William F. Cook
William F. Cook
William F. Cook is a partner with the firm. He concentrates his practice in civil trial and appellate litigation in various areas, including civil rights and discrimination, public entity liability, insurance coverage, commercial litigation, and employment-related claims. He represents public entity and private clients, including municipal and county governments, public officials, police departments, police officers, political subdivisions, and businesses. He has litigated and tried cases involving civil rights claims, as well as cases involving wrongful death and catastrophic injury.
Mr. Cook is certified as a civil trial attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court. To be certified, an attorney must have the requisite number of trial days, must pass a rigorous examination, and must have the recommendations of fellow trial attorneys and judges. Only a small percentage of civil attorneys throughout New Jersey possess this certification by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Cook regularly advises public entities and officials in handling various personnel matters. He has conducted public entity internal investigations and training, and has further served as lead negotiator for collective bargaining. He has also handled arbitrations and administrative trials on a variety of claims facing public entities.
Mr. Cook frequently serves as a speaker on various areas, including civil litigation and trials, federal litigation, pretrial preparation, and employment matters.
From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Cook served as an adjunct professor at Rutgers-Camden Law School teaching the “New Jersey Practice” course. The course covered all aspects of civil and appellate practice in the New Jersey court system. From 2011 to 2016, he organized and served as a regular speaker for “New Jersey Civil Trial Preparation” seminars for new attorneys.
From 2010 to 2019, Mr. Cook served as an appointed member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Rules of Evidence Committee. During that time, he served a two-year term as the Chair of the Inadvertent Disclosures Subcommittee coordinating and drafting amendments to N.J.R.E. 530 as to the conditions of privilege waiver, thus leading to significant changes regarding how electronic discovery is conducted in New Jersey. Mr. Cook also served a two-year term as the Chair of the Government Records Subcommittee, addressing the interplay between New Jersey’s hearsay exceptions for business records and government records.
With the Camden County Bar Association, Mr. Cook has served as co-chair of the Civil Practice Committee, as co-chair of the Employment Law Committee, and chair of the Public Education Committee. He produced and appeared on the Bar Association’s weekly television program, “Legally Speaking.” He has also served as a Trustee of the Association.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Cook served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Michael Patrick King, Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. From 2003-2004, Mr. Cook served as a Deputy Attorney General for the Education Section of the Division of Law of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety.
Mr. Cook was admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2003. He is also admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Cook is a member of the American and the New Jersey Bar Associations.
Mr. Cook graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003.
*Martindale-Hubbell Notable® Rating – This award is conferred by Martindale-Hubbell. A description of the selection methodology can be found at https://www.martindale.com/ratings-and-reviews/. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
