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CONTACT SPCH. Adam Cohen
H. Adam Cohen is a founding shareholder of Steinhardt Pesick & Cohen, P.C., a Michigan law firm specializing in eminent domain, condemnation, and property tax appeals.
Possessing more than 25 years’ experience, Mr. Cohen has served as lead counsel in some of Michigan’s most significant condemnation actions and property tax appeals, representing owners of commercial, industrial, office, research and development, multi-family, manufactured home, hospitality, and vacant acreage properties throughout the State.
Adam was lead counsel for property owners in numerous condemnation projects including the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Comerica Park and Ford Field, Detroit’s Waterfront Reclamation and Casino Redevelopment Project, I-696, M-59 (Hall Road), M-5 (Haggerty Connector), M-24 (Lapeer Road), Detroit Metropolitan Airport Expansion, Jefferson-Chalmers Rehabilitation Project, Flint Bishop International Airport Expansion, Novi Ring Road, Detroit’s QLine, Wayne County Pinnacle Aeropark, UPTRAN Terminal, Ypsilanti's Water Street Redevelopment, and many other condemnation projects.
Together with his law partner, Jerome Pesick, Mr. Cohen obtained the largest condemnation verdict in Michigan’s history: $25 million for a 6.3-acre vacant parcel on Detroit's riverfront. In 2003, Adam handled the only condemnation appeal in the country where a landowner successfully challenged the constitutionality of a government's attempted taking in both a trial and appellate court.
Mr. Cohen’s numerous legal awards include selection in every edition of The Best Lawyers in America© since 2007. In both 2012 and 2017, that publication recognized Adam as the eminent domain and condemnation “Lawyer of the Year” for the Detroit area. He has been named one of Michigan’s Super Lawyers in eminent domain every year since 2007, and is a recipient of Martindale-Hubbell's "AV" designation–the highest rating awarded for ethical standards and legal ability. At the age of 33, Adam was recognized as a Crain’s Detroit Business “40 Under 40” honoree for leading five condemnation trials for property owners during a seven-month period, achieving verdicts in several cases for more than four times the government's offers.
Mr. Cohen is involved with a variety of community and professional organizations. He is a member of the American Bar Association Sections on Real Property and Litigation, and the Committee on Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use; the State Bar of Michigan, where he formerly served as Council Member of the Section on Litigation and continues to serve as Chairman of the Committee on Eminent Domain; and the Oakland County Bar Association, where he is a Sustaining Member and past Chair of the Case Evaluation Committee. Cohen has authored numerous articles in legal and real estate periodicals and trade journals, including the chapter for eminent domain in Michigan Real Estate Litigation, a book published by LexisNexis. He is a frequent lecturer at state and national eminent domain conferences. Adam’s civic activities include serving as a member of the board of directors for the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic, Oakland County’s largest free medical clinic, and co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit’s Pound for Pound Men’s Group. He is a past board and executive committee member for both JARC and the Anti-Defamation League’s Michigan chapter.
Adam holds a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Tulane University.