Abbi Cohen
Deputy Chair of Diversity & Inclusion
Dechert LLP
Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA & New York, NY
Industry: Law
CEO: Henry N. Nassau
Website: www.dechert.com
Her Credentials: BA magna cum laude, economics with High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, Barnard College, Columbia University; JD, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Her Philosophy: It is not within my personality to sit and wait for things to happen. I strive to be an agent of change and to make a positive difference for the women I work with at Dechert.
A Dechert partner since 1992, Abbi Cohen was appointed deputy chair of diversity & inclusion at Dechert in 2019, after leading the firm’s Global Women’s Initiative (GWI) since its establishment in 2014. There are now local GWI chapters around the globe that hold meetings, events, training programs, and other opportunities for professional and social interaction.
Cohen also helped develop and implement the firm’s Sponsorship and Sustained Support (SASS) professional development initiative, through which up-and-coming women associates receive coaching on how best to reach partner. In the five years before SASS, 18 percent of lawyers promoted to partner were women. In the five years since its implementation, 31 percent were women.
Today, Dechert has four women on its policy committee, five serving as office managing partners, and nine leading at practice/industry level. Women account for 55 percent of the 2019 partner promotion class (effective 1/1/2020) and 70 percent of all partners hired in from other firms in the past year.
