Barry Cohen has always been known as a premier criminal defense attorney. Since entering private practice in 1968, Mr. Cohen has been winning some of the most significant cases in the history of Tampa Bay and the nation. His renown as a criminal defense attorney is witnessed in his many accomplishments, but his skills and acumen spill into every avenue of law in which he and his firm practice.

In the 1990s, Mr. Cohen sought to expand his practice to include civil litigation, putting his trial and litigation talents to use on behalf of individuals and businesses that are victims of catastrophic personal injury or wrongful death, medical malpractice, fraud, bad faith and other injustices. In 1992, he found the perfect partner in civil litigation attorney Chris Jayson, and that year they merged their practices.

A few years later, Cohen and Jayson joined forces with former federal prosecutor and FBI agent, Todd Foster, and the three attorneys built a consummate criminal defense and civil litigation firm in Tampa by fusing prosecutors and defense attorneys. In 1998, Cohen, Jayson & Foster augmented its case profile of high-stakes criminal defense matters, complex business litigation, personal injury and wrongful death cases with the addition of Art Skafidas and a prominent medical malpractice team.

Vast Devotion of Resources:
Our axiom gives us the leading edge

The firm's goal is to harness the power of teamwork to successfully handle client cases: A team is assembled matching our talent pool to each case's unique requirements. Team members are carefully selected based on the particular skills and strengths required for the success of a particular case. Each CJF employee commits to whatever form of service is needed, satisfying their role to the best of their abilities. This combination and versatility of strengths is similar in theory to a football team, where you cannot have all quarterbacks on the field at one time - the necessity of versatility and strength is a vital component to success in the adversary system. The result of this effort is that our firm brings a unique approach to the litigation process, which has historically been successful for our clients.

The individual members of our firm have different strengths: Strengths such as trial skills, including the art of voir dire (selection of a jury), cross examination and final argument skills. To maximize these skills, our litigation team focuses our cases with mock juries, not only to sharpen these trial skills, but to develop and strengthen our case themes and test reactions to our legal theories and positions. CJF attorneys continuously strive to hone and improve their skills by reviewing advocacy books and attending and presenting at local and national legal seminars, all designed to continuously improve the quality of our legal services and increase the probability of success for our clients. Many lawyers in the firm possess a variety of strengths outside the courtroom, including very strong pretrial skills. These skills include creative investigation, astute and adroit motion practices, and insightful and thorough legal research, all supported by a variety of highly-reputable academic backgrounds. Additionally, team members bring a diversity of experience working with the agencies with whom we must influence, bringing a very practical, as well as, legal approach to the analyses relevant to a particular case. Our lawyers are very much involved in the fact-finding process and recognize the timely significance of getting information, which otherwise would be unavailable or distorted if delayed. Consequently, the lawyers not only supervise and direct the investigators, but also spend time "in the field" gathering intelligence, a unique roll that provides the CJF client with additional tools for success in the courtroom.

Cohen, Jayson & Foster strives for unparalleled access to experts and other professionals: There are occasions when we recognize the need for a special expertise to help us prepare cases and during those times we will hire that specialist as an investigator, consultant, expert, or in another other designated role, to ensure that our client is getting the most qualified expertise that is available. For example, in our Medical Malpractice division, Dr. Phil Farthing and a paralegal nurse carefully select the most competent medical experts available, providing the information necessary to make a complicated medical analysis simple and understandable for trial lawyers, jurors and judges. Senior Attorney David Tirella has developed a unique skill for finding the exact type of expert needed who is specialized in the field, possesses excellent communications skills and maintains impeccable integrity. Mr. Tirella is responsible for getting some of the firm's most cogent and competent experts.

Dedication to excellence: The firm’s work as a very thorough and talented litigation practice is well known throughout the legal community, including judges, arbitrators, mediators and defense attorneys. When judges and lawyers see the Cohen, Jayson & Foster name on a case, they immediately know it involves catastrophic injury or death, great economic loss, potential loss of freedom or misconduct or miscarriage of justice. More importantly, they know settlement or resolution of a case for anything less than our client deserves is not an option, nor is the option for one to lose their freedom without the firm’s immeasurable dedication of resources and full force in defense of the client.

Cohen, Jayson & Foster believes the sky holds no limit: We spent over $4 million on a contingency case before seeing even one dollar in return. We are willing to dedicate the finances (time and resources) because we know that the investment pays for itself many times over via a verdict or settlement. This attitude- and ability- signals to our economically strong opponents that they cannot bully us into submission by attempting to outspend us on the litigation or drag out the litigation intentionally for the purpose of breaking our financial spirit. Once they know that their weapon is not available to them, they respond more responsibly.