Speaker Biography The Honorable Bruce R Cohen
Judge Bruce R. Cohen was appointed as a Superior Court Judge to the Maricopa County Superior Court in May, 2005, with assignments on family court (including presiding judge for four years) and criminal court. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Psychology in 1978, Judge Cohen attended law school and earned his J.D. at Arizona State University, where he still speaks and served as a mentor. Prior to his appointment to the Bench, Judge Cohen was in private practice for 24 years, focused on family law. Judge Cohen has worked in concert with the National Conference for State Courts and Arizona State University to develop the Families In Transition Program (“FIT”). With funding from the State Justice Initiative, FIT is a computer-based interactive program designed for early intervention in cases where there is a risk of the family becoming engaged in high-conflict parenting.
Judge Cohen has served on numerous committees, boards and task forces, including the Arizona Supreme Court Child Support Guidelines Committee for four quadrennial reviews, the Arizona Supreme Court’s Standing Committee on the Impact of Domestic Violence and the Courts, and the Chairperson of the Arizona State Bar Professionalism Advisory Council. He co-authored legislation adopted in Arizona on parent information programs and adoption of special needs children and secured the passage of legislation in Arizona in 2021 that allowed sexual assault survivors who became impregnated to seek termination of parental rights of their assailants.
During his 18 years on the Bench, he received several state and national awards, including the Arizona Family Support Council’s 2010 Judicial Officer of the Year, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the State Bar of Arizona- Family Law Section, and the nationally prestigious 2022 “Irwin Cantor Innovative Program Award” from the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.