Sandra Cohen

New York, NY

Sandra Cohen is the Managing Partner of Cohen & Buckmann, an employee benefits boutique law firm she founded in 2016. Sandra is an internationally recognized executive compensation attorney known for her compensation law knowledge and for her skill designing and drafting equity compensation plans and negotiating top-level executive compensation packages.

Among peers, Sandra is a highly sought-after attorney whenever difficult employment changes are contemplated. She negotiates robust pay packages for C-suite executives, as she describes, “when they are being hired, fired or acquired” and advises employers on equity plan and deferred compensation design (Section 409A). As a prior M&A lawyer, she understands the transactions that are transformative to the executives and organizations who hire her. She guides public and private employers through deal-making and pragmatic problem solving for the pension, benefits and deferred compensation issues that arise in private equity transactions, mergers, acquisitions, employment contract negotiations and development of incentive and deferred compensation strategies.

Prior to founding Cohen & Buckmann, (www.cohenbuckmann. com) Sandra built her reputation as a skilled Executive Compensation attorney, starting with a JD from Yale Law School, then working for top global law firms. For more than ten years, she was a partner leading the U.S. Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits practice in the New York office of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Prior to that she was an associate for 6+ years at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, handling mergers and acquisitions and employee benefits matters.