Nicola (Nika) Cohen's practice is devoted to pro bono matters related to the criminal legal system. As a member of the firm's Public Service Initiative, Nika litigates death penalty, post-conviction and prison conditions cases on behalf of indigent clients across the US. She also co-teaches a seminar on constitutional rights in life and capital cases at Columbia Law School.Prior to joining the firm's Public Service Initiative, Nika served as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She also served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she briefed and argued an appeal in the Sixth Circuit, assisted with numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court at the merits and certiorari stages, and advised the Solicitor General regarding appeals in the lower federal courts. While in law school, Nika worked at the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Center for Appellate Litigation and the Legal Aid Society Prisoners' Rights Project.U.S. Ct. of App., Ninth Circuit, Hon. John B. Owens, 2018-2019U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York, Hon. Ronnie Abrams, 2019-2020