Sanford "Sandy" Cohen was born and raised in the Bronx. He had a rough childhood – his father left when he was young and his mother worked all the time in order to earn enough money for them to get by. When Sandy was older, he moved from New York to California to go to law school at UC Berkeley. There he met the girl of his dreams, Kirsten Nichol, the daughter of one of California’s wealthiest businessmen. They made a life together, living out of a mail truck, but soon enough, the couple found themselves back in Newport and Sandy found himself in the one place he never dreamed he would be: a wealthy neighborhood in an even wealthier town.

Sandy worked as a public defender and through his job he met Ryan. Seeing himself in Ryan, he decided to take him in. Since then, Sandy has traded his job as a public defender in for a job at a corporate law firm, which he hated, so he traded his profession in once again to have a private law practice.

As season 2 came to a close, Sandy watched as his father-in-law’s death took a large toll on his wife. Kirsten began to drown her pain in alcohol, and Sandy had to stage an intervention for his wife. Though it was hard, he sent her away to a clinic where she could recover and transform back to her original self.

Now Sandy is running his father-in-law’s company, but using it to help the less privileged individuals of Newport instead of building mansions for the wealthy.

Kirsten Nichol Cohen was born into a wealthy family, daughter of one of the richest men in Newport. Kirsten fell in love with Sandy Cohen, a tough kid from the Bronx, and despite her father's wishes, married him. Together, they tried to make a life, living out of a mail truck, but soon enough, Kirsten and Sandy moved back to Newport where Kirsten began working for her father at the Newport Group.

Kirsten has been a great mother to Seth and after seeing how little motherly influence Ryan was receiving, Kirsten welcomed him into her home and has been a mother to him ever since.

Kirsten was crushed by the death of her father, Caleb, and began to rely more and more on alcohol to get her through her day. Scarred for her, the boys - Sandy, Ryan and Seth - set up an intervention, and Kirsten went to rehab, determined to break her addiction.

Now, with the Newport Group in Sandy's capible hands, Kirsten and Julie Cooper have started their own dating service, matchmaking for Newport's finest.

After helping his brother steal a car, Ryan Atwood was sent to jail and public defender Sandy Cohen was assigned to his case. Sandy helped get him out of jail, but when Ryan returned home to find that his mother had abandoned him, Sandy took Ryan in. Soon, after winning the hearts of the Cohen family, Sandy and Kirsten became Ryan's legal guardians, bringing him into their family.

Since the start, Ryan and the Cohen's quirky son, Seth, formed an unlikely friendship which soon turned into brotherly love. The two have been close ever since, being there when one needs the other.

Despite his bad-boy past, Ryan quickly caught the eye of Marissa Cooper, but their relationship has been rocky from the start. However, over