Jeffrey B. Cohen, Attorney

A partner in the Washington office of Ivins, Phillips, & Barker and head of the firm's employee benefits litigation practice group, Mr. Cohen has nearly 30 years of ERISA litigation experience.  He has extensive experience litigating ERISA issues at all levels in the federal court system, and is a nationally recognized expert on employee benefits issues in bankruptcy. 

Immediately before joining the firm, Mr. Cohen was Chief Counsel of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures traditional, private pensions plans.  In that capacity, he directed the work of 50 attorneys and served as lead counsel for the agency in major bankruptcy proceedings and ERISA litigation.   Before his appointment as Chief Counsel, he served for many years as Deputy General Counsel of PBGC.  While at PBGC, he was lead counsel for the agency in the bankruptcy proceedings, and related district court and appellate litigation, in such cases as United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways, Enron, Kaiser Aluminum, Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, Pan American World Airways, Trans World Airlines, and New Valley (Western Union).   Mr. Cohen has successfully argued numerous cases in the federal courts of appeal, and has appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court in such cases as Beck v. PACE International Union, Hughes Aircraft v. Jacobson, Concrete Pipe & Products v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust, Local 144 Nursing Home Pension Fund v. Demisay, and Bay Area Laundry & Dry Cleaning Pension Trust Fund v. Ferbar.  He also spearheaded PBGC's defense of individual and class actions involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and claims for benefits.   In many of these cases, Mr. Cohen coordinated with senior officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and other Executive Branch agencies.

In March 2006, The American Lawyer named him as a Dealmaker of the Year for 2005 for his work on behalf of PBGC in the United Airlines bankruptcy and other major bankruptcy cases.  He is a frequent speaker at conferences on ERISA, bankruptcy, and ERISA litigation.  Mr. Cohen is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and was co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute's Employee Benefits Committee from 2007 through 2009.

Mr. Cohen is a Contributing Author to Business Workouts Manual (2d ed. Thomson/West 2007), for which he wrote a chapter on Pensions in Restructurings.  Additionally, Mr. Cohen was recently quoted in the New York Times and interviewed on the Fox Business Network regarding pension issues in the automotive sector.

Before joining PBGC, Mr. Cohen was a partner in a Washington, DC law firm specializing in ERISA litigation and counseling.   Mr. Cohen is a member of the District of Columbia, New York, and Virginia bars, as well as numerous federal district courts and courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States.