Adrian Cohen

Adrian Leon Cohen (born 22 July 1963) is an English solicitor who is also Senior Vice-President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews^[1] and Lay Chair of the Labour Friends of Israel.^[2]

Early life and education

Cohen, who was born at Mile End in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, grew up in Ilford^[3] in the London Borough of Redbridge and went to Wanstead High School. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he received a bachelor's degree in Law,^[4] and at Queen Mary University of London where he was awarded a Master of Laws degree.

He chaired the Union of Jewish Students from 1985 to 1986.^[5]

Professional career

On leaving university, Cohen became a pupil barrister. He qualified as a solicitor in 1996.^[6]

Between 1988 and 1990 he was a part-time tutor at LSE, teaching commercial law.

Cohen has been Senior Consultant at McDermott Will & Emery since May 2024.^[7] He was previously a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP^[4][8] and, before that, worked for 32 years at Clifford Chance,^[4][9] becoming a partner in 1998.

Political office

He was briefly a London Borough of Camden councillor in 2022.^[10]

Voluntary roles

Cohen is an elected honorary officer of the Board of Deputies and took office as its Senior Vice-President in June 2024.^[1][11] He is also Lay Chair of the Labour Friends of Israel,^[2]

He was a trustee of the Jewish Leadership Council from 2018 to 2021.^[12] He is a founder member^[13] of the London Jewish Forum, of which he was co-chair until June 2024.^[14] He was also, for two terms until 2023, a trustee of Reprieve UK, the legal action NGO.^[9]

Personal life

Adrian was married to Caroline Fertleman and had three children. They lived in Highgate, London.

In September 2022 he married Marie van der Zyl, the then-President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, at West London Synagogue.^[3][15]