Stephen Kohn

Stephen M. Kohn is a founding partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP, and one of the nation’s foremost whistleblower attorneys with over 40 years of experience. In 2025, Forbes named him to its America’s Top Lawyers list, following his inclusion on Forbes’ America’s Top 200 Lawyers list in 2024. He is the only whistleblower rights attorney ever recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the Top 50 Plaintiff’s Lawyers in the United States.

Kohn played a direct role in drafting key federal whistleblower legislation, including provisions incorporated into the Dodd-Frank Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act. He has secured over $125 million in SEC whistleblower awards for his clients and won the first $104 million whistleblower award for UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld. He currently represents Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson, who exposed a $230 billion money-laundering scandal.

Kohn serves as Chairman of the Board of the National Whistleblower Center and is the most widely published author on whistleblower protection law, with eight books to his credit including Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right (Lyons Press, 2023).

EXPERTISE

• U.S. whistleblower reward programs (SEC, CFTC, IRS, FinCEN/AML, DOJ, False Claims Act/Qui Tam)
• Anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions enforcement
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and international bribery
• Securities and commodities fraud
• Whistleblower legislation drafting and regulatory rulemaking
• Whistleblower retaliation and illegal NDA enforcement

NOTABLE RESULTS

• $104 million IRS whistleblower award — Bradley Birkenfeld / UBS (KKC case)
• $112.6 million in combined tax whistleblower awards — Confidential client (KKC case)
• $300 million in sanctions and fines — Novartis Greece FCPA case
• $2 billion recovered for victims — Howard Wilkinson / Danske Bank (KKC case)
• Over $70 million in FCPA whistleblower awards — Champions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
• Over $125 million in SEC Dodd-Frank whistleblower awards

CREDENTIALS

• J.D. — Northeastern University School of Law
• M.A. — Brown University
• B.S., Magna Cum Laude — Boston University
• Admitted: U.S. Supreme Court, all federal circuit courts of appeal, District of Columbia Bar
• Chairman of the Board, National Whistleblower Center

RECOGNITION

• Forbes America’s Top Lawyers (2025)
• Forbes America’s Top 200 Lawyers (2024)
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2019–2025)
• National Law Journal Top 50 Plaintiff’s Lawyers
• National Law Journal White Collar Crime Trailblazers
• Washington DC Super Lawyers (2007–2023)
• Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)