Cohen, Maxwell, 1910-

Maxwell Cohen was born in Winnipeg and educated at the University of Manitoba (B.A. 1930; L.B. 1934) and at Northwestern University (LL.M. 1936). From 1937 to 1938, he was a research fellow at Harvard Law School. After joining the Bar of Manitoba, he served as junior counsel on the Combines Investigation Committee (1938-1940). From 1940 to 1941, he worked for the Economics Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply, and after the war he joined the Faculty of Law at McGill, where he served as Dean from 1964 to 1969. He retired as Emeritus Professor in 1978.

Cohen specialized in international law, an interest stimulated by his work for the Technical Assistance Administration of the United Nations in 1951. He directed McGill's Institute of Air and Space Law from 1962 until 1965, and from 1980-1989 he was Professor of Law and Scholar in Residence at the University of Ottawa. During this time Cohen acted as an adjunct professor at Carleton University where he created the Carleton and Ottawa Universities joint program on strategic studies. He also consulted and published on a wide range of legal questions, including business and labor law, family law and civil liberties.