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Jonathan R. Cohen

Jonathan R. Cohen

Professor of Law

Affiliate Professor, Center for Jewish Studies

(352) 273-0919

cohenjr@law.ufl.edu

CV

SSRN

Jonathan R. Cohen

Professor of Law
Affiliate Professor, Center for Jewish Studies

Jonathan R. Cohen is Professor of Law, Affiliate Professor of Jewish Studies, and Associate Director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution at the University of Florida. Prior to teaching at the University of Florida, Cohen clerked for the Honorable Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, practiced employment litigation at a private law firm in Boston, and served as a Hewlett Fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. The central theme of Cohen’s research is ethical human relations, and his writings, especially concerning apology, have been influential both nationally and internationally in promoting legislative reforms and changes to legal practice. His teaching includes courses in negotiation, reconciliation, the human side of lawyering, law and religion, and Jewish law.

Education

A.B., Harvard College
J.D., Harvard Law School
M.A (Economics), Harvard University
Ph.D. (Economics), Harvard University
M.A. (Jewish Studies), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College


Expertise

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Evidence, Jewish Law, Law and Religion, Negotiation, Social Justice


Courses

  • Diversity, Inequality, and Dispute Resolution
  • Introduction to Lawyering and the Legal Profession
  • Jewish Law

Teaching & Scholarship

Negotiation, Dispute Resolution, Ethics, Evidence, Jewish Law, and Social Justice


Publications

CHAPTERS & ARTICLES

  • “The Ethical Duty to Listen and Consider,” in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Volume II):  The Coming of Age (2000-2009), A. Hinshaw, A. Schneider, and S. Cole, eds., 52-56 (Oxford University Press, 2025).
  • “Negative Identity and Conflict”, 35 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 737 (2020).
  • “Lawyers Serving Gods, Visible and Invisible,” 53 Gonzaga Law Review 187-206 (2018).
  • “Developing Communities of Dialogue,” 20 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 105-113 (2018).
  • “Two Directions toward Ethical Peoplehood,” CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly 65-96 (Winter 2018).
  • “A Genesis of Conflict: The Zero-Sum Mindset,” 17 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 427-444 (2016).
  • “Open-Minded Listening,” 5 Charlotte Law Review 139-164 (2014).
  • “Conflicts as Inner Trials: Transitions for Clients, Ideas for Lawyers,” 13 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 393-412 (2012).
  • “Fostering Race-Related Dialogue: Lessons from a Small Seminar,” 22 University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy 407-416 (2012).
  • “The Path between Sebastian’s Hospitals: Fostering Reconciliation after a Tragedy,” 17 Barry Law Review 89-131 (2011.
  • “The Negotiation Within: Outer Ideas on Inner Dialogues,” Harvard Negotiation Law Review (online journal, www.hnlr.org) (March 18, 2010).
  • “Coping with Lasting Social Injustice,” 13 Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 259-283 (2007).
  • “The Culture of Legal Denial,” in The Affective Assistance of Counsel, Marjorie A. Silver, ed. (Carolina Academic Press, 2007). This chapter is based upon “The Culture of Legal Denial,” 84 Nebraska Law Review 247-312 (2005).
  • “Judaism without Ordinary Law: Toward a Broader View of Sanctification,” 71 The Reconstructionist 50-56 (Fall 2006).
  • “In God’s Garden: Creation and Cloning in Jewish Thought,” in Ethical Issues: Western Philosophical and Religious Perspectives, Terrence Reynolds, ed., 480-486 (Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006). This article originally appeared in 29 Hastings Center Report 4, 7-12 (1999).
  • “The Culture of Legal Denial,” 84 Nebraska Law Review 247-312 (2005).
  • “A Taxonomy of Dispute Resolution Ethics,” in The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, Michael L. Moffitt & Robert Bordone, eds., 244-253 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005).
  • “The Immorality of Denial,” 79 Tulane Law Review 903-953 (2005).
  • “Toward Candor after Medical Error: The First Apology Law,” 5 Harvard Health Policy Review 1, 21-24 (Spring 2004). Symposium issue on medical error.
  • “The Ethics of Respect in Negotiation,” in What’s Fair: Ethics for Negotiators, Carrie Menkel-Meadow & Michael Wheeler, eds., 257-263 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004). This article originally appeared in 18 Negotiation Journal 115-120 (April 2002).
  • “In God’s Garden: Creation and Cloning in Jewish Thought,” in The Human Cloning Debate, 2nd, 3rd & 4th editions, Glenn McGee and Arthur Caplan, eds., (Berkeley: Berkeley Hills Books, 2000, 2002 & 2004). This article originally appeared in 29 Hastings Center Report 4, 7-12 (1999).
  • “Let’s Put Ourselves Out of Business: On Respect, Responsibility and Dialogue in Dispute Resolution,” 108 Penn State Law Review 227-233 (2003). Symposium issue on the routinization of dispute resolution.
  • “Adversaries? Partners? How about Counterparts? On Metaphors in the Practice and Teaching of Negotiation and Dispute Resolution,” 20 Conflict Resolution Quarterly 433-440 (Summer 2003). Symposium issue on dispute resolution pedagogy.
  • “The Ethics of Respect in Negotiation,” 18 Negotiation Journal 115-120 (April 2002).
  • “Legislating Apology: The Pros and Cons,” 70 University of Cincinnati Law Review 819-872 (2002).
  • “When People are the Means: Negotiating with Respect,” 14 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 739802 (2001).
  • “Apology and Organizations: Exploring an Example from Medical Practice,” 27 Fordham Urban Law Journal 1447-1482 (2000). Symposium issue on forgiveness and the law.
  • “Introduction,” with Robert H. Mnookin, to Negotiating on Behalf of Others, Robert H. Mnookin & Lawrence E. Susskind, eds., 1- 20 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1999).
  • “Turning the Tables: Negotiation as the Exogenous Variable,” in Negotiating on Behalf of Others, Robert H. Mnookin & Lawrence E. Susskind, eds., 226-233 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1999).
  • “Advising Clients to Apologize,” 72 Southern California Law Review 1009-1069 (1999).
  • “In God’s Garden: Creation and Cloning in Jewish Thought,” 29 Hastings Center Report 4, 7-12 (1999).
  • “Reasoning Along Different Lines: Some Varied Roles of Rationality in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution,” 3 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 111-122 (1998).
  • “In God’s Garden: Creation and Cloning,” 10 Journal of Progressive Judaism 46-62 (1998).

ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS

  • “A UF Law Professor’s Reaction to Charlie Kirk-related Speech Crackdown,” The Alligator (Sept. 25, 2025).
  • “Do Not Discuss: The University of Florida’s Pattern of Picking Only White Male Presidents,” Gainesville Sun (Oct. 20, 2022).
  • “Torah as Myth:  The Two Great Mistakes,” Humanistic Judaism Magazine 12-13 (Summer 2022).
  • “Putin’s Barbaric Desire to Dominate Others Provides a Lesson for Our Own Lives,” Toronto Star (March 29, 2022).
  • “Why ‘Originalists’ Who Loved Scalia Should Want a Vote on His Replacement,” Washington Post (Op-ed, online, “The Fix”) (Feb. 22, 2016).
  • “The Remarkably Perfect Fit that is Donald Trump’s Last Name,” Washington Post (Op-ed, online, “The Fix”) (Jan. 24, 2016).
  • “Ferguson: Prejudice and Prejudgment,” (Op-ed) Orlando Sentinel (Dec. 7, 2014) at A22.
  • “From Jacob to Israel: On Conflicts and Inner Growth,” The Times of Israel (Feb. 16, 2014) (available at http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-jacob-to-israel).