Cohen and Wolf Continues to Expand by Opening New Office in Orange

Westport, CT, January 18, 2008 - The Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, co-artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) has announced that Richard Slavin, managing partner for Cohen and Wolf, P.C.'s Westport office and chair of the firm's Securities Group, has been elected to its Board of Trustees.

"As a result of an initiative to increase the board of trustees, we continue to add talented individuals with diverse skills who will guide the future of this historic theatre as a year-round operation," said Elisabeth Morten, president of the Playhouse board, which includes nine other newly-elected trustees.

"I am thrilled to be able to serve the Westport community by helping one of its signature institutions," said Mr. Slavin. "The Westport Country Playhouse is a world class local landmark that has become a valued resource and cultural center for the greater Westport area and all of Southern Connecticut."

Mr. Slavin has served on the Playhouse's audit committee since 2006. Cohen and Wolf has been an underwriter of the Playhouse, sponsoring one production for each of the last 3 years.

Resident in Cohen and Wolf's newly expanded Westport office, Mr. Slavin has earned a reputation as one of Connecticut's top securities attorneys. His practice focuses on securities regulation, securities and federal court litigation, and banking regulation. He regularly represents broker-dealers, investment advisors, broker-dealer agents, investment advisor agents and solicitors, and issuers of securities before federal, state and self-regulatory securities agencies.

Prior to joining Cohen and Wolf, Mr. Slavin served as the Director of the Connecticut Banking Department's Securities and Business Investments Division from 1981 to 1983. Before then, he served as a financial analyst examiner, staff attorney, and attorney inspector of the Ohio Division of Securities from 1972 through 1981.

Mr. Slavin is a member of the Connecticut Banking Commissioner's Securities Act Advisory Counsel, has served as chairman of the Business Law Committee of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association from 1996 to 1998, and has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association's Business Law Section since 1985.

He was the chairman of the Section's Securities Law Committee from 1995 to 2000, a position he also held from 1985-1990. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association's Federal Practice Committee. In 2007 Mr. Slavin was elected as a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

He is also a member of the Connecticut Bar Association's Federal Practice Committee and serves on the State Regulation of Securities Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and is vice-chair of its Enforcement Committee. He is also the liaison for this Committee to the Connecticut Banking Department.

Mr. Slavin is a member of the Securities Litigation Committee and the Arbitration and Enforcement Subcommittees of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Arbitration Boards of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and the National Futures Association

Mr. Slavin was a member of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. from 1993 through 2007 and served as its fundraising chair for over ten years. He was a founder of the Legal Center for Connecticut Non-Profit Organizations, Inc., has served as chair of the Jewish Center for Community Services of Eastern Fairfield County from 1999 through 2001, and also served on its and its predecessor organization's Board of Directors for 17 years.

He served as chair of the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. from 2004-2005. Mr. Slavin is the immediate past president of Congregation Beth El in Fairfield, where he previously served as executive vice-president and chair of its Rabbinic Search Committee. In 2006 Mr. Slavin was elected as treasurer and a director of Young Emissaries of Greater Bridgeport, Inc. In 2004, he received the United Way's Community Builder Award.

Mr. Slavin earned his B.A. in 1969 and his M.B.A. in 1972 from Case Western Reserve University . He received his J.D. in 1977 from the University of Akron.

The mission of Westport Country Playhouse is to transform people's lives through the power of theatre. It aims to enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theatre lovers, artists and students by presenting excellent professional theatre and by offering a welcoming experience that perpetuates the long tradition of the Westport Country Playhouse "red barn."

Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse is now open year-round, welcoming 85,000 audience members annually. On its legendary stage are theatrical productions, educational programming and special events, including film, readings of short fiction and new plays, and a Family Festivities series.

The rich history of the Westport Country Playhouse dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producers Lawrence Langner and his wife Armina Marshall created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s cow barn. Now celebrating its 78th season, the Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 35 of which later transferred to Broadway. Its roster of actors reads like a "Who's Who" of the American theatre. Westport Country Playhouse serves as a treasured home for the performing arts for audiences and artists alike, and as a true cultural landmark for Connecticut. Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org.

Cohen and Wolf, P.C. provides a wide range of sophisticated legal services to leading businesses, organizations and individuals, both regionally and nationally. For more than half a century, Cohen and Wolf has represented business and individual clients in matters involving litigation, corporate and securities law, real estate, land use, tax, employment and labor, municipal law, personal injury, family law, estate planning, elder law and asset protection planning.