Christina Schiciano is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, where she represents investors in shareholder derivative lawsuits and securities class actions.  

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Christina was a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel Gorton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  

Before her judicial clerkship, Christina was an Honors Program Trial Attorney at the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In this capacity, she also worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.

While attending Columbia Law School, Christina served as the editor in chief of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.  She was a James Kent and Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. Before entering law school, Christina worked as a senior business analyst at a top global management consulting firm.

Amanda Chuzi is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Public Client practice. She represents state attorneys general and other public-sector clients in investigations and lawsuits involving false claims and fraudulent and deceptive trade practices.

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Amanda was an attorney-adviser at the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she advised the White House, DOJ leadership, and other Executive Branch agencies on issues related to constitutional law and statutory interpretation. Before that, she was a Trial Attorney at the Federal Programs Branch at DOJ, where she defended the federal government in cases that raised complex questions of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law. Among other things, Amanda defended more than sixty federal defendants in a high-profile First Amendment suit that ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court victory for the government. 

Before joining DOJ, Amanda was a law clerk for the Hon. Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Hon. Michelle T. Friedland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

While attending Columbia Law School, Amanda was an articles editor for the Columbia Law Review. She received the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize, which is awarded to students who receive the highest honors for all three years.

Before pursuing a law degree, Amanda spent nearly five years as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine.

Publications

  • Defense Lawmaking, 120 Colum. L. Rev. 995 (2020)
  • Can Congress’s “Most Successful Bill” Fix the Legislative Branch? War on the Rocks (June 5, 2020)
  • Migrants Are the Victims, Guardian (Jan. 14, 2019)

Claire Marsden is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, where she represents investors in shareholder derivative lawsuits and securities class actions.

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Claire was a law clerk for the Honorable Ann M. Donnelly of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Before her judicial clerkship, Claire was an associate at a highly regarded global defense firm, where she focused on securities, antitrust, RICO, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and other white collar-related issues.  She was also involved in a variety of pro bono matters related to prisoner’s rights and fair sentencing, and she spent six months as a full-time secondee with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia.

While attending Columbia Law School, Claire was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and executive articles editor of A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual, a handbook of legal rights and procedures designed for use by currently incarcerated people.  She also served as a law clerk at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mona Benach is of counsel in Cohen Milstein’s Securities Litigation & Investment Protection practice, where she represents public pension funds and other institutional investors in securities class actions and shareholder derivative lawsuits. 

With more than two decades of securities litigation and internal investigation experience in both the private and public sectors, Mona brings to bear a wealth of insight on securities laws. Her roles have included assistant general counsel at a nationally renowned investment bank and asset management company, as well as assistant director of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and senior counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement.

Prior to entering private practice, Mona was a law clerk for the Honorable Deborah Chasanow of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

While attending Columbia Law School, Mona was a Harlan Fiske Stone Honor Scholar and senior editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Nina Jaffe-Geffner is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Antitrust practice, where she represents a broad range of individuals and businesses in civil litigation, with a focus on multi-district class actions and antitrust litigation. 

Prior to becoming an associate at Cohen Milstein, Nina was a law fellow at the firm where she worked across practices and was involved in litigating class actions in federal courts. 

Nina received her B.A., with First Class Honors, from McGill University. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar and was awarded the Pauline Berman Heller Prize for her service to gender equality. During law school, Nina was the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law and participated in several legal internships.

Phoebe Wolfe is an associate in Cohen Milstein Civil Rights & Employment practice, where she focuses on complex litigation challenging discrimination in employment and housing. 

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Phoebe was a Litigation Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, where she worked on litigation and amicus briefs aimed at advancing the Center’s mission across intersecting legal issues that affect women, particularly in the workplace. She also has experience as a Public Interest Fellow at Tycko & Zavareei LLP, a class action plaintiffs law firm. As part of her fellowship, Phoebe spent several months at Public Justice, one of the nation’s foremost plaintiff advocacy and litigation organizations. 

During law school, Phoebe was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and senior editor of the Columbia Law Review. 

Jan E. Messerschmidt, a partner in the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, represents institutional and individual shareholders in derivative lawsuits and securities class actions.  

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Jan was an associate at a highly regarded national litigation boutique, where he represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a range of issues involving antitrust, securities, cybersecurity, contract, personal tort, and malicious prosecution claims. 

Before entering private practice, Jan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Beryl A. Howell, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was also a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary S. Pooler of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

While an undergraduate at New York University, Jan co-founded and was the editor of Journal of Politics & International Affairs. In law school, he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, received the Parker School Certificate for Achievement in International and Comparative Law, and had the distinction of participating in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (U.S. National Champions (2012, 2013)). He was also the head articles editor for Columbia Journal of Transnational Law and the note author of, “Hackback: Permitting Retaliatory Hacking by Non-State Actors as Proportionate Countermeasures to Transboundary Cyberharm,” 52 COLUM. J. TRANSNAT’L L. 275 (2013). 

Prior to law school, Jan was a legislative policy analyst for the New York City Council, Policy Division. 

Eric A. Kafka is a partner in Cohen Milstein’s Consumer Protection practice. Eric represents plaintiffs in a wide range of consumer class actions, including privacy, false advertising, data breach, and product liability class actions. 

Eric has particularly deep experience litigating class actions against large technology companies and privacy class actions. For example, in three class actions against Meta, he is addressing industry defining issues:

  • LLE One v. Facebook (N.D. Cal.), consumers alleged that Facebook miscalculated and inflated video advertising metrics by as much as 150% to 900%. This high-profile false advertising class action settled for $40 million.
  • DZ Reserve v. Meta Platforms (N.D. Cal.), a certified class action, consumers allege that Facebook’s “potential reach” metric is false and misleading.
  • In re Meta Pixel Healthcare Litigation (N.D. Cal.), consumers are challenging Meta’s alleged collection of sensitive health data from health provider websites.

Eric was also recently appointed as sole lead counsel in In Prescott v. Reckitt Benckiser LLC (N.D. Cal.), a certified false advertising class action, which settled for more than $3 million.

Eric is widely respected in the plaintiffs’ bar for his leadership role with experts, addressing consumer class certification, economic damages, computer source code, and chemistry. For his work, Eric has been recognized by Law360 and The National Law Journal as a 2024 rising star.

Eric also serves as Vice Chair of the American Association for Justice’s Class Section.

Prior to attending law school, Eric worked on multiple political campaigns, including President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. At Columbia Law School, he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.