Avern Cohn

Avern Levin Cohn
Avern Levin Cohn
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Incumbent
Assumed office October 9, 1999
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
In office September 26, 1979 – October 9, 1999
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	David M. Lawson
Personal details
Born	July 23, 1924 Detroit, Michigan
Alma mater	University of Michigan University of Michigan Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Judaism

Avern Levin Cohn (born July 23, 1924) is a Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 17, 1979 to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979, receiving commission on September 26, 1979. Cohn assumed senior status on October 9, 1999.

Cohn was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Irwin I. and Sadie Levin Cohn. He attended the University of Michigan, John Tarleton Agricultural College, Stanford University, and Loyola School of Medicine. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. He received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1949 and was admitted to the Michigan State Bar in December 1949.

Cohn engaged in private practice in the Law Office of Irwin I. Cohn from 1949 to 1961, and at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn from 1961 to 1979. Cohn served on the Michigan Social Welfare Commission in 1963, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1972–1975 (as Chair from 1974-1975), and the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners from 1975–1979 (as Chair in 1979). Cohn is a member of several bar associations including the Detroit Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He served as the Chairperson of the Special Committee on Court Congestion, of the State Bar of Michigan from 1977–1978, on the Representative Assembly of the State Bar of Michigan from 1973–1979, as Past Trustee of the Detroit Bar Association Foundation, as Past Director of Detroit Bar Association, as a member of the American Law Institute, and as Director of the American Judicature Society.

Cohn has also been active in organizations concerning political, secular and Jewish life. He is a past President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and served for 14 years as General Chairperson of the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Annual Dinner. He has three children and seven grandchildren. Cohn was the Judge in the Wiper patent infringement case that let auto corporations escape lawsuits because the plaintiff Robert Kearns missed a deadline.^[1]

References

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54564-2005Feb25.html

• Avern Cohn at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Biography at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan