OUR STORY


RJ COHEN

Twenty-five years ago, RJ Cohen was a young partner in one of the oldest and largest law firms in Buffalo. In 2001 he left that firm with a few of his friends and started their own firm, which was named after his two primary mentors – each a generation older than him. For the next 20 or so years he served as the Managing Partner and chief strategic architect of that firm, which grew into an AmLaw 200 national firm. He also recruited more than 700 lawyers to that firm throughout his tenure.

In 2021, a year into the global crisis of a pandemic the likes of which had not been seen for 100 years, he received an offer to join his long-time buddies in another growing multi-state firm – one that was based in the Southeast but which had begun to expand well beyond its geographic origins. For a wide variety of reasons, he considered it an offer he couldn’t refuse. RJ’s intention was to move to Charlotte with his wife and their six youngest kids. Unfortunately, logistics and life prevented that from happening, and in February of 2024, RJ retired from that firm.

JOE VAUGHAN

When Joe Vaughan started a law firm in Philadelphia in 2011 with just three attorneys, he set his sights on identifying partners throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Florida who shared his passion and wanted to be part of his long-term plan. Vaughan went on to execute that plan by strategically adding attorneys, one-by-one, who contributed both unity and expertise to create the framework of the firm he envisioned. In doing so, Joe grew his firm from 11 attorneys in 2021 to 43 attorneys in 2024, with a strategic vision and plan of building a new style of law firm, and created the foundation of what was to become Cohen Vaughan.

JEFF CUNNINGHAM, JOHN DEROSE, JOSH HIGGINS AND CHRIS LYON

John (in 2016), Josh (in 2016), Jeff (in 2019) and Chris (in 2019) were among the hundreds of people RJ sought to recruit to the firm he ran for nearly two decades. He was successful in recruiting only three of the four, but he knew even back then that each of them weren’t just exceptional; they each represented something rare and pivotal. Little did RJ know back then that it would be a prelude to something even more momentous.

Sometime in 2022, RJ was in Philadelphia and met up for breakfast with John – who by that time had left the firm to which RJ had originally recruited him. RJ asked whether John might be interested in talking about coming and joining RJ at his new firm. And so began the formal recruiting process. Again. But for reasons unrelated to their desire to work together, those discussions ultimately fell through.

In October or November of 2023, Jeff reached out to RJ to let him know he was thinking about leaving the firm to which RJ originally recruited him, and they met for coffee. And so began the formal recruiting process. Again. In December of 2023 Jeff joined the firm that RJ was at.

In December of 2023, RJ and Chris happened to find themselves at the same conference in Las Vegas. They hadn’t seen each other – or, frankly, spoken – since before RJ left the firm to which he had recruited Chris, and they decided to grab breakfast and catch up. Breakfast went so well that they decided to get together again for lunch that same day. Over lunch, RJ asked Chris if he wanted to talk about joining RJ at the firm to which he had gone. Chris expressed interest in learning more about the opportunity, and so began the formal recruiting process. Again.

Shortly after that, RJ retired from that firm. He called Chris to update him – knowing that it might affect Chris’s decision about joining the firm, which of course it did. Chris and RJ talked about their disappointment in not being able to work together again and, over time, their discussions morphed into finding a way to work together again.

Right around that same time, Josh, who RJ failed to recruit eight years prior, reached out to RJ essentially out of the blue. RJ considered it serendipity, and not long after that, RJ, Chris, Jeff, John and Josh found themselves musing about creating a new law firm in their fully aligned vision.

TRACEY McLEAN

In 2015, RJ helped to recruit Tracey McLean to the firm he was then running. RJ and Tracey became not just partners but friends – so much so that neither will likely ever forget the day they met over lunch. During her time at that firm, she formed several lasting friendships, including the one with Zachary Pratt that would ultimately change the trajectory of both their careers. Zach, who RJ also recruited to that same firm before he recruited Tracey, and a dynamic rainmaker in his own right, was the catalyst for the chain of events that would eventually lead to the creation of Cohen Vaughan. Not long after RJ left his former firm, Zach introduced Tracey to Joe, and together they moved over to Joe’s firm. They brought with them, or subsequently recruited, 14 other partners and eight staff over to the Vaughan firm – all of whom RJ once helped to recruit to the firm he had managed.

One day not all that long after RJ and the other guys started talking in earnest about building a firm, RJ and Tracey were talking on the phone, as friends of their vintage still do these days, when Tracey wondered whether RJ – now retired – might be interested in counseling her and Joe about how to carry out the strategic evolution of their firm (then called Vaughan McLean). Based on his great professional respect and personal regard for Tracey, RJ agreed. Having never met or even spoken to Joe, RJ suggested that the first conversation be in person – in some large part so that RJ could spend quality time with John while in Philly to meet Joe. Two birds, one stone.

AN IDEA IS BORN

John and RJ met for coffee in Philadelphia and then John, quite literally, walked RJ over to the restaurant where RJ was to meet with Joe for dinner. RJ got there several minutes before Joe arrived and waited by the elevators for Joe. The first time they ever laid eyes on each other or spoke was when the elevator doors opened and Joe stepped out. They had a 6pm dinner reservation and, over dinner, they got to know each other. Seven hours later, with the restaurant about to close, they walked out onto the street. But prior to getting up from the table, the very last thing Joe said to RJ was “so it is obvious we are going to do something together. When do you want to meet again. Next week?” RJ responded that he couldn’t meet that next week because he was going to be in New York meeting with his potential future law partners. Joe mentioned that he would be happy to meet RJ in New York, and they ultimately did meet for lunch. Although the second conversation didn’t last quite as long as the first, it did last a couple of hours. The first question Joe asked RJ over lunch was what RJ’s five year vision was. RJ hesitated and then candidly responded that his five year vision went far beyond what Joe had built to that point, but Joe was unfazed because he knew he wasn’t done carrying out his own vision. Joe asked RJ to explain to him the vision that RJ had developed, and RJ did so – in great detail -- philosophically, strategically, and culturally. It resonated deeply with Joe and they began a months long dialogue to figure out how – not if -- they could join forces, notwithstanding that RJ already was by then heavily invested in the vision he, Jeff, John, Josh and Chris had created.

FRANK AND JERRY

Frank Deasey is a second generation lawyer. After working at his father’s firm in Philadelphia, he founded his own law firm in the early 1980s along with his buddy Hank Mahoney. Jerry Valentini joined the firm in 1990, becoming a partner a few years later. In 2024 Hank Mahoney was contemplating retirement after five decades as a lawyer, and Frank, Jerry and their fellow equity partners started looking for a larger platform, preferably one with a built-in succession plan, in which to integrate their attorneys and staff. They met with Joe, Joe introduced them to RJ, and Frank and Jerry found synergies and common vision with RJ, Joe, and the other founders. And the firm that you now know as Cohen Vaughan began to take shape.

OUR “FOUNDING” ADMINISTRATORS

We don’t consider ourselves as having nine founders; we believe we have 13. As leaders, we strongly believe that the core administrators are every bit, if not more, important than the core partners. The founders had developed a wish list that included Deirdre Leible, Vaughan McLean’s longtime Chief Financial Officer, as Cohen Vaughan’s CFO. Our wish list included three others – Jennifer Majewski (as Cohen Vaughan’s Chief Operating Officer), Amanda Spencer (as Cohen Vaughan’s Chief Human Resources and Culture Officer), and Anna Gilman (as Cohen Vaughan’s Chief Business Relations and Culture Officer). Fortune smiled upon us when each of them became available to us and we are forever grateful to have each of them as part of our leadership group.

Cohen Vaughan
Inspired Advocacy
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