Ilyssa Fuchs

Ilyssa Fuchs is a Partner at Cohen & Fitch LLP and has been employed by the firm since May of 2014. She mainly handles police and corrections misconduct actions, including, among other things, claims for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and excessive force. Since starting with the firm, she has represented hundreds of claimants and plaintiffs in state and federal Section 1983 actions involving police and/or corrections misconduct, tried multiple cases to verdict, and obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for her clients. In addition, she is responsible for managing and supervising Cohen & Fitch LLP’s internship program, including training and supervising law students and undergraduate interns. Ilyssa currently serves as the Vice Co-Chair of the Civil Rights and Liberties Committee at the New York County Lawyers Association (“NYCLA”). In, that capacity, she has organized, hosted, and presented at multiple events concerning police misconduct, wrongful convictions, police, and criminal justice reform, and FOIL. In addition, in 2018, she served on the citywide Plea Bargaining Task Force where she worked with numerous stakeholders to develop proposals that would help to solve the problem of innocent people pleading guilty. Ilyssa is a member of the bar of the State of New York and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. She has been recognized as a Rising Star in Civil Rights litigation by Super Lawyers every year since 2015. Ilyssa graduated Cum Laude from New York Law School in 2012. During law school, she was a Student Bar Association Senator, President of the Stonewall Law Students LGBTQ Association, and held internships at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and the Legal Aid Society. After law school, she held a Post Graduate Fellowship where she assisted in the representation of defendants charged with federal criminal offenses. Prior to law school, Ilyssa attended Stony Brook University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. In Political Science and Government. She has also appeared on WBAI radio as an expert on police misconduct and criminal justice reform, guest taught Constitutional Law classes, been a legal analyst on WHCR Harlem Radio, volunteered with both the Police Reform Organizing Project and Swipe It Forward, and is a member of the Four Freedoms Democratic Club, a former County Committee member for the 76th Assembly District, and founder and CEO of the popular Facebook page Politically Preposterous.