Birmingham attorney N. Lee Cooper has been elected to serve a one year term as President of the American Bar Endowment, an affiliate of the almost 400,000 member American Bar Association. The election took place at the August Annual meeting of the Association in San Francisco. Mr. Cooper is the first Alabamian to serve as President of the Endowment.

As president of the ABE, N. Lee Cooper is focusing on broadening communication about the ABE’s charitable support of more than 200 law-related public service, educational, and research programs. Programs funded by the ABE include research on the improvement of the criminal justice system and the legal profession and projects to address the legal needs of children, the elderly, minorities, and victims of domestic violence. “More ABA member lawyers need to know about the ABE’s many insurance programs and how our members donate their annual dividends to fund good works in our profession,” said Cooper. Over the last almost 65 years, through the generosity of its members and the prudent investment of donated funds, the ABE has provided grants of more than $239 million to fund law-related good works. A former American Bar Association President, Cooper has a long history of involvement with the American Bar Association. Cooper’s leadership roles with the ABA and affiliates have included President of the Association, House of Delegates Chair, Litigation Section Chair Federal Judiciary Chair and Katrina Task Force Chair. He has served as an American Bar Endowment Board member since 1984. In addition to these leadership roles, Cooper has been an active member of the Council of the American Law Institute, is an Honorary Lifetime Trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is a former Board Member of the Rand Institute of Civil Justice and was Vice Chair of the Congressional Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Cooper is the founding senior shareholder in the Birmingham firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Litigation and Arbitration sections at Maynard, and remains active in several of the litigation practice groups. Recognized as an Alabama Super Lawyer for his significant accomplishments in the areas of Business Litigation, Securities Litigation and Civil Litigation Defense, for more than 40 years Cooper has represented major companies, including Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, General Electric, Standard and Poor’s (McGraw Hill), and Regions. Cooper is a graduate of the University of Alabama, where he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees. With approximately 35,000 insurance certificates currently issued to ABA members, the American Bar Endowment has one of the largest insurance programs for American lawyers and one of the only insurance programs with a charitable giving feature that advances the charitable goals of the legal profession. The ABE’s Charitable Gift Fund is a donor-advised fund that provides ABA members a way to advance their legacy and manage their wealth. With approximately 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society. This release has been distributed by the American Bar Association on behalf of American Bar Endowment.