Eastward, Westward: A Life in Law

Few Americans have done more than Jerome A. Cohen to advance the rule of law in East Asia. Professor Cohen has been a scholar, teacher, lawyer, and activist for more than sixty years, encouraging legal reform, promoting economic cooperation, mentoring law students, and working to resolve international crises. In his memoir, Professor Cohen recounts a dramatic life, offering first-hand insights from the study and practice of Sino-American relations. In the early 1960s, he met with émigrés in Hong Kong, interviewing them on Chinese criminal procedure. After economic reform began 20 years later, Mr. Cohen’s knowledge of Chinese law took on new importance as foreign companies began to pursue business opportunities. Helping China develop and reconstruct its legal system, he made an influential case for the roles of Western law and lawyers.

In an interview conducted on March 5, 2025, Jerome A. Cohen, in conversation with Stephen Orlins, discusses his varied and fascinating career.

Speakers

Jerome A. Cohen

Jerome Alan Cohen, a leading American expert on Chinese law and government, is professor emeritus at the New York University School of Law, founder and faculty director emeritus of its US-Asia Law Institute, and adjunct senior fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. He formerly served as the Jeremiah J. Smith professor, director of East Asian legal studies, and associate dean at Harvard Law School.

Mr. Cohen retired from the partnership of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in 2000 after over 20 years of law practice and from NYU after 30 years of teaching in 2020. Since his retirement, he has continued to conduct research and write on Asian law, focusing on legal institutions, criminal justice reform, dispute resolution, human rights, and the role of international law relating to China and Taiwan.

Professor Cohen is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.