When your child needs a lawyer

Philip Kent Cohen, Esq. Criminal Defense Attorney & Father, shares advice for parents on when they should hire a lawyer for their child if he or she gets in trouble with the law
Parenting Tips | When Should You HIre A Lawyer For Your Child
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When your child needs a lawyer

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As a parent when you go to hire a lawyer for your child. Two things I think are critical to remember, one regardless of who is paying for the lawyer the lawyer has a relationship with the child as a client. And that relationship is a sacrosanct, in terms of the any privileged that your child wants to keep, in terms of things your child does not want to parent to know. And you should allow that relationship to be sacrosanct because that's how the attorney-client relationship works best. Number two you are hiring a lawyer, your child is hiring a lawyer with your money. Your child and you have the right and absolutely should ask that lawyer each and every question that you want to know. One of the big difference is between a public defender which is a lawyer that is appointed to you or to your child. And a private attorney should be the access you have to that lawyer. Everybody that hires me have my cellphone, everybody that hires me has access to me almost 24/7. And I think and I've always thought, it is critical that client have that access. The lawyer works for them, the lawyer should answer their questions. You go to a restaurant and you want your steak done medium rare, that's is hoe your stake should be done.You have a question for your lawyer, he should answer and he should keep on answering it until you understand it.

Philip Kent Cohen, Esq. Criminal Defense Attorney & Father, shares advice for parents on when they should hire a lawyer for their child if he or she gets in trouble with the law

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Philip Kent Cohen, Esq.

Criminal Attorney

During nearly two decades as a premier trial attorney, Philip Cohen has defended individuals and corporations accused of criminal conduct in more than 30 federal and state jurisdictions throughout the country. Using a proactive, aggressive approach to litigation, Mr. Cohen has successfully represented clients in matters ranging from multi-million dollar fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement violations, to large-scale narcotics trafficking, robbery, assault, and murder. With an astonishing success rate at trial, Cohen attacks every case, regardless of subject matter, as a personal challenge to his courtroom abilities and advocacy skills. And it shows, as he is consistently recognized by his peers as one of the preeminent defense lawyers in Southern California.

Born and raised in New York, Cohen graduated with honors from Fordham University in 1988, before obtaining his juris doctorate from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1991. After building a thriving solo practice, he co-founded the boutique litigation firm of Murphy Rosen & Cohen LLP in 2003, where he headed up the firm's criminal practice, and continued to expand his presence as a select criminal trial attorney.  During this time, Cohen also began to utilize his advocacy skills in the realm of civil trial work, the result of which has been an uninterrupted string of civil trial victories in cases which have included business, malpractice and wrongful death disputes. In 2008, Cohen was invited to become an equity partner in the Los Angeles office of Venable LLP., a DC-based, 600-attorney international law firm, where he co-chaired the firm's West Coast white collar/criminal defense practice.

Despite his appreciation for the national presence and support that a large firm provided, Cohen longed the personal interaction and clientele autonomy that he had enjoyed throughout his career, and so, in 2009, Cohen re-established his solo practice with the advent of Philip Kent Cohen, APC., while continuing to maintain the highest level of attention, loyalty, and representation that his clients had come to depend upon. Recognized by clients and lawyers alike for his superior level of trial work, Cohen has been listed for the past three years as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" as chosen by his peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics magazine. In addition to trial work, Mr. Cohen devotes a substantial portion of his practice to post-conviction relief, and has represented numerous clients in both appellate and habeas corpus proceedings nationwide. 

 

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