DOJ, SEC, FDIC, and foreign regulators) investigations, internal corporate investigations, and complex commercial litigation.  Jonathan’s past and present clients are drawn from a broad spectrum of industries, including real estate, telecommunications, finance, and merchant services.

As an attorney admitted in both New York and New Jersey, Jonathan has developed a robust real estate transactional practice. He represents individuals and corporations in real estate transactions, including the acquisition and disposition of commercial and residential real estate. 

Jonathan represents institutional and private lenders and borrowers in complex commercial financing transactions including acquisition and construction loans. He also represents property owners and tenants on commercial leases, including those for office space, retail, restaurant, industrial and cannabis manufacturers. 

Jonathan also counsels property owners and sponsors/developers in matters concerning real property transactions and regulatory issues, as well as condominium and cooperative boards, and small and medium size businesses in various industries. 

Jonathan also represents clients in various disputes related to real estate, businesses/partnerships, intellectual property, property damage, construction defects, cooperative and condominium unit owners and commercial and residential landlord/tenant matters. 

Outside of the law firm, Jonathan is a sports fan and a voracious reader and student of history with a focus on United States history and Presidents of the United States. He also serves as a commissioner on Teaneck’s Historic Preservation Commission. Jonathan, originally from Great Neck, New York, now lives in Teaneck, New Jersey, with his wife, Edith, and their four children.

Representative Matters:

Real Estate Transactions

  • Regularly represents private lenders and borrowers in construction loan financing matters in New York and New Jersey

  • Regularly represents lenders and borrowers on commercial acquisition and refinance loans (both in first position and mezzanine) in New York and New Jersey

  • Regularly represents retail tenants in the negotiation of commercial leases throughout New York City  

  • Regularly represents sellers and purchasers of commercial and development property in New York and New Jersey

  • Negotiated a complex commercial lease for over 40,000 square feet of corporate headquarter office space in a “Class A” building in Manhattan.

  • Represented a non-profit church before the New York State Attorney General’s Office on a proposed sale of real estate

  • Negotiated a favorable outcome in connection with a proposed eminent domain taking with a Bergen County, New Jersey municipality relating to a substantial expansion of a county roadway

  • Regularly represents clients in the purchase and sale of multi-million-dollar residences in New York and New Jersey

Commercial/Real Estate Disputes

  • Successfully tried a case before the American Arbitration Association on behalf of a Condominium Board against a unit owner and former board president for breach of contract

  • Obtained a preliminary injunction in the District Court of New Jersey barring a member of a series of affiliated LLCs from operating the business and ultimately obtaining a judgment against the restrained member for the total damages claimed

  • Represented an electronic payment company against a major credit card processing servicer/provider in Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, which culminated in a multi-million-dollar settlement the night before trial

  • Successfully obtained the dismissal of a property owner in a CERCLA liability dispute in the Eastern District of New York

  • Represented numerous tenants-in-common and joints-tenants in actions involving partition and sale of jointly owned real property, resulting in favorable outcomes. 

  • Regularly represents landlords and tenants (both commercial and residential) in New York in connection with holdover and non-payment proceedings

Government/Regulatory Investigations

  • Represented telecommunications companies under Department of Justice anti-trust investigations

  • Represented financial institutions and entertainment companies under federal, state and foreign regulator investigations with respect to alleged FCPA, OFAC, Bank Secrecy Act, and AML violations