Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi (CSG Law) on Tuesday announced that David A. Cohen has joined the firm’s Employment Group. Cohen will advise public and private sector clients on a wide range of labor and employment matters, bringing extensive experience from leadership roles in government and higher education.
Cohen joins CSG Law after serving as vice president for University Labor Relations and Special Counsel to the University President at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. During his tenure at Rutgers, Cohen was pivotal in developing the University’s labor negotiations strategy and acted as the lead spokesperson in collective bargaining with faculty and staff unions.
His responsibilities at Rutgers, which included a prior role as associate vice president and deputy general counsel, spanned overseeing a team that handled:
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Contract administration and interpretation
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Grievance and disciplinary arbitrations
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Unfair practice charges
Before his time at Rutgers, Cohen served in a key state government position after being appointed by Gov. Chris Christie as the director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. In this role, he acted as the governor’s spokesperson in collective negotiations with all labor unions representing employees in the Executive Branch.
Cohen’s career also includes nearly 12 years in municipal governance in the Township of Berkeley Heights, where he served on the governing body and as Mayor for almost a decade.
Prior to entering the public sector, Cohen was a partner at a Florham Park firm and an associate and partner at a Newark firm. He began his legal career serving as a judicial clerk for the Honorable William Wenner on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.
Cohen earned his J.D. from the American University – Washington School of Law and his B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from Lehigh University.
