Deborah Cook (judge)

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Deborah L. Cook (born February 8, 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

1 Education and legal training
2 Legal career
3 Federal service
4 Notes
5 References

[edit] Education and legal training

Cook received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Akron. In 1996, the University of Akron presented her with an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. She was president of Delta Gamma and president of her senior class at the University of Akron. She is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership and academic honorary society.

[edit] Legal career

Following graduation from law school until her election to the Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals, Cook was a member of Akron’s oldest law firm, Roderick, Myers & Linton, as well as the firm’s first female partner. She then served four years as a state appellate judge on the District Court of Appeals covering Summit, Wayne, Medina, and Lorain counties. Cook was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1994 for a six-year term beginning in 1995. She was re-elected in November 2000 and served until her appointment to the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Cook chaired the Commission on Public Legal Education, and was a member of the Ohio Courts Futures Commission and the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management. She is a past president of the Akron Bar Association Foundation, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and was a member of the Akron Bar Association disciplinary committee from 1981 to 1993.

[edit] Federal service

President George W. Bush nominated Cook to the Sixth Circuit on January 7, 2003 to a seat vacated by Judge Alan E. Norris. She was confirmed 66–25^[1] by the United States Senate on May 5, 2003.

She was mentioned in 2005 as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court to replace Sandra Day O'Connor.