Ian R. Cohen — New York M&A Attorney & Fractional General Counsel

Board-level judgment. Front-line execution. IRC Legal is the law firm of Ian R. Cohen — 17+ years at the intersection of BigLaw depth and operator instinct. A partner at the table when the decision is consequential and the margin for error is thin.

What I Do

01 — M&A and Transactional Counsel

Buy-side and sell-side M&A, financings, joint ventures, and complex commercial contracts. Letter of intent through closing. Most engagements run $5 million to $250 million, with closings at $1 billion and up behind me. Structured for leverage. Drafted for certainty. Closed on schedule.

More: New York M&A and Transactional Attorney

02 — Fractional General Counsel

Embedded, board-level legal leadership without full-time overhead. 10 to 40 hours per month, fixed fee. Inside the leadership team — more than advice.

More: Fractional General Counsel for Growth Companies

03 — Corporate Counsel and Governance

Proactive counsel on consequential decisions: entity structure, founder and shareholder agreements, cap table architecture, board matters, and executive personal counsel. Shape and de-risk the choices that matter before they are made.

More: Corporate Counsel and Governance for Founders and Executives

Differentiator: Bitcoin and digital asset law. Bitcoin legal strategy, corporate treasury, self-custody and estate planning, and crypto M&A. The firm holds bitcoin on its balance sheet and accepts bitcoin for fees.

Who I Am

Both sides of the table. A dual-track career spanning high-stakes BigLaw transactional work at Schulte Roth & Zabel and BakerHostetler, then in-house General Counsel of Pharmapacks and its parent company Packable. Counsel forged inside the deal — not just advice at its edge.

Seed through exit. I guided a PE-backed growth-stage company ($500M+ raised) from Seed through Series B, a public-market process, and eventual wind-down and asset sale. The full lifecycle — not just the wins.

I lead the matter. You will know me, and I stay on it. Supporting lawyers I supervise may handle drafting and diligence. I do not run a BigLaw leverage model.

Representative Matters

Sell-side M&A, $5M to $1B+ — SaaS, tech-enabled services, e-commerce. Two billion-dollar sales of PE-backed companies (telecom, government contracting). Series A and B financings across CPG, e-commerce, AI, and fintech. Distressed wind-down and creditor negotiations. Digital asset structuring and treasury counsel.

Rates — BigLaw vs. IRC Legal

$680 to $800 an hour, depending on the matter. Fixed monthly retainers for fractional GC engagements. You know the number before we start.

Credentials

Admitted to practice in New York, 2010. Super Lawyers New York Metro Rising Star, 2014–2019. J.D., Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. B.A., University of Maryland, College Park. Grew up on Long Island, trained in New York City, returned home.

Contact

IRC Legal · 128 Front St, Mineola, NY 11501 · Long Island, New York · 516.578.1112 · ian@irclegal.com · Serving clients in New York, nationally, and internationally.

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