About.
Ari Cohn is Chicago-based attorney with a decade of experience defending the First Amendment and free speech. A nationally-recognized expert in First Amendment law, defamation law, and Section 230, Ari currently serves as Lead Counsel for Tech Policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and promoting free speech rights for all Americans. He returns to FIRE having previously served as director of its Individual Rights Defense Program, where he managed the program’s direct advocacy and guided the organization to a record number of free speech victories on behalf of college students and faculty members across the United States.
Ari works tirelessly with his colleagues, other civil society groups, and stakeholders to defend the First Amendment and the vibrant, open Internet that has put the world and all of its knowledge at our fingertips, advocating before legislators, regulators, the courts, and the public. In his private capacity, Ari defends individual clients against abusive and censorial defamation (and other speech tort) claims aimed at dissuading or punishing the exercise of First Amendment rights.
Ari is a sought-after communicator on free speech and tech policy issues, regularly serving as a source for print media and appearing on television, radio, and podcasts. He has been invited to speak to dozens of conferences, continuing legal education programs, events, and other groups on important First Amendment and tech policy issues. Ari particularly enjoys speaking to diverse audiences and emphasizing bridging ideological divides to foster productive engagement on important issues.
Previously, Ari has served as Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom, an attorney with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and as a litigation associate at the Chicago office of Mayer Brown LLP, where he represented large multinational companies in complex litigation matters.
Cornell Law School, JD, cum laude
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BA
Illinois
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois